Day 41: Simmesport to Bunkie: Fifty Years Together

February 14, 2014

Grampies have only been married 46 years, but today is the 50th anniversary of our first date. That was in Montreal, when we travelled to what was then the French side of town for dinner and to see a play. We got lost and returned home really late (just like in "Wake Up Little Susie".) Today we are travelling to the French side of Louisiana. We will probably dine at a handimart and who knows what we will see. If we don't get lost, maybe that will be progress?

Just outside Simmesport, likely free camping right on route. But then, we would have missed staying at the famous Sportsman's

At the camping site, a historical market that shows the continuing interest in the Civil War

This train came up from behind, but not going too much faster than us. It whistled loud and long, energizing us with its strength.

Not quite like the Greman one. For example, this Hamburg lacks a Starbuck's

We stayed on LA 1 for the 10 km or so over to Hamburg, rather than take the side road recommended by ACA. One advantage was that we were away from houses. Louisiana in particular seems to feature barking dogs at a lot of houses. At Hamburg, though, we left 1 and headed for Moreauville. Moreauville contains houses! We got chased two or three times by smaller dogs who never really got too close. Of course, Dodie was threatening them with her powerful yellow Mardi Gras bat! Finally she stopped to take off a sweater, and was just saying I'm afraid to stop" when three pit bulls came out from under the house she had chosen to stop beside. Fortunately this is not a story of us getting bitten. To be fair, no dog has yet come closer than 1 foot. With these three, I swished my stick while explaining to them that we had a right to be on the public road. After a while, their owner came out and called them off. What is wrong with these people!

Dodie went into the post office in Moreauville to mail home more accumulated stuff. She came out smiling and said that she had done the transaction in French, Cajun really. "Great!", I said, "Did you find out where the best local boudin is?". "No, silly", was the reply, "We talked about ladies' stuff, like how many grandchildren and is that your husband out there"

Despite this (in my view) unsatisfactory interaction, the friendliness of the people in the post office improved our impression of Moreauville. This took a dive some blocks from the post office when we were again chased , by two dogs that crossed the street to harass us. This time I was able to land a swat to the nose of one of them and as usual we shouted threats. The one that seemed to work was Dodie's "I'll kill you". Though she was only brandishing a two foot plastic baseball bat, out here a threat like that could have something stronger behind it. Whether coincidental or not, someone from the house started calling the dogs at that point.

We've commented on Guns and Liquor as a strange combo. How about Boudin and Hardware?

The temperature briefly rose to near 20, /and this seemed to lure a few people out of their houses. By "a few" I mean three. However all three greeted us in a very friendly way, checking to see if we needed water or a Diet Coke, or anything.

A very strong head/cross wind had picked up by this time, and it slowed Dodie way down. We tried our drafting trick and it worked a bit, but the wind angle was not quite right. Also, the shoulder mostly disappeared and then completely disappeared, making it too dangerous to keep trying. This was on the the road from Evergreen to Bunkie. Our target was Chicot State Park, 30 km further on. Still, when we reached Bunkie, around 2 p.m. we decided to call it a day, at the All Star Motel. This one is clean and cheap - again, not so much more than that $24 State Park fee.

In Bunkie we stopped in at Tourist Information, something we have tried often in Europe, but never before here. We did get a pile of interesting stuff. Now we see that Boudin is not just something Dave and Marieanne happened to order for us Mulate's, but is truly the standard snack of Southwest Louisiana. Another pamphlet explains lots more about Mardi Gras. If the resolution is good enough, try reading the bit on Krewes, and throws.

At least according to this map, Lafayette is the centre of Cajun land. At Mamou, tomorrow, we will be on the edge.

Read about the tradition of the Mardi Gras run.

Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 2,344 km (1,456 miles)

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