Thursday April 17, 2008, 111 miles (179 km) - Total so far: 2,194 miles (3,531 km)
Yesterday I was hoping for something interesting to happen, and boy did today deliver! I had all kinds of crazy things happening, I'll skip the highlights and lowpoints again and get on with the stories.This morning I got up early and hit the road hoping to knock out 110-120 miles early so I could enjoy St. Francisville a little. A mile from the hotel, I was checking the maps when an old WWII vet walked down his driveway to strike up a conversation with me. He was pretty funny and had some good advice and things to say. The best was when he said, "You're missing something you know." and when I asked what that was, he says, "A female companion!" ...I told him my female companion was at home working and keeping me motivated to get home.
After that encounter, I quickly racked up the miles, only stopping once at a gas station for orange juice. At about mile 75 for the day, I stopped again for fluids and was approached by one of the local sherrifs. He wanted to know where I was going and I have a hunch he knew it was St. Francisville so I appreciate him intercepting me. When I told him I was going there, he says, "boyyyyy. no you aint! you best be making some changes to your route!" I was a little shocked and asked him to explain. Turns out the Mississippi is so high right now, the ferry is going to be closed for a few weeks. Tom,Gerry, Martin, Ed, Zig, etc... CALL the ferry first to make sure it's running!!!! There is an easy alternate route that goes through Baton Rouge. I went all the way up north completely out of the way though and there was no way I was going to go bike all the way back south where I came from, so I hitched back down and got dropped off at a point that was equal distant to what I would have actually biked from the hotel this morning. I didn't feel like I was cheating as I'd spent the whole day going north for nothing. If you do go this route, it is COMPLETELY insane to try to bike across the two bridges crossing the river. There is NO shoulder whatsoever and there is constant 70mph traffic on both bridges. Don't even attempt it. I stuck my thumb out and motioned to a truck that I needed to get over the bridge, and the first truck picked me up. On the other side, I continued on through some pretty rough neighborhoods. The funniest part of that was while talking to Nick on my hands free, I see this dude trotting down a neighborhood on a horse. A horse! This was totally bizarre, so I yelled up at him, "Why are you riding a horse?!?!" and he yells back, "Because I like to ride!" Perfect. Why am I riding a bike?
I also talked to a geology professor for an hour at a gas station west of Baton Rouge about all kinds of things, mainly Alaska politics (oil, mineral development stuff) and then deeper things like not waiting till your an old guy to do the things you've always wanted to do with your life. I've got another story that may not be appropriate for school, that occurred at the gas station, so I'll save that for the end. It's really not that bad but I'll let teachers make that decision.
The next day or two will take me almost due east the whole course on some non-scenic but more direct roads with good shoulders and smooth surfaces. Bill from Cincinatti actually reccomended this route when I met him, and now I will be forced to get on it rather than doing a bunch of backtracking out of the way.
Tomorrow there's almost a 100% chance I'll get rained on so I am planning on getting up early so I can hit close to 100 miles before it starts in the afternoon. That will keep me on track, and I think in 2 days I'll be back on the Southern Tier Route in Mississippi and Alabama and then Florida, possibly all in one day! I think it's going to be possible to go through all 3 states at once but I'm not completely sure of that so we'll see. I know there's not much time left for this trip, only a little over a week. Part of me is excited to have completed it and get home, part of me would be ok with another thousand miles or so.. but I'd probably prefer them to go somewhere other than Florida.
On to the last story, the funniest of the day for sure:
I'm at the gas station, deciding where to go, when this big 'ol black lady starts hollerin at me to come over to her car. I asked what she needed and she wanted to know if I was really from Alaska. I said I was from Michigan originally, but yes, I do live in Alaska. She says, "Come over here and let me see you" I'm thinking, "uhhhhhh. ok" ... so I go over and she says "ummm-hmmm... look at those legs!! Can I touch 'em??" and I said, "well, sure, but it's going to cost you $5." Sure enough, out of her bra she pulls out a wad of cash, as if I'm some chip'n'dale dancer, and in the process, executes a perfect wardrobe malfunction revealing the bra's contents. I don't know if this was intentional or accidental, but the result was the same. I said, "no no.. you don't have to give me your money.." and she says "ohhh.. ok!" and says, "let me see them legs!" and so I oblige and let her feel my left leg. She starts fanning herself and says to her car companion, "Boy them are nice!" I told her I had to go and that I hope she had a nice evening. hahahahaha. Yes. That's the kind of story I'll remember a long time.
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