Day 21: Shepherd, TX, 50 miles

Compared to the night before this was a fabulous motel. Very quiet and comfortable. We left after our continental breakfast about 7:15.

This area is noted for what they call the Big Thicket. To be honest, for Oregonians it was not too impressive. But our route took us on farm roads which were flat and very little traffic.  If this was close to our home it would be a regular bike route for us--a great bike route.

The weather remained cool all day. We had our 50 miles by noon so we get an afternoon rest before starting again tomorrow. We are going off route tomorrow because the only hotel available on route has no vacancies. Our goal is Montgomery which is about 50 miles again.

Day 20: Kountze TX, 41 miles

We started our day with breakfast in our motel room:

Luckily at 15 miles we were able to have a good "second breakfast".

The riding conditions were almost ideal although cold so we had many layers of clothes. Route was flat and the road was smooth with good shoulders. 

We Arrived at our destination town shortly after noon. Since there are no restaurants close to our hotel we ate a large lunch before checking into our room. It was a buffet which encouraged us to sample a lot of good things--including peach cobbler with ice cream.

Tonight we will eat light out of our pannier  "stash".  Tomorrow our planned route is about 50 miles to Shepherd Texas.

Day19: Kirbyville, Texas. 44 miles

We left about 7:30. It was  34° and dry.

We had about 20 miles left of Louisiana.

The part of Texas that we go through is about 1000 miles. 

It stayed cool most of the morning; but about 11 o'clock the sun started to come out.  Just as we came into the town where we are staying we found a home town restaurant.  The new food item for us was black-eyed peas. It was a great meal.

We are now having our destinations and by lodging. Tomorrow our goal is Kountze, TX  which is about 41 miles.

Rest Day on DeRitter, LA

It is raining and cold here--we are snug in our motel resting. The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow.

Day 18: DeRidder, LA; 38 miles

We purposely got a late start this morning because of weather predicted to be freezing rain. It was 34 degrees when we started riding at about 10 am. We also wanted to wait for the restaurant to open. We had such good food last night we wanted to have their breakfast also. A retired pharmacist who spoke with us at dinner last night came for breakfast to say goodbye and good luck.

The ride was uneventful for which we are thankful--no flat tires! It was cold with a north wind.

The "crop" in this area is pine trees. We were told they plant them 8 feet apart and harvest after about 30 years. 

We had a great snack on our route--it is a treat to find a restaurant when we don't expect and a good opportunity to warm up.

We are spending two nights here since rain is predicted and we have a nice Best Western hotel and lots of food nearby. We can pace ourselves now since we meet Sharon's brother and his wife in Austin March 6. We are about 25 miles from the Texas border--which will be about 1000 miles total for us.

Day 17: Oberlin LA, 68 miles

Once again our options for breakfast were limited--so McDonald's did the trick. I must say their oatmeal is really quite good--but has to be supplemented with more food for a morning of cycling.

We rode through a state park. The weather was cold in the 30s but no rain. there was cold wind but it was often at our back. At 30 miles we stopped at Walmart and got two more patch kits for our tubes. We celebrate the day because we got no flats!!

Are plans were to stop in Mamou  at 44 miles. We were there by one and the motel was somewhat sketchy. There was no food within 3 miles so we continued riding to Oberlin, another 24 miles.

We passed a lot of crawfish farms and also some rice fields. We were told they plant the rice by airplanes guided by lasers.

Again we had some very bad roads and by the time we reached this town we were cold and hungry. There was a great diner open in the town and we fed ourselves well before checking into the motel. They had just taken a pecan pie out of the oven so we brought a piece for later. 

There Is only one motel in town and it was $40 cash--seems to be clean and fills the bill. May have to stay two nights because the weather is predicted to be icy tomorrow. They have canceled the schools because of the weather. We will evaluate in the morning. Our next  stop is DeRitter 39 miles. That is our last stop before Texas.

Day 16: Bunkie, Louisiana; 59 miles

We started this morning expecting to have breakfast at McDonald's across the street from our hotel. It was not open--so we started riding with a quick banana and yogurt. Down the road we found a casino with an open restaurant. Ron gambled while we waited for our food--doubled his money! (He only put in a dollar). We were pleased to have beignets.

We expected the ride to be 44 miles today. We took a more direct route and arrived at 30 miles. I thought the scenery looked a lot like Oregon

We had two flat tires in the first 12 miles . The roads are full of debris and most of the flats are caused by glass fragments. Sharon's first flat tire, however was a 3 inch nail that it went in the tube and came out part way. She stopped when she heard the clicking and had to use pliers to pull it out. In many areas the road was very bumpy and in poor condition.

When we reached our intended destination the Sportsman motel was horrible. We ended up getting a credit and rode to the next town which was 29 miles further. We had already stopped and gotten groceries for the night so we were fully loaded for the last mileage.

We passed some cotton fields. They had already been harvested but Sharon had to pick some anyway.

Ron is doing a lot of patching of our tubes. We now have had seven flat tires and that is more than we expected. But physically we are in good shape & still considering it a nice adventure! 

We did not see any restaurants that were open today since it was Sunday so we cooked in our room ("haystacks") and treated ourselves to cake!

Tomorrow we will probably go to Mamou which is about 37 miles.

Day 15: New Roads Louisiana,39 miles

We slept well at the B&B and left about 7:45 AM.  

We knew we only had about 35 miles but rain was threatening. The wind is what made the trip difficult especially the last 15 miles.  2 Flat tires did not help either--there was lots of glass on the shoulder of the road and with the wind we could not always avoid it. 

We crossed the MissIssippi. There was a new bridge over the river and it was very long but quite an engineering fete.

We had Louisiana gumbo and it was delicious.

Tomorrow we go to Simmesport which should be about 44 miles. 

Day 14: Clinton Louisiana, 60 miles

We started our day at the "sugar shack" for breakfast. Ron has not learned to like grits--Sharon enjoyed hers.

The sugar shack also was a bakery and we got a very nice apple fritter for our mid morning snack.

The weather was very nice for riding. There were quite a few Rolling hills and quite a bit of traffic but we kept safe.

I don't know why Some of  Louisiana bury above ground.

We had calculated the ride to be 52 miles--so we were disappointed when it was further. All of the restaurants are 2 miles uphill from our bed and breakfast so we are settling for the deli at the local gas station. Menu: Fried chicken,fried fish, potato salad, coleslaw, red beans & rice, dinner rolls.

This is a historic town. The courthouse below was built in 1840 and is still used.

We are staying at a B & B built in 1902. It is a huge house and we are the only guests so the entire house is ours. The owners live 5 miles away. Tomorrow we expect to have a shorter day to New Roads.

Day 13: Franklinton Louisiana, 64 miles

When we last blogged we had finished a hard day with the wind. We did not even want to go out for food so we ordered into our hotel Pizza Hut. We could hear the wind howling through our windows.

It was 31° when we started riding this morning about 7 AM. Thankfully there was very little wind. We did have quite a few rolling hills.  Plenty of warm clothes so we do not get cold. most of those clothes on all day because it's remained cool.

We are now in Louisiana.

We had our second flat of the trip--this time it was on Sharon's back tire.

We are in the part of Louisiana that has limited lodging so our distances will depend on when the motels are available.  This motel is close to a laundromat so once again we have clean clothes.

ThIs part of the country also has limited restaurants other than fast food. We were delighted to see a local Mexican restaurant midday. It had great food and lots of it. 

Tonight we will snack on food that we had in our packs since there are no restaurants in walking distance.

Tomorrow we will stay in a B & B in Clinton Louisiana. Our mileage is now over 700. 

Riding day 12: Wiggins, MS, 44 miles

We didn't want to leave the golf coast without having some good seafood. So last night we went to a recommended restaurant and I had crabcakes and oysters with our salad. It was so good we would have gone again if we were still in town. Sharon is modeling the hat that was thrown from one of the Mardi Gras floats yesterday.

Biloxi got hit very bad in the Katrina hurricane 10 years ago. The motel where we stayed had 25 feet of water. We asked where to walk to see the downtown and we were told that there isn't much downtown because of the storm. Many of the buildings that look older are reproductions because they were destroyed.

We had quite a stash of Mardi Gras beads we gave them away to some guests in the hotel who said they will cycle them by throwing them from a parade float next year.

We kept a few for our bicycle decorations.

Now to tell you about today--we left at 7 AM in 30 degree weather. Temperature was not the problem it was the wind. We stopped after seven hours of battling the wind.  The computer shows a weather warning for High winds here. It has 14ph winds now mostly headwinds all day. One wind gust stopped both of us. Our speeds were pretty slow!  But we are safe and in a nice Hampton Hotel.

At 4 pm it is now 54° with 16 mph winds.

Rest day in Biloxi--happy Mardi Gras!

We did not do much today except went to a great Mardi Gras parade. tomorrow we head north to Poplarville to reconnect with our Southern tier bike route.

It was a cold 34° with wind we bundled well waiting for the parade.

The main event of the parade is the Mardi Gras beads throwing & catching. Ron and I got hundreds of necklaces!

It was fun.