Why the Rain

It's just past noon when I leave New Orleans for Birmingham. I take I-10 out and go past the Superdome and over Lake Pontchartrain and into Mississippi where the clouds begin to look gray and ominous. I hope they look dark because of my sunglasses but that is not the case when I check. As I am coming up on one of the first exits in Mississippi, which has signs for a welcome center, I consider the weather, and whether or not I should stop and see if they have maps there or just continue on. I decide to continue on. As punishment for my choice, the skies open up just as I get beyond the exit and I am getting soaked with rain with no place to pull over. I am told that the first five minutes that rain falls on a road are the most dangerous, as the initial rain fall leeches the oils and whatnot out of the road, making it its most slippery before the oils and dilute and wash away. This is not a reassuring thought to have when you are caught on a freeway in a torrential rain at sixty miles per hour. I pull off into a rest stop, but there is no shelter, so I change into my rain suit as I am getting soaked out in the open. I pull over under some trees but that is not much help and after getting rained on for awhile I decide to just go and see what happens. Eventually the rain tapers off, and it looks as if the sun is going to come out again. I get of the interstate and stop to get some lunch at a Subway. I park my bike underneath the roof sheltering the gas pumps where I can see it from the window. The rain follows me, and it is really dumping as I eat my hot sub. A chicken bacon ranch sub, to be specific. Really good but not as good as dry sunny weather. I get directions from Carrie in Birmingham, and tell her I don't know how long this rain will keep me out. After the worst of it, when the rain is lighter, I decide to take off again. I feel that the first time I got caught in the rain I was able to ride ahead of the storm, which is when I stopped, and that the sooner I got back on the road, the sooner I would be able to ride ahead of it again. The road is bad at first, but at least interstates are in a straight line so there isn't much risk of sliding out on a curve. I am eventually able to get ahead of the storm and into the sunshine, and I am determined to stay there. I am considering taking I-65 all the way into Birmingham from Mobile, instead of taking the time to do it on smaller roads. After all, I am wet, miserable, and already behind on schedule thanks to the rain and a late start on the day. I get to Mobile, and just like when I left West Baton Rouge for New Orleans, I instinctively get on 43 going north, a much smaller road. I am beginning to dry off and I take off my rain suit and let the wind blow through my jeans and jacket to dry them out. 43 seems to go forever in a mostly straight line. There isn't anything to exciting about the road, but it is quiet, except for one accident scene that confuses me. There is a car in the middle of the road, and an old woman sitting in the driver seat looking very spaced out. Neighbors are slowing cars down and there are a few vehicles on the side of the road. At first it looks like she just broke down in the middle of the road but as I pass I see some debris from the front of her car. I can't figure out what happened and no one seems to be hurt and there are a lot of people there already so I just keep going, and soon pass an ambulance zooming by me on the way there, and then a police car. I get off 43 and onto 5, an even smaller road that is much more beautiful as evening is falling. There are more dips and curves on 5 and it is a nicer ride, but the sun is setting and I am ready to get to Birmingham and quit riding for the day. I finally get to I-459 which will bring me to I-65, and to Carrie's place, but when I get off I-65 I am driving down what looks like the middle of nowhere. I am still south of the city and I wonder if I am way off. A quick phone call sets me straight and confirms that she does in fact live in an apartment complex in the middle of nowhere, which I soon find and I am very grateful to arrive.