Baton Rouge!
OK!!!
Made it to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Barely!
Bike's in ever rougher shape. Now riding without brakes or gears or pretty much anything but a couple of tires!
On the way here, my rear tire and tube got shredded, right in Vacherie, on the Mississippi. Great timing, I got to camp out on the river. The next day, with the shops open, I went to the car parts store, where they very helpfully had a tire and tube of the right size! (On the way over, a "quick" walk to the next traffic light felt like walking to the next town, these streets are hugely long.)
Then, yesterday, I made some cans of beans and corn on a fire, watching the boats go by. Wonderful!
Rode along the river for a while, eating almost constantly. At one point, I came across a few gas stations, and had some fried chicken, rice dressing, and a boudin ball. Also, before I got to Vacherie I had some fried chicken at Popeye's, they had beautiful music and friendly people and "red stick" chicken, which comes from the stick the Tabasco people use to measure their peppers' readiness. I wonder if that has anything to do with the name of Baton Rouge?!?
Crossed a bridge at that gas station juncture. Half the bridge was under construction. The other half had hairy traffic. After a little while, a construction truck came by and helped me lift my bike over to the closed side, as long as I avoided the machinery. Much better riding! It was amazing to cross over the mighty Mississippi river.
The construction equipment put out some interesting smells, some of which I'd never sensed before. Coming down the bridge with non-functional brakes was a scary exercise, and I was thrilled to make it.
Then, I struggled a bunch to figure out which way to go. Found my way to some roads along the other side of the river. At one point, after getting off the river road, I came upon a house with a few residents on the porch.
"How can I get to Baton Rouge from here?"
"Go that way," back where I'd come from, "then turn onto the interstate."
After some explaining, I figured it would be best to follow the river instead.
"He don't wanna use the interstate."
They told me that the levee is the long way, although it gets there.
I rode along the levee, which rises up next to the river, for quite a while. It was spectacular, to cruise alongside the Mississippi. So tranquil, and lovely. One of my favorite rides ever.
After a lengthy ride of peace and quiet, I got to a point where they started to have lots of oil and other industrial plants. Lots of people don't like it, although it does have its own kind of appeal. A little further on, after stopping for a snack, I had a flat front tire.
Uh oh.
Didn't have any spare tubes.
Well, thankfully the wonderful slime product deployed. Saved!
I kept on riding, now with a glorious sunset.
After a while longer, I crossed paths with a pickup truck. I asked the driver how much longer until Baton Rouge.
"25, 30 miles," he answered.
Oh.
That's a long ways.
He offered me a ride, which I accepted. (Someone else had spontaneously offered me a ride to Baton Rouge before I got to Vacherie, although I was enjoying the ride too much then.) We drove there quickly, while we exchanged stories. He has a big farm right up on the Mississippi, they're just now harvesting wheat and planting soy. Everywhere you go, great people!!!
Got into town, met my host here. When I first thought of going through the South, like two years ago, he'd offered to host. After my lengthy detour through Mexico and other adventures, that got delayed a while. It's really amazing now to make this happen anyway, like two years later!
Now writing up the draft of Astrotripping.
Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!