Jake across America – Into the State of Louis XIV

26 Mar 09 – Day Twenty-Nine. A difficult 63 miles due to rather nasty weather both externally (it is spring and windy, occasionally rainy, and sometimes really windy) and internally (in Jake’s intestines).

27 Mar 09 – Day Thirty. They left Texas today but not exactly in a blaze of glory. After about 41 miles into the day’s ride, Jake’s intestinal tract finally said no more and subsequently deposited his previous few meals along the side of the road somewhere in southeast Texas (good place for a historical marker). Marty managed another 45 miles after Jake gave it the old heave ho and as a plus Jake got to visit (via a rental car) the Beauregard Hospital in DeRidder, Louisiana (in Beauregard Parish). And what is DeRidder famous for (besides having a visiting green cyclist)? Each cell in the local pokey had a toilet, shower, lavatory and window – for some reason the jail was closed in 1982 (too long a waiting list?).

28 Mar 09 – Day Thirty-One. With Jake’s nausea left on the road in Texas, the intrepid pair cycled on through lower Louisiana and managed to put another 76 miles behind them before spending the night in Ville Platte. They’ve now covered nearly 2000 miles (1966) and should have less than 1000 miles to go.

29 Mar 09 – Day Thirty-Two. On the road again. Through the famous (or is it infamous) Opelousas (think creole, acadian, zydeco), across the Mississippi and on into Baton Rouge, the capital of a state of mind as much as a political entity and home to LSU. And there’s so much history, and uh, a sort of textured culture in this part of Louisiana that it literally drips off the trees (Oh, so that’s what that was).

30 Mar 09 – Day Thirty-Three. Incommunicado…again. Those pesky aliens are still at it. A total of about 2125 miles behind them and they’re almost into Mississippi. Florida’s just a few of days away now.

Tags: cross country

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