Day 152: Piney Grove Campground, MS

Alea would have had an easy 30 miles today, if she had started earlier.  We didn't get rolling until 9:30, when it was already 86 degrees and a forecast heat index for later in the day of 105.  And we had just entered the Mississippi Hills, so there was a fair amount of climbing in store for her.  But we were fortunate that there were lots of places to stop to keep her hydrated and fueled up.  We stopped for the day near where the Trace crosses the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.  It was 95 degrees out when we loaded her bike in the van.

We are camped for the night at Piney Grove Campground ($22, power, water, adjustable showers).  It is located on Bay Shores Lake, and is one of the better layouts for a Corps of Engineers campground.  We are camped next to one of the three centrally located shower houses (for 140 campsites), and it is a short walk down to a shallow beach that is perfect for helping Lana cool off in this heat.  And, thankfully, there is plenty of shade.

Along the way here we met our second cyclist in the past two months.  Dyron is from Little Rock and he is headed to Virginia (Richmond, I think).  We are guessing his time is limited, as he was on his triathlon bike and had ridden 177 miles yesterday.  To beat the heat he was on the road by 4 am today, and I'd guess when we met him before noon he had probably covered 80 miles or better.  He is riding from Holiday Inn to Holiday Inn (where possible), as he has lots of reward points, allowing him to stay for free, and that obviously also makes it possible for him to travel very light.  I met him at one of the pull outs where I waited for Alea - she was heading south and he was heading north.

The forecast for the next 10 days looks to be generally lows in the low to mid 70s, highs in the low to mid 90s.  And more than enough humidity.  Oh, boy!  Missouri heat wave all over again (only it is normal weather for this time of year down here).

We've seen coin-op ice machines, but this is the first honor-pay cooler that we have run into.