I had no trouble riding into Baton Rouge this morning; I crossed the Mississippi around noon.  I got off the highway onto the Business Route, which was named on street signs as Scenic Hwy.  It led me past all sorts of refineries and auto scrapyards and other scenic places on the way to downtown.

I went and paid my respects to the Mississippi at its downtown bank.  The current is much faster than I expected it would be here, about 10 mph.  All the tugboats on the river idled their engines while a paddlewheeler of tourists gave a calliope concert; as soon as the music stopped, the barges started moving again.

The downtown library didn't have the maps I was looking for, so they sent me to a larger branch that was on my way to the campground.  The second library turned out not to carry the maps either, so I'll have to look for them in New Orleans.  I ran some other errands on the way out of town but started to get anxious about setting up camp, as a cold front was blowing in.

When I got to the campground, there was no one in its office.  A sign advised me to go ahead and set up, so I did so at the far end of the lot.  There were a lot of spiders in the grass, but they were harmless, so I went ahead and set up.  I had everything situated and was about to have some dinner when the owner showed up and told me they no longer allow tents!  She wouldn't make an exception and told me noplace else in town would take me, either.  I had no choice but to pack up and leave as the sun was setting.

Fortunately there was a motel just a mile farther down the road, and the owner gave me a rather foul-smelling suite for the price of a regular room.

26.6 mi