We knew we had a huge day in front of us, 85+ miles. We got up really early and packed. We planned to go to Fred's lounge before starting out. It is a nationally famous hole in the wall bar that offers live Cajun/Zydeco music from renowned artists...but only on Saturdays from 7:30-1:00!!! It also broadcasts live on a local Cajun radio station, and the announcer mixed English, French and Cajun so fluently it was beautiful!
We arrived at 7:30, but no one was there, so we went back to fill our water bottles and by the time we got back at 8:00 the place was packed! We did the previously unthinkable: Bloody Mary's and Jack Daniels at 8:00 AM! The music was unsurpassed. It was enough to choke us up, as the patrons spoke in pure Cajun dialect and danced all around the floor. Everyone was having a great time-especially us!
Although we hated to leave, we felt we had to get on the road. We had received dire warnings about an approaching storm, but we got 20 miles in before the rain began. It gently rained for about an hour, and there was no violent storm...whew! Robert, our bartender from the evening before, drove out to check on us, and again warned us about the storms.
Because we stayed so long at Fred's, we were cycling in the dark, along a busy road into Merryville, LA. We were in a pickle because Kelley had lost her headlight several days prior, and Bruce's light was accidentally turned on in his bag, so it was almost spent. That meant we couldn't ride on the shoulder, because we couldn't see things in front of us well enough to avoid them. We were thrilled to get to our cabin at the Merryville Historical Society and Museum.
Total Cycling Mileage: 88
Total Hiking Mileage: 3