No camping gear to pack so after breakfast at Handi Mart I was rolling at 7:30. A slight hill to begin with bit the road leveled out and it clear sailing for a good thirty miles. Shortly after passing over the Alabama line the Tennessee River came into view. A huge river that rivals the Missouri and Mississippi. The bridge arched over had graceful appearance which added to the grandeur of the tiver. The vista on both sides of the bridge were wonderful. Had there been hills like the past three days, I might have stopped at the campsite just over the bridge. Instead I pushed onward with twenty-five miles behind me. Through the small corner of Alabama into Mississippi there were several climbers, one in particular which went for a good two miles. After breaking for lunch at a historic pull over, the remaining twelve miles I covered brought me a nice federal campsite with a shower no less. Being cloudy all day keep the heat under control but the last five miles the rain descended upon me leaving me pretty much soaked. The rangers who checked me in gave me a spot down by a nice lake one hundred feet from facilities. Upon arriving the first objective was to seek shelter at the facilities. While waiting for the rain to abate I shed my wet riding shirt, dried off and slipped on my T-shirt. Even though the rain tapered off, I assembled my tent and carried it over to my site and staked it down. A couple of trips carrying my inflated mattress, sleeping bag other sleeping gear got me set without risking getting everything wet. Next, the glorious hot shower followed by putting my wet riding clothes in a drier. Such luxury! For dinner I had enough to do the job knowing that the restaurants were a few miles away. With fifty- two miles covered today I packed up early. Tomorrow it is forty miles to Tupelo.
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