Hammond to Bogalusa, Louisiana (57 miles) Thursday, April 15, 2010

The morning was filled with the sounds of frogs, birds, and crickets.  Our group was five with Linda, our chef and tour leader, joining us for the first 20 miles.  Although she cannot do this often, it was a good day for her to do it.  She had to be picked up by Carol Wilder, to get to Bogalusa to work on our dinner.

As we rode, we went by the Global Wild Life Center.  We were able to see some of the animals from the gate, but since we were not able to take our bikes in, we decided to go on.

We stopped at a little cafe/store for lunch.  It seemed to be a pretty popular place for the locals.  Except for us, there were only men, and they were not sure what to think of all of us invading their place!

We went on some back roads that were awesome!  They were so remote, there were no lines or shoulders, but little traffic.  We had some interesting run-ins with dogs.  We are all learning how to yell in low, loud voices for them to "Go home!"  It usually works.  Most of them are just satisfied that they "chased us off" their property.  Sometimes, we yelled for them to "Stay!" and it seemed to work.  The only ones we were looking out for would be those who do not bark at all.  They are the serious threat, but fortunately, we have not run into any of those. 

This herd of horses was just beautiful to watch as they paced our bikes!  They must have been very well cared for because they wanted to go with us!  When I stopped, they stopped and came up to the fence to see me.  Wish I had some apples or something to give them!  I think if I had gone up to the fence, they would have allowed me to pat them on the noses!

Not too far down the route, we stopped to see these miniature donkeys.  It is difficult to tell from the photos, but they were very small!  The babies were the size of large dogs!  One came right up to see what was in my hands to eat.  What a cutie!

Every once in a while we see these signs for "Hurricane Evacuation Route."  It is a reminder that we are close to the gulf, and thoughts of Katrina make us wonder what it must have been like to be in the path of such a hurricane.

We got in early today; plenty of time to get out the games.  Amy and Karen had a game of Scrabble going.  Roberta Brown enjoyed reading her Kindle.

Tomorrow we ride to Wiggins, Mississippi for a 60 mile ride.  We will be crossing another state line!

 We have been SO lucky with weather this trip!  Aside of it being unseasonably cold these past 6 weeks, (a good thing!), we have only had one day of real rain!  At this point we are at 2,349 out of 3,200 miles so far!