Day 87: Holmes County State Park, MS

In yesterday's blog I left out that it was a good thing that my ride ended when it did.  With me being soaked through, and the wind beating against my windbreaker and jersey, my nipples had become chafed.  It was starting to get noticeably uncomfortable just as I rolled into Jeff Busby.

Our view this morning.  My wet shoes were being dried by the van's defroster.

Of course I forgot all that by this morning, though we were unsure what our plans would be for the day.  When we got up it was raining WAY too hard, so it was decided to drive to get a fast food breakfast and contemplate our next move.  While eating, we decided that even though it was raining, Kosciusko (Ko-choos-ko), MS (where we could check into a motel) was only 30 miles away, and I could get us there in under two hours, despite the pouring rain.  Alea protested that it was her turn to ride, but I pointed out that it was raining hard enough that she'd likely have trouble seeing with her prescription glasses, and the wind had knocked a lot of debris onto the road.  I was the logical choice to ride this leg of our adventure.

It sure looks like he's having fun!

The first leapfrog stop was a little over 12 miles down the road, and by the time I reached it I had constant reminders of how yesterday's ride had ended.  So I jumped in the van and attempted to get dried off and try some home remedies - Bandaids, butt butter, etc.  No dice, things weren't getting any better.  I wasn't riding any farther, at least not with a jersey on, and it was a little too cool to consider going shirtless.  Alea kept saying, "I can ride the rest of the way to town," though I think she was in a mild state of shock when I said "OK."

Don't ask me what this is all about - it was on Alea's phone!

As luck would have it, as Alea was getting into her cycling gear the rain moderated to light showers, and by the first leapfrog stop it was raining intermittently at best (it was mostly dry).  Her 20+ miles were a clear contrast to the conditions encountered during my 12.  But I was just glad it worked out so well.

When we reached Kosciusko we were still on the fence about whether we were going to spend the night in a hotel.  With the downpour we had experienced this morning it was a no brainer - between sprints to the bathroom and a few walks to let Lana take care of business, in short order our cabin would be a damp, uncomfortable place to be for an extended period of time.  So we stopped at the Natchez Trace information center to see what our options were for the evening.  With the weather improving, we eventually decided to camp about 25 west of the Trace, at Holmes County State Park ($18, power, water and showers).  Our decision was aided by the fact that two out of three hotels in town didn't allow dogs.

While at the info center we ran into Dave and Jayn, who had decided to hole up in a hotel there for a couple of days until the worst of the rain had past.  We had a short reunion of sorts and were invited to join them tonight for dinner at Bel Piatto, an Italian restaurant right next door.  While there, Dave had said he would like to see a live Armadillo, to see if they really were 3" tall and 3" feet long, like the dead ones that he'd seen on the road.  Our campground was pretty much crawling with Armadillos, so we brought along several photos showing that they are actually much taller and not nearly as long as those we had been seen along the Trace.

The armadillos nearest the campground didn't seem to be bothered much by people or dogs.  Lana got about 2" from one before it scurried off, and the reaction of another was to sit on its hind legs and sniff the air as Lana approached.  Lana was pretty timid, having never seen an armadillo, but that changed when the armadillo turned and hopped away.  And it flat out ran once Lana started yelping for us to let her loose!

We had a great two hour dinner with Dave and Jayn, digging further into our respective collections of misadventures and near misses.  It was a very pleasant way to spend an evening and a very welcome break from the usual routine.  And as luck would have it, as we left the restaurant the skies had once again opened up (fortunately, this was just a passing shower and not a sign for us to start building our Ark).  So we set a new record for the number of people we've crammed into our loaded van, and I suspect they were relieved that their hotel was only a few hundred feet up the road!