We made it

Today we rode the last 25 miles to the Southernmost Point in Louisiana and now we are heading home wherever that may be. The whole trip has been 2800 miles and 2200 were down the Mississippi River.  The river is 2552 miles from it's source at Lake Itasca to the end so we didn't follow every bend but we sure followed a lot of it. 

The last three miles of the road were surrounded by water on both sides. People were fishing for redfish and flounder and possibly other things as well. Shrimp season opened last week so people were also trying to net shrimp. They call the area marsh because there are trees growing out in the water. Mostly cypress. There were lots of herons, egrets and other birds that my sisters could probably identify and would have liked to see. We looked at a map of the area and it is almost all water with a little land between the levees. 

We rode part way back and are staying at The Woodlands, a bed and breakfast that was featured on the Southern Comfort bottles for many years. And yes, we did try their special SoCo punch. We had dinner here with people that are from the area and some that come here often to fish. They shared lots of Katrina stories with us and they also wanted to hear our bike riding stories. They told us there are alligators in the ponds here and that you can see their eyes glowing if you shine a flashlight into the water. We tried it and sure enough we saw two glowing orange eyes. Then they started getting closer and soon we could see the whole alligator and it kept coming towards us. We turned off the flashlight and went back to our room. We had seen enough!!!

Almost there

We left New Orleans for the final leg today. The road started out really busy with trucks and then it got calm and peaceful through some wetland areas. Most of the last day into NOLA and the start today we were seeing huge refineries and shipping terminals mixed in with beautiful Plantation homes. 

Lately it has been mostly fishing industry. 

And we finally saw a real alligator!!! We passed within inches of it's mouth as it was sunning right by the side of the road. By the time it registered we had passed it. We thought it must be dead since it hadn't moved but we decided to walk back and take a picture anyway. As we approached it got scared and took off for the marsh. It moved so fast we could hardly believe it. Now we are looking more carefully as we ride but we've only seen one squished one since then. 

After we took the ferry across the Mississippi this morning we entered into area that is mostly water. A lot of it is really part of the bay and we have been seeing sea birds. We hope to see a brown pelican. 

We've also seen a lot of trailers. Katrina hit here hard and FEMA came in with their trailers. Most of what is what they left. We had lunch in a trailer restaurant and are staying in a trailer hotel tonight. 

New Orleans

We made it to New Orleans and yes, Erika, it is all we'd dreamed! 

Coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde to start the day and drinks and live music on Frenchmen Street will add the finishing touch. 

Tomorrow we'll recover and work on the bikes a bit and then it's time to ride the last three days to the Southernmost point in Louisiana and back to New Orleans for a little more relaxation. 

Last night before New Orleans

The road was much better today so the wind and heat didn't trouble us as much. We went by lots of plantation homes from the Antebellum days. Huge live oaks lined the driveways and sometimes the oaks were there but the homes were long gone. Their shade was always welcome. 

We were riding  along a levee on one side and a small creek on the other when we started noticing what looked like little chimneys where the creek was drying. They are made by crawfish as they dig in to keep cool and moist. They form little bricks from the mud and just keep pushing them higher. 

We didn't actually see any crawfish--or alligators. We sure thought we would see them as we rode along the Grosse Tete Bayou because parts are so murky and still. 

We passed lots of sugar cane today and noticed that more people actually live around here than in some of the other agricultural areas we passed through. It was also interesting to see beautiful homes and places that almost look inhabitable right next to each other. 

New Roads, LA

Today was slow going because of the heat, the headwinds and the deplorable state of some of the designated roads. 

The bridge over the Mississippi was over a mile long and we actually rode downhill to reach it. The shoulder was good and there weren't many cars so this may rate as our favorite crossing since Minnesota. Then we turned south onto a Louisiana State highway and rode the bumps for 65 miles before we came to a town. It's a pretty area with trees off in the distance and crops all around. We saw sugarcane growing here and a little rice as well as some corn that is already being harvested. The roads are always near water but sometimes it's a creek or a lake or a diverted river and sometimes it's actually the Mississippi. We were even on the levee at times between two bodies of water. I know some of this water must have alligators but we haven't seen any yet. 

The Corp of Engineers has been very busy in this area protecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans from floods. They also had to reroute the Red River and Atchafalya River because the Mississippi River was getting lazy and started to change course to flow down those rivers. It is a major engineering feat but ensures that New Orleans will remain a port town. 

Craig wanted to stop and learn more about it but everything interesting was locked up with no trespassing signs everywhere. 

Just as we reached Innis, the stop at mile  65, the sky opened up and we had a major thunderstorm. We had some great chicken and lots of drinks. We also got to talking to some of the locals. They said we shouldn't ride the next 7 miles because there was a real dangerous stretch. It was finally agreed that one of them would take us to where it was safe. We tied our bikes up inside his cattle truck and off we went. He told us a lot about the area. He's a retired rodeo rider and penitentiary worker so he had some good stories. When we saw the dangerous stretch we were glad we had accepted the ride. 

We then continued to New Roads in a light rain and ended up with 75 miles for the day. 

Last day in Mississippi

We rode a mere 18.5 miles today and are resting up in Natchez. We stopped at the Emerald Mound Burial site from around 1000 years ago. Most of what is left is a grassy mound with historical placards around it. 

We came into Natchez through a poorer neighborhood but soon came to the stately mansions lining the streets. We were able to get a hotel room at 10:30 AM and then went out and explored the homes, museum and waterfront. There are some really big live oak trees here. We had dinner in a courtyard restaurant that seemed a little bit French. The snapper was delicious! We resisted Fat Mama's Tamale House and their Knock You Naked Margaritas!!!

We're really glad we took the extra day in Mississippi because Natchez seems so much more alive than the other towns we stayed in. We also want to be rested up to cross the bridge to Louisiana tomorrow and then ride at least 70 miles with no services and temperatures in the 90s. We are bringing extra water and Gatorade and we're starting early. 

Natchez Trace, MS

Last night we stayed in a cheap hotel in Vicksburg and toured the city a bit. There are lots of old homes, Civil War historical areas and markers celebrating the Mississippi Blues Trail. 

Today we were lucky enough to ride on the Natchez Trace. It's a two lane road that reminds us of the Taconic except there's no traffic. And when we look closer at the trees they are more live oaks and pecans and have Spanish moss hanging from them. We've also noticed fire ants so we were really careful where we pitched our tent. There are no services along the Trace but a  mile off we found Billy Bobs BBQ for lunch. It was really good but Craig ordered a rib sandwich and it was 3 ribs on a bun - bones and all. He figured it out somehow.