Sugar Cane

October 7/09 - Gray, Louisiana
Best Western Hotel
Mileage: 117 km
Total mileage: 4,897 km

Took the old Hwy east from New Iberia this morning, Hwy 182. Wanted to stay off of Hwy 90 as long as we could. Hwy 90 is a state Hwy, but might as well be an interstate for all the traffic. Hwy 182 was very scenic. It passed through all the small towns and gave us more of a feel for the country.

Sugar cane galore. The hwy was lined with it. The harvest is just beginning and tractors pulling buggies and semi trailers were full to the brim. We travelled through Louisiana plantation country and viewed many classic roadside mansions and estates dating back to the early 1800's. Enormous homes with park like yards and probably some dark histories.

We were forced back onto Hwy 90 just west of Morgan City and continued east bound. Wide enough shoulders, but busy with fast traffic. A bit of a shock as most of the travelling we have done thus far has been on peaceful lightly travelled roads. Lots of honking horns. Most honks are for encouragement and approval, other honks are from motorists who just plainly dislike cyclists. You learn the difference. I wave frantically at all the honkers hoping that they think I think that they recognized me. It must pick off the malicious ones which is my only satisfaction.

Hwy 90 is not scenic. It takes too much concentration. You have to get off on the side roads to be immersed in the country side.

We pulled off into the community of Donner for refreshments. Here we became celebrities. The people at the Community Centre couldn't believe what we were doing. One of the ladies said that you hear of people like us on the radio and see people like us on TV shows, but you never think that you will meet them in person. I tried to explain that in the cycling world this was no big deal, but to no avail. The rest of the people chanted praise to us, but most of it was in deep Louisianian and I couldn't understand much. I think that Deby caught more. I did understand though, that they were going to pray for us and that is always a good feeling.

We stayed at a hotel in Gray, not because we didn't want to camp, but campgrounds are getting increasingly difficult to find around here. They're not difficult to find if your a motorist, but if you're a cyclist at the end of your day and someone tells you that there is a campground just 30 miles down the road, it just doesn't work.

Anyway, we had a nice conversation with a guy at the hotel. He was from Florida and due to the recession was in Louisiana trying to find a job on an off shore drilling rig. Louisiana is the off shore drilling mecca. He gave us some good pointers on gators and snakes. One rule of thumb, he said, is that if there is water there is gators. Good advice to heed, but a little bit concerning. Louisiana is all water. Secondly, he told us if you are walking in the bush to step on top of the logs and leap from them rather than just stepping over them. Snakes enjoy being under a log and could be startled and bite someone simply stepping over. He brought his camping gear, but was hesitant to camp in Louisiana because of the lack of solid ground. A real nice guy...I hope he finds the job he is looking for and wish him well.

Talked with Scott the next morning. Scott is a biochemistry professor in Shreveport. Scott told us some very interesting information about Louisiana and in particular, the area we had travelled. Information that you just don't get from a tourist brochure. Thank-you Scott!