Day 11 - Feb 25 - A nice day

I had burrowed myself so far down in my sleeping bag last night that I didn't realize when the sun came up. By the time I awoke it was 7:10 am. That's late! We all knew it was going to be a short day riding, so we had discussed sleeping in, but I was sure everyone else had already gotten up and packed up their stuff. Not so. Only a few had ventured out of their tents. It froze last night, so there was a coating of ice on everything, including our tents. By 7 am, it had started to melt and was dripping into our tents as condensation. That was most everyone's incentive to get up and out. Thankfully, we could convene indoors in a laundry/restroom building at the RV park where it was warm. There was a Stop 'n Rob next door, so we got large cups of coffee and hung out, waiting for the ice to thaw and the sun to dry out our tents and gear.

                                   (From left: Carol and Rosie, Me, Ryan, Bryan, Dave, and Mike)

It warmed up quickly, so we packed up and took off for Simmesport, LA., which was only 27 miles away - a thankfully short riding day. The sun was out. There was little, if any, breeze. And the terrain was flat. After we left Morganza, we rode along the Morganza Spillway, which was a pretty vast body of water. Thereafter, we passed mostly cow pastures and fallow fields.

                                                                (Morganza spillway)

It's always interesting to stop in a local grocery store or convenience store, which we do several times every day. Someone is usually intrigued by my bike and starts chatting me/us up. They are ALWAYS amazed at how far we've come and at our intended destination. We usually pull away with someone telling another person at the store what we're up to. So far, everyone has been very, very nice.

                                                     (I love to shop among the wildlife)

                                                                  (Typical scenery)

                                                   (A post office in the middle of nowhere)

We got to Simmesport around 1 pm and did a little grocery shopping, then we went to a restaurant and ate lunch -- all 6 of us. The city park we're staying at tonight was just down the road, but we had to call town hall to get them to unlock the restrooms and turn on the water. They were very speedy in both regards and even sent someone to clean the restrooms, though I'm using the word "clean" loosely, since the restrooms are pretty dilapidated to begin with. But, hey, it's free. I'm trying not to be such a snob about it all, but it's hard, since I've had a lifestyle to which I've become accustomed. And this ain't it!

                                                         (Ryan playing his harmonica)

We're sitting around now, eating dinner, watching the sun set. It's getting colder and colder, but it's not supposed to be as cold tonight as it was last night. Actually, it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I'm not sure what we're going to do -- hang out here or ride in the rain. If we move on, our next stop will be Washington, LA, which is 57 miles away -- so a long way. We'll be staying at Willie's Washington Campground. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Okay, my hands are icebergs typing this post, but I'm going to try to attach photos to this post. I hope it works. In fact, I have extremely sketchy cell service, so I'm not sure I'm even going to be able to post tonight, but we'll see. Wish me luck.

Talk at you tomorrow. Goodnight.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone