Riding in Louisiana

30 pound bags of crawfish just harvested

Boat setting traps for crawfish

April 9 - DeRidder to Ville Platte - 79 miles. I took the first shift driving and pulled out following the instructions that the guys had written out for me. After about 30 miles, the names of the towns were not what was written. I soon discovered that I was on the wrong highway going the wrong direction. But so were the bikers. I was able to turn around and head back and soon found the bikers and waved them down. We carried the bikes across the four lane highway and loaded them up to return back to the starting point of the day. We finally got going the right direction and all was well. I waited for them in a small town called Oberlin where there was one cafe. I spent the next 2 hours talking with the locals and even tried their gumbo soup. (good but spicy). They told me that in their town it was real cajun cooking and the owner, and cook, learned to cook before he could walk. All his recipes were from his mother and grandmother. He said that the further south the recipes are "booked cajun". It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about but he soon told me the difference. He was so nice that he gave us 4 serving of peach cobbler, made fresh that morning, and wouldn't take any money for them. What a delight to spend the morning chatting with locals. The ride was also a pleasure and we learned more about how crawfish are harvested. They set traps and harvest once a day. Each trap gets about a pound. The guy we talked to gets about 1000 pounds a day from his field. He said his father has so much land that he gets 3000 - 4000 pounds a day harvested. What a cash crop. When not harvesting crawfish (they are seasonal), the fields are then tilled for rice production. Flat and head winds.

April 10 Ville Platte to Simsport - 75 miles. Dawn and I together drove the motor home to St Francisville which will be our home for the next few nights and the closest campground. We had to drive down toward Baton Rouge to get there to avoid a ferry crossing (the motor home and car were to long for the ferry). Then I took the car to pick up the guys at Simsport which was another 1 1/2 hour drive. We got to cross in a small ferry and they only charged $1 and the return trip was free. There was an older gal selling roasted and boiled "goober peas" (peanuts) to the cars waiting in line for the ferry. We tried the roasted and they were pretty tasty. Also sampled the boiled peanuts and they tasted real mushy. What a hard way to make a living. Again the guys said the ride was flat and the usual head wind.

April 11 Simsport to St Francisville - 55 miles Dawn drove the guys back to Simsport (another

1 1/2 hour trip) to the starting point the next morning. I took the day to bike around the area of St. Francisville and visit the Audubon State Historic site and Oakley Plantation where James Audubon lived in 1821 as a tutor to the Oakley's young daughter and is where he painted 32 of his Birds of America drawings. The Oakley Plantation was well preserved and gave you a sense of plantation life. At its peak, (early 1800's) it was a 3200 acre cotton plantation and had 250 slaves working the plantation. It is amazing that it survived the Civil War so intact. I also biked into Jackson to another state historic site called Centenary. Centenary was site of the College of Louisiana and was established in 1825. It also had some well-preserved building. Again its flat and head winds as usual.

April 12 - Rest Day - We spent a great day visiting the Rosedown Plantation which was another well-preserved plantation, a splendidly restored example of antebellum opulence. 3400 acres and close to 500 slaves at its peak. Not only was the main house something to see, the gardens were beautiful. At one point, the gardens, over 26 acres, were one of the top gardens in the United States. (It may still be). We then spent the rest of the day on a walking tour of St Francisville. The town has a large historic district with many historic homes. St Francisville is at the heart of Louisiana's plantations and I would have enjoyed visiting others, had we the time. We also tried our first PoBoy Shrimp sandwich along with deep fried pickles and sweet potato fries. We are finding folks so kind and polite and also seeing a lot of poverty. It really makes you appreciate what you have in life. It seems that every other home is a 50 to 60 foot mobile and not in the best of condition.

April 13 - St Francesville to Easleyville, LA - 50 miles. I drove the motor home to our destination and then hopped on my bike and rode out to meet the guys biking. Easleyville was just a stopping point with one small market that seemed to be the local stop and hub of the area. I am finding the scenery to be the same day in and day out now. Everything is green, due to the humidity, areas of forest, farms and some large homes. It appears that there is a huge split between those that have money and those that don't. Same flat roads with head winds.

April 14 - Easleyville to Bogalusha, LA - 60 miles. We are right on the border of Louisiana and Mississippi and in fact we are camping in the town of Poplarville, MS. It didn't take us long to cross Louisiana. Scenery is about the same, green, lots of trees and huge grass lawns. Everyone seems to own a ridding mower. The terrain is starting to change to rolling hills. Thats what other bikers heading west tell us. We'll soon find out for ourselves.

April 15 - Bogalusha to Wiggins, Mississippi - 60 miles - Dawn shuttled us back to Bogalusha and we biked back to the campground in Poplarville. I then drove to Wiggins and the others biked. When I arrived at the campground I went down to take a shower and when I came out of the shower there was all this comotion going on. Come to find out there was a water moccison or cotton mouth snake right outside the shower house. Lucky for me, this young guy who lives here got a big pvc pipe and chopped off his head. It was still squiggling around without its head. I ran and got my camera and got a shot. We have been hearing about these poisonous snakes but had not seen one. The folks here said this is the first one they had seen and were surprised that it was by the restrooms. Lets hope we don't see anymore. We do however, have a bet on seeing an alligator. The folks here also haven't seen one in the wild. The first one to spot an alligator gets a milkshake. Now after seeing a snake, I am not so sure how I would react to a live alligator. Last night in the shower a frog jumped out of the shower curtain and scared me half to death. Better leave well enough alone. Russ also saw a snake today, however it was just a common black snake. The ride was as advertised, rolling hills and the same ol' head wind. I (Russ) believe that riding west to east in an "El Nino" year is a bad mistake. As I told Mike yesterday when he ask about directions, I stated that "We just turn into the wind and we couldn't go wrong."

We have noticed how many folks live full time in the campgrounds that we are staying in. Today I found out why many of them are there. It is because of Katrina and many people lost everything and can't get back up on their feet. This one gal told me that all the news was about New Orleans but actually it really struck hardest in Gulfport, Mississippi and left most homeless. We will be on the coast in a few days and I am curious to see if they have rebuilt.