Louisiana

So a few days ago we finally crossed the border into Louisiana.

That night we had a little celebration with the customary map burning after 25 days in the Lone Star State.



The next day was an easy 50 to Kinder, LA. The terrain has been flat and the shoulders, for the most part, have been wide and smooth since the border. We were careful not to go too far off the road into the swamp that surrounded us.

This was David's last day in the saddle so he led us in for the last ten miles. It was great to ride with you David, I'm glad you made it out.

David (Spinner)

We got in early that day so we played some shuffleboard at the RV park...


The next day, we changed our route slightly so we could make it to Baton Rouge a day early. We took hwy 190 east and the shoulder was nice for a while but it disappeared at one point and we had to put our trust in our fellow human beings, that they would be paying attention...It worked out for us. As we slowly passed the Louisiana countryside we kept seeing large fields filled with water and reeds sticking up. Every ten or so feet there were the tops of what looked like some kind of trap. Then we saw some guy in a boat in this field.

We found out that these were craw fish fields and this dude was harvesting crawfish. Welcome to Louisiana. We ended up in Opelousas, LA and we stayed at the city park right next to the ball field, classy.

Side note: We have seen an unusual array of roadkill lately. Cats, dogs, snakes, frogs, turtles, rabbits, armadillos, opossums, hawks, a coyote, and a bobcat. Just thought you'd like to know.

Today we continued on route 190 and ran into a sketchy situation. There was a fat causeway for about 5 miles. The causway had 2 lanes in each direction, a 3 inch shoulder with a concrete barrier on the edge. We considered calling the sag wagon to bypass this mess but we just went for it. Head down, big chain ring, crankin'. Dad folded up his mirror because he said he didn't want to see it coming, it being a large truck running him down. So we cranked as hard as we could in the middle of the slow lane for 4.25 miles with cars and trucks passing at 65 mph to our left, Im pretty sure my leg has never felt a burn like that. Dad said there was quite a "pucker factor."

We are now in Baton Rouge. We have been on the road for about 6 weeks and a few weeks ago I thought this trip might never end. Now that I can taste the finish, I am not sure that I want to stop when I get there. Having fun and crankin' along.

We will be chilling in this area until the 12th. On the 9th, we will take a trip to LSU in New Orleans to visit their Ataxia research labs and to meet some Ataxia friends in the area. If you are in the area and would like to attend, let me know and I will give you the details (kyle@rideataxia.org).