Today was one of those days when nothing goes quite as expected.  I woke in the morning to find Opelousas blanketed in heavy fog.  I had a short day of riding ahead of me, so I decided to walk to a restaurant and get breakfast while waiting for my tent to dry.

I asked a few passersby for a restaurant that might have some local flavor (as opposed to McDonalds, which was the first place they all named when I asked about breakfast) and wound up at a greasy-spoon diner a menu that could have been anywhere in the country.  I put Tabasco sauce on my eggs.

Today's ride was upwards of 40 miles, so I budgeted the whole day for it.  Fortunately I slept soundly and woke refreshed an hour before dawn.  I was on the road before sunrise and reached my lunch stop, Rayne, before they had started serving lunch, so I just rode on.

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on January 20, 2005]

It was a mistake for me to call the night I spent in Silsbee "the coldest night of the year." That cold snap lasted for three more nights, and I continued camping out because my route was planned around campgrounds, and because I'm a stubborn fool! Between the Interstate and the railroad and the freezing temperatures and the rooster who crowed every few seconds, all night long, I slept very poorly Sunday night at the campground in Vinton. I took my time getting up and didn't hit the road until around 10:00.

Today was supposed to be a slow and easy day, but after three nights of camping in the cold I was stiff and sore and tired.  I stopped for lunch in Jennings before heading via back roads to Egan, where my map showed a campground.

A short and uneventful day today.  I rode into Moss Bluff and used the Internet for an hour, then reached my campground outside Iowa, LA by 3:30.  The campground is overpriced for what it offers, but the manager at least showed me a place where I'd be out of the wind.

22.4 mi

Between the Interstate and the railroad and the freezing temperatures and the rooster who crowed every few seconds, all night long, I slept very poorly at the campground in Vinton.  I took my time getting up and didn't hit the road until around 10:00.

I rode into the town of Sulphur, LA, and asked about the name, since I rode through Sulphur, OK a few months ago.  This one was named for sulfur mines that were here before the town was founded.

J.P. fixed me a hearty breakfast this morning, and I was on the road by sunrise.  I had a minor adventure when I tried to follow a shortcut that was shown on my map, but that turned out to be an unpaved, unmarked road through an oil field.  I gave up and went the long way around.

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on January 16, 2004]

Long message this time... some remarkable things happened!

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on January 15, 2005]

It's hard to believe it's been only a week since I left Austin! Here's what's transpired since I wrote last Friday morning...

Gypsy didn't get up until about 11:00, and she pronounced the weather unfit for a trip to Pedernales Falls, so we played a couple games of Settlers of Catan and then I rode on to Cat's. The trip took only a little over an hour, which surprised me and caused me to underestimate the following day's ride.

Right after I wrote that it was "a beautiful last night in Texas," I lay down to sleep and smelled a horrible smell... at first I thought I must have put my tent down over a previous camper's cathole; then I decided the smell was more like rotting brussels sprouts, so it must be someone's old garbage.  (Either would be plausible; this was a very "primitive" campground with no restrooms or trashcans nearby.)  But a few hours later when I stepped outside the tent, I realized the smell was everywhere... the wind had shifted, and I was downwind from a paper mill!