We've Arrived in Louisiana!!!

Lucky for us, Kirby's friends send her a sign for each state line crossing because this is the second state we have entered which failed to have a welcome sign! As much as I loved Texas, I am happy to be in Louisiana.

The sweep's first SAG stop in our new state. It was an 80 mile day with very flat roads, relatively smooth pavement, some wind and lots of dogs! In Texas each household/ranch had at least 2 dogs, but always in a fenced in yard or on a rope. Not so in Louisiana....no fenced in yards and the dogs love to chase us. So far when I use my deep "man voice" and say "stay home" they have obeyed. We have been told that dogs will be our ever present companion/pest for the next couple of states.

Azalea's are in bloom everywhere and in a variety of colors. No more wild flowers near the edge of the road.

Lots of forest land, but different than WI - the forest is so dense that I don't see how anything even grows. Also a fair amount of swamp land....Louisiana bayou.

Passed a few farmers plowing their land. We continue to see some horses and some cattle grazing. Actually, I saw a couple Texas Long Horns in Louisiana!

Louisiana and crawfish go hand and hand. Early in the day we saw lots of mounds of mud/sand at the side of the road. A local explained that the mounds are crawfish beds. They make a mound as they search for water. The higher the mound, the deeper they had to go for water. Just before reaching the hotel we stumbled upon a crawfish diner and we just had to go in and have some. You could get boiled or raw crawfish - sold by the pound. We order boiled. The gals behind the counter had lots of fun showing us how to eat them; they are boiled in seasoned/spicy water and served with a sauce. The sweep team really enjoyed tasting the local food, but found it very messy and a lot of work to get the "meat" out.

This is what they look like when they are served on the platter; and yest, that is the eye of the crawfish.

Who can pass up a garage sale when biking across the United States? Katie and Kirby wouldn't allow me to stop....not on an 80 mile day; they said maybe on a 50 mile day. I hate to think of what treasures I passed up.

Just a fun picture along the way. Strange day weather wise. Starting out in the high 40's as we leave at 7:45. By lunch probably in low 70's, sunny, but with a breeze. Most of the afternoon was overcast and threatening storm. By 4:30 - it was fairly chilly with a few raindrops.

Today was one of the first days we had several different people get temporarily "lost". Could it be because this was the first day that the cue sheets were less than perfect ? The sweeps didn't miss a turn....you see when you are last, you get messages from others about the turns they missed, etc. Speaking of being last, Free Enterprise seems to have given up the idea of trying to take over the sweep job - guess they realized it isn't as easy as it looks!

Time to sign off. Another 83 mile day tomorrow, I no longer need my beauty sleep because helmet hair and bike clothes have ruled out beauty....but I do need lots of sleep for energy!