Rhodri continues to introduce us to new phrases, drawing on his Queen's English. Yesterday as we passed through a tiny town, he pronounced it a "dog and bucket town". Waiting for dinner last night, he said he could "Eat a scabby billy goat".
All day yesterday we sensed rain was coming. When we exited the restaurant, it had started pouring. Fortunately we had prepared our tents and secured cooking gear and food bins in anticipation. It
rained most of the night and dropped to 40 degrees. The rain stopped by 6:30 am, when riders began to stir. Out came our tights, fleeces and long-fingered gloves. Hard to believe two days ago we were concerned about hydrating and staying cool.
We rode 86 miles today, including in my case seven bonus miles (more below). We had a north / east shifting headwind most of the day, with some nasty gusts. Our route took us through Chicot State Park, then east through Cottonport, which is on a river and reflects the history of the area. We passed fields of corn but no cotton was visible. We're out of the rice fields now.
It was a good day to see birds. After the rain the ditches were overflowing. They held numerous white egrets, a white heron (great white egret), and black-bellied whistling-ducks (red beak and legs, white slash on wing and black belly).
Incidentally, Rhodri had to get up last night, and said the campground looked like an armadillo convention, with a possum or two. The night before we hosted raccoons.
I continue to enjoy seeing the Cajun foods. Note the photos of the menu at Memee's Cafe in Moreauville, and of gumbo, dirty rice and jambalaya mixes on a grocery shelf in Innis.
Adventure Cycling likes to route us on back roads, to avoid major highways. Today's route had many turns, and seven of us missed one. Hence the seven bonus miles. We were riding below levees for the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers. This was frustrating, since we wanted to see the rivers, and the levees were fenced off since they are used for pastures.
Near Innes we passed St. Stephen's Episcopal church, that looked right out of a Jane Austen novel in the English countryside. The church was built in 1859 using hand-made bricks; its stained glass windows are from England. Confederate soldiers are buried in the adjoining cemetery.
Bob G and Linda cooked tonight. Ham, pineapple, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and cheesecake were on the menu. It went fast!
Tomorrow we cross a bridge over the Mighty Mississippi, a milestone in our journey.
Bruce
No comments:
Post a Comment