Day 16 - dauphin island

This from tues 12/15

I finally made it to the beach! I had been within 50 or 60 miles of the gulf a few times, but hadnt smelled the salty sea air until today. Now, as I lay in my tent I can hear the constant din of a wind-angered surf.
Last night the pipes had frozen at the lovely white sands rv resort, so there was no water. I had about 20 oz left, 12 for my 3 packs of instant oats, and 8 for my instant coffee. Doing dishes required residual water from the hose. I purposefully did not fill everything before I got there, but its always good to have water!  I also found a can of dr. thunder (probably years old) in my lodging and drank half.
I rode mostly southeast from vancleave, with strong crosswinds on my right side blowing me towards the road all day. In missippi, I was given no quarter by drivers on their shoulderless roads, and it was not much better once I crossed into alabama. The route wasnt too well traveled but there was a marked increase in car traffic as I got closer to water. Anytime I get within 60 miles of water I start noticing that the houses are nicer, the cars are nicer, the roads are nicer and there seems to be more money in general.
Most of the ride was really nice, if a bit windy. At one point I took an unpaved shortcut over 2.5 miles of red, silty dirt. It was the nicest part of the day by far.
After I hit the west side of mobile bay I turned due south and into the 20 mph wind. There were about 10 miles to go at that point and it took me every bit of an hour to ride it. The bridge to dauphin island goes over the main shipping entrance to mobile bay. Its 4 miles long and high enough to accomodate huge freight vessels into the port. Needless to say, climbing this bridge into the wind was a leg burner.
I was so elated to be on the island that I rolled right past the grocery store and into the campground. Camping is illegal anywhere else on the island, and the one campground is run by the city. Sounds like a racket to me! I set up my tent, unloaded my bike, and rolled back into town to get some food. When I came back, who should I see but another cyclist camped right next to me. Dan, from wisconsin, started in orlando and was headed west. We had just made dinner together when we were approached by one of the RVing snowbirds offering leftovers from their fish fry. They had caught too many fish that day, so we reaped the bounty. There were also hush puppies (someone had a deep fryer in their rv) corn, beans, sweet potatoes and german chocolate cake. Watching us scarf down all the remaining food, one woman remarked that watching us eat made her miss her sons. I think thats the basis for a lot of the kindness I receive.
Tomorrow is an easy day, with a ferry ride and a few miles of riding. The chance of rain for friday is good, so I might adjust plans and try to get something inside-ish. Either way, Im looking forward to a relaxing seaside ride!