Woke to the sound of rain!!!!  Rain !! Rain!!! Rain!!!! . . . for the next 5 days. Today was 80-100% depending on the local location. Only 30, of the 315 riders, rode today, the rest taking the buses and sags into Lafayette.  Denver Tom and I chose to ride.

Finally saw, close up, one of the rigs used to harvest the crawdads . . . big motor that powers . . .

. . . a hydraulic motor. The fins on the paddle wheel are only 4-8 inches long. They put up a heck of a plume as they are motoring around the ponds.

In between the raindrops I was able to take a few photos including this pile of stuff lined up outside a couple of double wide trailers . . .

. . . that also had another personal helicopter . . .

. . . some people REALLY have their priorities right!!!!

Not sure what this guy was doing with this Minuteman missile out in his front yard. Maybe he can see Russia from his deck!!!

Another species listed . . . have seen a lot of these poor feller’s, but most were not ‘photo presentable’!

Interesting, folks build their houses down here, even newer ones like this, on cement pilings. No basements, so I guess this is the construction method of choice. Could make it easier to ‘re-level’ a house if it gets out of whack.

They say all roads lead to Rome . . .

. . . sort of a theme going on here!!

First gauge like this we have seen since mid TX . . .

I’m not sure this ‘dillo was actually hit . . . he may just be sleeping it off after a long night of partying, thus the Mardi Gras beads.

Some people in LA are doing just fine . . .

The ride, for those of  us who rode, ended in Scott, LA.  I was the first one in!!!!  No food available because the buses and vans were busy ferrying people and bikes to Lafayette, so I decided just to ride another nine miles to Lafayette. Only 170 feet of elevation gain today, stretched over 49 miles. This crossing over the interstate probably accounted for 40 feet of it!!!

Tomorrow we are back on route to New Roads, LA. 100%  chance of rain!!!!

We woke to rain and as you can see from the graphics below  . . .  rain was the order of the day . . .

Going to be wet for the next week. Hope we don’t grow gills!!! Barb headed out today, as did Brian and Karen.  We will miss them!!! We are back to the core group and we are heading northeast. We’ll be veering off the ACA trail for several days in order to break up some of the 90+ mile days we would have had. After our break in New Orleans we need to get back in riding shape again!!!

Finally the rain slowed a bit, so at 9:30am and it was time to finally pack up and make a dash for it. 1/2 mile down the road one of our gang wiped out around a flooded corner!!! Road rash, a couple of scrapes on the leg but luckily no head or other injuries. However, the derailleur hanger was bent so it meant an emergency run to the local bike store for a quick repair.

Soon it was time to duck in for some lunch . . . I had a pastrami sub . . . about 1/2 pound of meat!!!

Oh yeah . . . there were a few challenges on the ride today, besides the rain. ACA lays out their routes for various reasons, one which is safety. We are off the route. Here is a bridge we had to cross that at least had a shoulder. Five miles down the road there was a 4 mile long bridge over a bayou with NO SHOULDER. Quite dangerous, so a call was made to the local Sheriff’s department who provided an police escort across the bridge. NICE!!!! Hopefully we will not have anymore surprises like this for the next 3 days. Once we get to Dauphin Island, we are back on route!!!

Speaking of route . . . when we came to the Mississippi River in New Roads,  there was a Mississippi River Trail sign. The route starts in MN and follows the river all the way to New Orleans which is just south of us. Fun to see the sign . . . a nice memory from home!!!

Went to eat tonight at Satterfield’s where we were introduced to Omar . . . a local legend!!!

Denver Tom couldn’t pass up the five for 7 dollar special!!!!

The name of the game tonight . . . try to dry things out. 80% change of heavy rain tomorrow morning  (1-2 inches) . . . then tapering to thunderstorms. Batten down the hatches!!!!

Woke at 5:00am. No Rain!!! Checked the weather app on my phone . . . said drizzle at 5:30am . . . they sort of got it right. At 5:45am it started raining . . . another wet day. Denver Tom and I went downtown to eat breakfast while the rest at cereal in their room. By the time we were done eating at 8:00am, we were fueled and ready to go. We headed out. The forecast was for rain all day with most of it between noon and 4:00pm. Needed to get some miles under out belts before noon!

Right out of town, I came to another BIG bridge. Thought I had made a wrong turn north and was in Mackinaw City!!!!

. . . at least there was a good shoulder.

. . . got to the top, the rain had slowed so stopped for a few pics . . .

. . . Old Man River, the mighty Mississip! I turned to take another shot and there was a light so bright I thought I was on my way home . . . but it was lightning, followed by a deafening set of booms . . . I packed up the camera and got off the middle of the bridge . . . just as it starting pouring again!

By the time I got to Slaughter, LA I needed a little second breakfast  . . .why not stop at the Home of the PawPaw burger!!!

Audra was on duty, running the whole place herself, thus the Superwoman shirt! Ends up a PawPaw burger is double meat patties, several kinds of cheese, bacon and some other meat I can’t remember. I settled for a egg, sausage, biscuit . . . not lunchtime yet!!!

I had not more left Slaughter and the rain started again, and continued for another 40 miles to Amite, our home for the night. Did see this guy along the road. The roadside samples of this species seem to be getting bigger!!!! We have eaten several appetizers with legs about this size . . . tastes like chicken!!!! Looks like he is smiling . . . must have had a nice thought at the moment of impact!!!

Nice place . . . reminds me of the bike trip Smoochie and I took to Normandy, FRA last fall!!!

Wrong turn south???? . . . Bamboo Forest!!!!

. . . Amen!!!!

Really wanted to pull into this private cemetery and see what the dates on the headstones might have been compared to the age of this behemoth!!! Posted private property though, so I didn’t enter.

Just before I rolled into the Comfort Suite in Amite, dreaming of the HOT shower I needed, I saw this place that gave a whole new meaning to the phrase many  Caribbean resorts use, ‘outdoor shower’ !!!!

Thirty minutes later having showered, and eating cheese, crackers and drinking Pinot Gris . . . the world seemed pretty good again!!!! Good thing there is a WalMart across the street . . . I need more vino!!!

but . . . looking ahead to where we are going tomorrow . . . notice a pattern here?????

The Weather Channel said 70 percent change of rain today . . .  but we lucked out. We are moving, the clouds are moving, the storm cells are moving, hopefully all in a different direction like they did today. Not a drop on our heads before we got to Poplarville, MS our home for the night!!!!

As I rolled down the highway, I heard a locomotive horn, but hadn’t seen a track or train. Ends up it was blasting from the truck pulling this double wide trailer, ‘advising’ me to move to the side of the road. There was a truck coming from the other direction and there was not room for all three of us!!!!!

As soon as I moved over, the truck coming toward us moved over, and as the double wide moved back over the fog line, one of the tires blew when it hit the rumble strip. Déjà vu all over again!!! There was a loud bang and what looked like liquid spewing from the tire. The truck vanished over the hill and by the time I climbed the hill, it was sitting at the bottom of it. The driver was directing traffic and three assistants’ . . .

. . . were, like an Indy pit crew, under the trailer changing the tire.  I asked the driver if he had the same air horn as a locomotive and he said, “Yes, It tends to get peoples attention!” Five miles down the road I saw their pilot vehicle go by me, I was coming up to a bridge and there was not room for the tow of us, so I pulled over on the shoulder and gave them a big wave as they blasted by!!!

With all the rain the last three days, the USGS water level sensing stations positioned on all the rivers must be getting a workout. Lots of flashflood warnings. Luckily the flooding has not been an issue for us.

Local logging operation. mmmmmmmmmmm . . .I wonder if they know about Water based Best Management Practices.

Dead turkey vulture. Must be an adult because of the red head. Not it’s lucky day. After seeing, this I noticed that most of the vultures I saw the rest of the day had black heads . . . juveniles????

Oh yeah . . . Gina will be stopping at this in Bogalusa!!!!

About a week ago, I stepped in a red ant hill when taking a photo and quickly had ants climbing my legs and and biting me. Today I had a flat. Gina and Paul stopped to help, I bent down to pull out the tube, put my foot off the pavement and stepped into a mound like this. OUCH . . . Gina came to the rescue by spraying my leg with her water bottle to blast the ants off my leg!!!!

Yikes . . . this was a problem for someone!!!!!

Yippee . . . another state under our belt. On to Mississippi!!!

Interesting businesses right on the state line . . .

. . . and another one. Not a real great welcome to Mississippi . . .

However, they are trying to do the right thing with litter . . .

. . . except some of the folk evidently don’t know what to do with their empty ‘dads!!!!

. . . I was getting hungry, wonder if there are any morsels left in them critters?????

Nice place here in Mississippi, with their own pond  . . .

About 1:30pm, we arrived in Poplarville, our home for the night. We have two cabins, with three rooms in each. This was the boys house . . .

Nice living room . . .

TommyH’s room . . .

. . . my room.

This was the girl’s house. Denver Tom was the last boy in, so he ‘won’ the honor of the third room in the girl’s house. They would not let Tom, Paul or me in the house . . . so NO PHOTOS!!!

Bubba’s Pampered Peddlers are in Poplarville tonight, too. 43 peddlers, that started 6 days behind us in San Diego, and our groups finally meet up . . . some of us in this old time drugstore soda fountain. Two LARGE scoops of Praline Pecan Ice Cream . . . $1.64!!!! Their gang is staying in the Hurricane Evacuation Center tonight, not because there is a hurricane coming but because they have been camping in the rain for 4 days!!!!

Since we had two cabins last night, with full kitchens, we decided to eat in rather than going out. The girls bought all the fixin’s for spaghetti with meatballs, and since the boys had the bigger kitchen, Chef Tomas was called into action . . .

. . . here he is supervising Sous Chef, Paul, during the preparation of the tapenade to spoon on the broiled French bread, also  topped with extra virgin olive oil!!!!

BIG salad . . . enough to feed an army. We still had one bag left!!!!

. . . let’s eat!!!

a great meal and there were certainly enough for second or thirds. Some ate left overs for breakfast . . .

You cannot have a great meal with out a little entertainment! Click the video above to see what it was all about!!!!

. . . full tummies, full night of rest . . . and a sky full of clouds when we woke this morning. 70% change of rain in Ocean Springs, our home for the night, 68 miles down the road!

One last check for stuff in the room and in the closet . . . shhhhhhhhhhh . . . some were still sleeping!!!!

mmmmm . . . one thing we have not seen so far on the trip is Crocodile wrestlin’ . . . maybe there is still a chance. They are tasty little devils!!!!

VERY heavy overcast, mist and high humidity as we rolled on down the road . . . and even a few hills. Nice change of pace from all the flat we have been encountering the last week or so.

as the saying goes, ‘dust to dust’. This piece of paradise is gradually returning to dust again!!!

let’s see . . . what’s that other saying,  ‘measure twice . . . cut once’ ?????????  Little long here!!!

The morning line up . . . from the curiosity displayed, not too many bikers come along this way. Lots of dog’s today. I was riding with Gina and Tom. As the pooches’ would come out to greet us, some more enthusiastically than others, Tom in a VERY commanding voice would tell them to go home. Most actually turned around and ran back to their homes!!!!!

New flowers along the way today . . .

Here was a little place about half the size of the ‘Sunday Houses’ we rented several weeks ago. Might be a Mon-Fri version!!!!

Another persons dream to ‘live out in the sticks’. Of course, the first thing one does is cut down all the trees in order to make a lawn . . .

. . . must be quite an operation lining everything up and leveling both pieces!

The last 15 miles of the day were on Hwy 67. It actually had a nice paved shoulder designated as a, ‘Bike Lane’. The road surfaces today were wonderful, with very little traffic. Perfect riding day!

All the rain has made these gazebos, ‘down by the river’, a little soggy for outdoor seating.

Here was where we were supposed to stay tonight in Oceans Springs . . . looks like a little fire problem . . .

Instead, we are staying at a Studio 6, Extended Stay, the ‘boutique’ version of a Motel 6 and owned by the same parent company. Here’s one of the residents vehicles. Either it is an EXTREMELY low, low rider, the air shocks are shot or the tires are low!!!!

Lucked out again today . . . not a drop of rain!!!! Yippee!!! Tomorrow we head to Dauphine Island for another mini-vacation!!!