Time For Some R and R...and R

When we awoke in the firehouse, it was a bit awkward. The morning shift had arrived and we felt in the way. We loaded our bikes quickly and headed out for some breakfast. Soon we were on our way. We were looking forward to our day, as it was only planned to be around 20 miles. The trip to Chicot State Park was largely uneventful, with a few hills towards the end. The first part of the park is the Louisiana State Arboretum. We loved hiking on the trails, even though it was muggy as anything, hot as Tabasco, and buggy as a rainforest. Kelley was bitten numerous times, as always. The culmination of the trail was a beautiful cypress swamp with many cypress trees and swamp tupelos. It was well worth the bites. As soon as we reached our campsite, a storm came in. We sat on the bench and enjoyed its cooling effects. Once the rain stopped, we hiked around a bit to see if we could find  Lake Chicot. That was a bit of a challenge, but we finally found the boat dock, so we got a view. We headed back and set up camp and made dinner. It was getting dark as we began eating. Suddenly we heard a lot of racket behind us. We turned and shined a light in time to see a family of raccoons climbing out of the garbage can. We shooed them away and went back to our dinner. But those pesky raccoons were not to be dissuaded. They were soon back and getting closer and closer. We finished dinner and cleaned up quickly. We covered our bikes as best we could and went to bed. The raccoons wasted no time climbing all over our bikes, so we got up and moved the bikes closer to the tent. This seemed to work, so we went to sleep. But no sooner had we gone to sleep, they were back, climbing over the bikes and under the bikes. Poor Bruce was up most of the night shooing them away. Finally we got the idea to pour pepper on top of the bikes. That seemed to do the trick. We were able to get a bit of sleep anyway! The next morning we hurried to the next town to rent a car for a much needed day off! We were excited to drive and explore the Old Spanish Trail on highway 31 and see historic live oak lined towns such as St. Martinville, Breaux Bridge, and New Iberville. We stayed in St. Martinville, which is where the famed Evangeline Oak that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about. You might be surprised to know that Longfellow never visited St. Martinville, but wrote his poem based on the description by a student of his at Harvard. The next day we went to Avery Island, where the famed Tobasco sauce has been made for 150 years. The island was beautiful and it was so interesting learning how the sauce was made... plus we got free samples!!! We hurried to our hotel in Mamou and dropped off our gear before returning the vehicle. It was exhilarating riding back to the hotel sans bags! We felt like we were flying! Once in Mamou, we were invited to a private “jam session” of local musicians. Well, one musician, but the local folks as well as the proprietors of the Hotel Cazan were very welcoming! We had a great night! So we had a very welcome bit of rest and relaxation, with a small dose of raccoons! Total cycling mileage : 46 Total hiking mileage: 18