Day 2 - April 13 - Gulf State Park, AL to Dauphin Island, AL - Crossing the T.....Part One

April 13, 2024

Day 2 - April 13 - Gulf State Park, AL to Dauphin Island, AL

Wastin’ Away in Margaritaville

John’s Story

Margaritaville? Really? Well, Jimmy Buffett was born in Pascagoula, MS (on our route tomorrow) and spend part of his childhood in Mobile, AL (up the road north of here), so yeah. Lots of white sand around here, shrimp boiling, and the like. He had to get his ideas from somewhere.

On the road about 8:40 this morning. Yesterday’s headwind is gone. When it starts to come back it should be a tailwind.

No gators last night, but something did gnaw a hole in my pannier carrying my food. Just a small hole, but still. Even though it was hung from a hook on a pole. Probably a squirrel.

First, today’s flora.

Pretty sure Bill ID’d this for me last year.

Plenty of straight roads with sandy right of way. We had a narrow rideable shoulder all day.

Occasional a tree eclipses it’s neighbors (or escapes the loggers saw).

Not sure I needed to know this while driving on the highway.

We did not take time to explore any of the old defensive emplacements…

Made it to the ferry 5 miles earlier than Ed expected. He was looking at the cue for the other end of the ferry ride.

Plenty of Mobile Bay Ferry etiquette to learn.

No, that’s not the ferry. But they do produce the fuel the ferry uses.

Don’t get stuck between the ferry and the piling. Keep you hands to yourself!

Some mathematician out there can analyze the vibration pattern in this water puddle on the ferry deck. The vibration of the ferry was almost nauseating.

Just after I get this shot of the pelican I saw several dolphins porpoising in the waves. No picture. Just pretend you see them.

After arriving on the island we sought out lunch at the golf course clubhouse restaurant, then backtracked to our WarmShowers host’s house. Very wonderful retired couple with a beautiful house. They served us a great dinner. We each have a bedroom. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Ed’s Story

I hit the sack about 8 o’clock last night. I was exhausted. Finally got brave enough to go outside outside the tent at 11 o’clock to let nature take its course. Made sure I looked for alligators and snakes before I got out of the tent.

I ended up getting up about 5:30 because I had way more than enough sleep. John decided to sleep in. I had my tent packed and my breakfast eaten by the time he decided to get up. We only had 28 miles to ride today so it didn’t cause a big delay.

The first 12 miles were on a bike trail. Stopped for coffee at about the 8 mile point. As it was already warming up, I had a cold brew with oat milk.

We saw several other cyclists on the trail, however, they were all heading toward us not toward the ferry. I saw one gentleman riding on the road next to the yellow line in the oncoming traffic lane. That is really crazy.

Left the coffee shop and continued riding toward Fort Morgan where the ferry was. It was not as built up on this ride as we saw yesterday. Lots of dunes. Where there were houses or people were building, the houses were very colorful.

It was a much more enjoyable ride today because we did not have the headwind we had yesterday.

John kept stopping to take pictures. Looking at my GPS showed the ferry was still a significant way away and I had a concern but we would not make it for the 11:45 ferry. Next thing I know we’re in a turning lane for the ferry. It turns out the mileage I was looking at was for the ferry terminal on Dauphin Island not the one at Fort Morgan.

One of the many oil rigs filling up Mobile Bay

John protecting the bikes; not that anyone could take them off the ferry.

The ferry took about 40 minutes to go across Mobile Bay. There were two other cyclists on the ferry with us. There were about half a dozen cyclists waiting to get on the ferry to travel to Fort Morgan.

As we approached the island in the distance, you could see the bridge we are going to have to take tomorrow. It is 3 miles long.

Had lunch and a beer and then headed to our WarmShowers host’s (Duane and JoAnn) house. We stowed our gear, showered, talked for a while, and then headed to church.

Our host’s beautiful house. It is 12 ft above ground level. Code has the posts sunk 12 ft deep.

As John noted dinner was great as were the soft beds. We even got our clothes washed. A great overnight.

Until tomorrow, happy biking.

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 84 miles (135 km)

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