Day 45-47– 4/15-17/2019— New Orleans LA —2300 miles ridden total! Only 700 miles and 13 riding days to St. Augustine FL!! Yesterday we rode up into Mississippi before driving to New Orleans for a two-day layover. New Orleans is huge, green, and a pleasure to explore. We stayed at the luxurious Madison St Charles. I got a new chain and cassette for my bike, Paul went to the WWII museum, and we all listened to street music, tried beignets, and walked the French Quarter and Garden District. We’ve had crawfish, gumbo,omelets—food on every block. Here is this biker’s view of the last eleven days:
Day 34-37–4/5-8/2019–to La Grange, Navasota, Cold Springs and Silsbee TX — We rode into Bastrop and out into two hilly, burned state parks. The day was highlighted by a stop at Winchester 1912 bar for lemonade and hot fries. We camped at a RV Park. Next day there were huge thunderstorms in the morning, but then tailwinds for riding through miles and miles of antique fairs from Rutersburg to Gay Hill (30 miles). We were too wet to stop with hundreds of pick-up trucks. We had more thunderstorms and a tornado watch the next morning. Only Dan was strong enough to ride in front of the storm. We reached colorful, well equipped cottages near Cold Springs. Next morning there were more tailwinds! And we rode a flat 75 miles to Red River RV Park with rain showers. We finished the day with amazing fish meal by Shannon and Denise.
Day 38-40—4/9-11/2019–to Merryville, Oberlin, and Chicot State Park LA—Merryville had a historical museum and they invited us to stay in their yard. Local kids rode their bikes over to see us. One little boy asked Kimo where we were going. Kimo said “New Orleans” and the boy said “we use a car for that.” That night the museum prepared a huge dinner of Cajun specialties —gumbo, corn, desserts AND a full breakfast before we left. This was a very special small town; our intro to Louisiana. We rode two more long days through very small towns and flatter terrain. There were many fields of rice and crawfish. We camped in a city park, and next day rode through more prosperous looking farms and very poor, small towns to reach Chico’s State Park. We saw alligators in the swamp there and had a huge thunderstorm. Paul and Dan’s tents were destroyed. They ordered new ones to be delivered overnight.
Day 41-44—4/12-15/2019–to Simmesport, Jackson, Franklinton LA and Poplarville MS—Only 52 miles of farmland to ride through today. This is the world’s largest crawfish producing area. More thunderstorms forecast so we stayed the night in another church in Simmesport and dried out. Tom and Joe saw the huge storm coming and booked a Best Western in Stfrancisville. The next day, most of the group got in a good ride across the Mississippi. Luckily, the bulk of the storm went around us. Next day we had a wonderful ride through back roads to Franklinton. I learned that Paul is a “dog whisperer.” When a group of three dogs come out (who wants to chase bikes alone), he calmly says “hey big fella” and they peel off to side. If he is ahead and dogs come for me, he speeds up around and rides directly for their neck. If Paul sees dogs on a porch debating the chase, he holds up on finger like a pistol, and they stay there! We camped on the county fair grounds in Franklinton, and in a sketchy former FEMA camp in Poplarville before we headed to New Orleans.
What are you eating?— We may be eating a little too well (see pic below). Tom maintains an ACA software program that randomly selects two riders responsible for the evening meal, and for set-up and clean-up of supplies for our breakfast and lunch. The next day, another two riders are responsible. A chart for two weeks of duties are posted on “WhatsApp.” Naturally, some of us balked initially, mentally at this. Glenn announced the first day that the only thing he can make is “reservations.” However, over time we are all chopping vegetables, making pasta, frying meat and demanding berries with the best of them. Joe loves to shop and if we give him a list, he will find a good store. We each have our own mess kit. We each make our own sandwiches, and pack fruit, bars, and cookies.We’re up at 6AM, packing our tents and eating breakfast at 7AM. Of course we live by the weather, so we may eat out. Plus, on our bikes, we stop every couple of hours when riding especially if we see an unusual convenience store.
