Vapor

I had not gone much further north of Gulfport on hwy 90 so I decided to take a look see. Well now I know what thats like. I thought the destruction along 90 in Gulfport was incredible. How naive that thougt was. I have never seen destruction like the 15 miles of coastline I road today. My chin was on my handlebars. Long Beach, Pass Christian, and Wave Land are destroyed. The wave must have come in twice as far as in Gulfport. It looks like about 3-4 blocks inland are vapor. I road west as far as I was physically allowed to go (the bridge in Waveland is out and the raod is blocked with razor wire), but I was unable to take pictures. I just could not bring myself to do it. Tommorow I will head up there and get some images.

After about 3 hours I had enough so I turned my trusty Lemond north. After about another 30 minutes I hooked up with a man in his 50s who was out on his afternoon stroll on his Motobecane. We chatted a bit about the hurricane and its damage. It is generally the first thing that comes up in new conversation. It is still very fresh in everyones mind. That may not change for years. This man gave me a little encouragement I had been looking for. He assured me that many if not most of the people living on the coast know their situation well. There is a documented history of hurricanes in this area, and these people know they will come. Certainly they hope for the best, but who could imagine that homes that have stood for almost 200 years would be washed away? I guess I dont pity the people here. But, just like many people, I am young, fit and ready to help.

After 5 hours of spinning, visual over load and chatting with my new friend I was ready to be home. Ken's house is something out of a horror flick, but I see those two red doors it means I am home. Good thing because I think I was just ripe enough for the Bayou Bandits to pick me from my tree.