Today is our first of four days on the Cycle Zydeco ride . . .

. . . celebrating EVERYTHING that is Cajun . . . culture, food & music!!!!

Part of the visiting WI crew waiting for the big rollout . . .

of three hundred riders. Here is the ‘biking padre’ giving the group a blessing . . .

. . . and encouraging us on with his prayer flag!!!!

Riders as far as you can see . . . we had a police escort out of town composed of about 12-15 vehicles. Must have been the whole police force . . .

Funny bike . . . funny costumes . . . seems like RAGBRAI in IA

We paralleled Hwy 90 . . .

. . . until we finally had to cross it to get out of town . . . the whole intersection was blocked for us . . .

. . . not sure whether these drivers were happy or not but we were for the escort we received from Lafayette’s finest!!!

Soon we were in the country, where living and especially the biking is easy . . . roads aren’t so good!!!

. . . but within 45 minutes we were at our first site to visit, The Parish Brewery. 9:45am, never too early for the ‘G’ to pound a couple down!!!!

. . . not sure if one of those is for Tom??????

Great biking jersey from Iowa!!!! Land of Corn.

Here was part of a planation that had been preserved including the pigeon or squab, as the French liked to call them before they ate them, coop. The holes midway up the structure are the openings for the birds to fly in and out.

Here was your typical trailer . . .with a big pickup truck, a big roof that had been added . . .

. . . and a BIG helicopter this guy owned. Nice way to commute!!!!

This guy didn’t have so much . . .

Soon it was time for another stop at a goat cheese factory for a little cheese, crackers and wine tasting. Three hundred people crowded around two picnic tables . . . mmmmmm.

They did have some great birds . . .

. . . and the little goats were not starved for attention!!!!!

As we rolled in for lunch, I saw this sign . . . Fried is the key word here. What’s fried is secondary!!!!

I had the chicken and sausage gumbo, over rice . . . nice!

We added another crop to our list of things we have seen growing on our adventure . . . sugar cane.

After only 45 miles, we were home for the night in Breaux Bridge . . . complete with a suspension bridge that lifts on cables.

At camp, there would be a little crayfish boil so all could sample the little critters, prepared by Marshall and Greg.

The bed of the pickup was full of gunny sacks of the little critters . . .

. . . potatoes were being cooked over what appeared and sound like a jet engine . . .

. . . next was the corn . . .

. . . and then only a few minutes for the crayfish . . . when they turn red they are done!!!

Barb, Cindy Greg, Tom and I dine at the Café Des Amis. Great food and service. We started with the Gator Shrimp with a Cajun hot sauce appetizer. YUM!!!

I had the fresh red fish stuffed with a creamy crabmeat filling, topped with lime beurre blanc sauce and served with sautéed vegetables and confit tomatoes. Delicious!!!

Chance of heavy thunderstorms tomorrow . . . could be interesting!!!