Day# 10: Tupelo to Tishomingo State Park- 48.37 miles

300 MILES

We broke camp early and headed back into Tupelo for breakfast and to find a Walmart.  Very different traffic scene on Sunday morning and we were able to stay on the main road and head straight to IHOP with no problems.  We parked our bikes and went inside and were seated.  We waited and waited for our waitress and finally was asked who seated us where we were sitting.  Seems that the waitress was working four tables on the other side of the restaurant and couldn't/wouldn't wait on us where we were sitting.  Don't mess with four cyclers who have not yet had coffee.  We argued, waited and then gave up and left.  Went next store to Walmart for a few provisions and then made our way back towards the Trace to Waffle House where we were greeted with open arms and a hot pot of coffee!  The cooks and waitresses put on quite the show and we were entertained while we waited for our food.  Charlotte finally got her blueberry waffle instead of a pancake.  We ate like it was going to be our last meal.  Two eggs, bacon, ham or sausage, hash browns, toast and waffles.  And lots of coffee.  Today was scheduled to be a long ride and we were not going into it hungry.  We were soon on the road again to Tishomingo.  

We took the day in five mile segments and stopped at Pharr Mounds for lunch.  We saw the Twentymile Bottom Overlook and crossed over the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway.   The Tenn-Tomm Waterway is deeper than the Panama Canal and stretches  the Tennessee River all the way down to the Gulf.  It is one of the Nation's largest public works projects.    We reached mile marker 300 and stopped for a picture. 

 Only 5 more miles to our campground, Tishomingo State Park where we had previously made arrangements to camp, but with rain coming we were able to reserve a cabin for one night instead of camping.  Thank you to Claire for working to find us a dry place to stay as it seemed like everyone was trying to do the same thing.  We pulled into the checkpoint where Claire greeted us jumping up and down waiving her arms "you made it!" she exclaimed.  So nice to be greeted like this.  We felt like celebrities.  We asked about staying a second night.  Not a problem.  Perfect.  Only thing is, she apologized was that the cabins are located three miles into the park at the top of a long winding hill that surely must have been a 45 degree angle up.  The first two miles were bikeable but we gave up and pushed the last mile so as to save our knees.  We now have a day off scheduled.  Tishomingo State Park was built in the 1930's and the rock cabins were part of a CCC project.  It's a very cool cabin with rock walls, flagstone floors and a large rock fireplace in both the bedroom and the den.  We have two porches, one where we've parked our bikes out of the rain and the other with a porch swing and a couple of chairs.  Nice spot to sip coffee and watch the rain.  After back to back 40+ mile days this is perfect place to rest and relax.