Leaving Mississippi for Alabama

I can't say I slept all that well. The stars are really good here at night. Less light pollution to block them out I suppose.
I got up at 5:30 am, had enough of tossing and turning in my tiny bivy tent.
It was lovely out, and the frogs were croaking in the wet woods.
I could see the sky lighting up in the east. Breakfast was cold dry cereal, which I actually love, so no hardship there!
At 7:05 am I was riding away from the McLeod campground, moving on. My gear was all damp from the air, not good in waterproof panniers, but figured I could dry it all out later.
There was a fog hanging, so I was glad I had a blinking rear light on my bike for extra visibility.
I rode until I found the golden arch internet hookup, (McDonalds), where I got a parfait (to justify my staying there an hour to use internet!)

I had a host lined up, but they were about 126 km farther up the coast, so I figured I had better be moving.
Most of the route just followed Hwy 90.
It was so neat to actually reach the coast! The vast expanse of water in the Gulf of Mexico. The sand was so fine and white, can't say I ever saw the like before.
I was thankful to have a tailwind most of the way. Don't know that I would've made as good time if not!
Once I got to riding along the coast I could tell it was touristy, but this is the off season. It was there the sun came out and I started getting warm and peeling off layers. This is where I realized that having a long sleeve as a base was a bad idea.
There are so many casinos! Kinda sad actually.

I really didn't do much else than ride and look around as I rode.
Not all of it was so scenic or by the coast.
There were some stretches when it was just Hwy, cars going by. I plugged into my music, but it was like distant background music, still, nice to have worship songs to distract me.
So it turns out last night was my one and only night in the state of Mississippi because today I was crossing into Alabama!
At the state sign, just when I had stopped to take a photo another touring cyclist came from the other direction. He pulled over and we chatted. He was from Isreal, cycling from Florida to New Orleans. He told me a bit about his travels. All my lovely tailwinds Apparently he only heard about WarmShowers yesterdays! Wow, he has been missing out. I suppose some people are okay with staying at Motels, but there is something about interacting with locals, being hosted.
I started feeling tired, the day was longer than I had anticipated it would be.

I should've double checked the screenshot of the map of where my hosts lived, as it was I went on and discovered to my dismay that I had gone to far and had to backtrack... Against the wind, in my dehydrated state.
I had to do a lot of self talk to push on. Dug deep.
His grace was sufficient, his power made perfect in weakness.
I was in a bad way when I got to the Wenninger's place. Just so utterly exhausted, dehydrated and needing rest in a big way.
I was welcomed in and provided for. It was awesome getting nutrition, getting cleaned up and having some down time!