The Space Race: May 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Louisiana

Pictures from the last few days:

At the tire repair shop fixing the tire.

Crossing the Mississippi on the ferry.

Louisiana state capital in Baton Rouge, the tallest state capital in the country.

View of the river from the 27th floor observation deck.

Erik and Christina in the swamp.

Alligator face.

Alligator sitting around.

Swamp.

Cyprus tree, this is one of few remaining trees of this size that were not cut down in the 1800's, they take a thousand years to get this big.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Thursday, May 28, 2009

We are in Baton Rouge at the Louisiana Capitol building. It is the tallest state capitol it the country and there is an observation deck on the 27th floor where you can see up and down the river for miles. This morning we crossed the Mississippi River on a ferry at St. Francisville. We are staying tonight about 20 miles south of Baton Rouge and bike as far as we can get into New Orleans tomorrow via Highway 61.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

We are at the library in New Roads, LA. We are about 110 miles from New Orleans. We will cross the Mississippi River via ferry to St. Francisville tomorrow.

Some dudes we met in Texas.

Pat at the B&B we stayed at via Warmshowers.
Pat's fixing a mixed tape that self-destructed
in my pannier.

We started out the trip with two mix tapes. We
listent o them on a portable tape player. At the
library in Van Horn, Texas, we found 7 more tapes
for free, including 'Mariah Carey MTV Unplugged',
the Animal House soundtrack, and the 'Waiting
to Exhale' soundtrack. When we reached
Navasota, Tx we were given 3 more tapes: Perry
Como, Irving Fields, and a bluegrassy tape. Now,
one of my panniers is half-full with cassette tapes.

Stef matching with the door at the
Front Porch B&B.

Eastern Texas has lots of huge Oak trees and
little ponds scattered about the hillsides.

These are the goats that were dancing on the
roof of the tiny house in the photo just before
this one.

The Goat's House.

Caught you!

A lion and a pug dog at peace!

Navasota, Tx, just outside of Sam Houston
National Forest.

Entering Louisiana

An afternoon rain storm in Louisiana. It's rained
for an hour then was sunny and warm again.

Pat taking a break from the rain at the
Public Library.

Our host at the historical museum in
Merryville, La. They furnished us with cold
drinks, stories, and a stage to sleep on.

Patrick as a vampire in Merryville, La.

Stef as a vampire in Merryville, La.

After Fire Chief Kelly met us at the Sheriff's
station, he led us to his lair! We set up camp for
the night in the fire house and watched Larry
King Live on mute. Fire Chief Kelly woke us up
at 7:00 am the next day.

Fire Cheif Lawrence Kelly and Stef
in front of the fire house. Stef's wearing
the new fire hat Kelly gave us.

Pat and Kelly.

We rode over this completely insane road on
the way to Oberlin, La. We are strong and
fearless now. Also, my tire has a huge hole in it
but somehow it was unaffected by this road.

Birthday Pie!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Washington, LA to Simmesport, LA

Today we woke up early, at 6:30 but we wanted to wait until the library opened which wasn't until 10:00 so after finishing off the birthday breakfast pie we hung around a deli in a gas station until the Washington Historical Museum opened at 9:00 and them the library at 10:00. After the library we rode Plaucherville where we got inside to get some french fries just before it started to pour. In about an hour it stopped raining and we continued on to Simmesport. The riding is pretty easy now because it is very flat here. It had been hot and sunny in the early afternoon but after the rain it cooled off and was overcast the rest of the day. The last few days have been full of dogs chasing up but we have gotten better at speeding past them.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Happy Birthday Stef!

This morning we visited again with Chief Kelly at the fire station before we left for the next town of Mamou where we ate lunch and got our rain for the day. We wanted to find a Memorial Day BBQ but we never saw any. Now we are in Washington, a small town just outside of Opelousas. We are not very far from Baton Rouge right now but in order to cross the Mississippi we need to in north to Simmesport and then south to Baton Rouge. The troublesome tire did great today so hopefully we will make it.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Merryville, LA to Oberlin, LA

We are staying in the fire-house in Oberlin tonight after a long day. We started out this morning by realizing that the hole in Stef's tire had gotten bigger. She had patched it a few days ago with a dollar bill and some duct tape hoping that it might last until we can get to a bike shop, which looks like Baton Rouge, but after a few miles this morning the tube had come through and was flat. She patched the tube and fixed up the tire again, this time with two dollar bills and we made it to DeRidder, LA. In DeRidder we ate lunch outside another museum but it was closed on Sundays. After lunch we found a car tire repair shop where Noel the owner helped us patch the tire a bit better with a car tire patch, and then the two dollars again. It was fun talking with him because he was very young but already owned the tire service business with his brother, he said that if we were ever in DeRidder again we should come over for dinner, breakfast, or lunch.

After we left DeRidder it was time for our daily afternoon rain shower but today's was lighter than the past two days so we kept riding. We made it to Oberlin, LA before dark where we had heard that we could camp at the fire station from our hosts at the Merryville Historical Museum last night. We asked for directions to the fire station and were directed to the sheriff's office where they called the fire chief and he came to meet us. We were able to cook our dinner on a stove and tonight we will sleep in the fire station. Although we made it here the tire needs more work so we're not sure how far we can get, the next bike shop seems to be in Baton Rouge.

Tomorrow (25th) is Stef's birthday everyone should give her a call!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Goodbye Texas!

We are in Merryville, LA tonight camping behind the Merryville historical museum. It rained again today in the afternoon but only for about an hour. We took cover under the porch of the Kirbyville, TX library which unfortunately was closed on the weekends. Also this morning we met the 82 year old cyclist Ken on the road just before Kirbyville.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Rain!

We are in Silsbee, TX. We hope to be in NO a week from tonight. We passed through a few small towns this morning including one called Honey Island where we had some french fries. In the afternoon we got to Kountze and spent some more time at the library and then the post office. As we left the post office it started to pain pretty hard. We took cover in a grocery store and when we were done shopping and snacking it had stopped raining.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Shepherd, TX

Last night we camped behind the library in New Waverly. When we got there there was a church group going on in the room next to the library but in the same building we were invited in and we visited with them for a while. The library looked nice but it didn't open until 12:30 so we went on through Pumpkin and then Evergreen. In the afternoon we got to Coldspring and went to the library there but the computers there wouldn't work to check our e-mail so we went on to Shepherd where we used the computers there. It has been a library day. We will in a bit further this evening but we're not sure where we'll end up since there are no campgrounds around here.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The strangers in the night

Last night we arrived in Navasota- two young folks named Neon and Joseph offered to show us a spot to camp. While we were checking out a church, a lady pulled up in her car and offered her living room to us for the night. We said bye to our new friends and stayed with Debbie, Sarah, SAWYER, and Flossie the cat.

Navasota, TX

We are in Navasota, TX. Today we biked through Burton, TX in the morning and watched a short movie on the cotton gin there. Next we biked to Independence, TX and read through a journal that the people who run the store in Independence keep of all the bikers that pass through. While we were reading the journal we were out on the back porch of the store and noticed two goats standing on top of a miniature house about 8 feet tall. Stef ran to get her camera but they jumped down right as she came back.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Burton, Texas

Today we started riding early at 6:30 but after ten miles we got tired again so we took a two hour nap. Once we were rested we continued on to the town of La Grange and found a nice cafe, I had had ice cream Stef had cheesecake. Now we are outside of Burton, TX staying with our warm showers friend Carol. Tomorrow we will camp near Navasota, TX. When we reach Navasota we will start on the last adventure cycling map we will be using, which goes to Baton Rouge. At the cafe we met four people, first was a frenchman also named Patrick who used to live in N.O. Second was Brad who showed up an alternate route which had less traffic and was wonderful. Third we met two sisters one of whom was from Pennsylvania and offered to mail Stef a book about bike riding in PA.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Back on the bikes

We left Austin this morning and rode through the rolling hills eastwards along the Colorado River. We are camping in a state park 15 miles east of Barstop. Today was mostly overcast but the run came out a bit in the afternoon and it did not rain. It is very green here and it already feels like we are in a swampy forest sometimes.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Rain

It started raining a lot today here is a picture I took right before it the downpour, every building in Austin seems to be under construction:

Friday, May 15, 2009

Austin Wonders

There were 2,800 elementary aged school
children at the State Capitol today. This is my
best imitation of them. Davy Crockett and
Frontiersman hats are worn simultaneously.

Decorative art made from human hair!

Patrick on one of the Colorado Rivers.

Austin Adventures

Here are some things we did in Austin, we are planning to leave on Sunday morning and should be in New Orleans in about two weeks.

Stef taking a nap and hiding from mosquitoes:

Stef in a canoe on the Colorado River which runs through downtown Austin. This is a different Colorado River than the one that runs through the Grand Canyon, I don't know why they named two rivers the same thing.

At a breakfast stop on Bike to Work Day this morning:

Texas Capitol Building:

Inside looking up at the four floors:

View of the rotunda:

Texas Senate, they had just adjourned:

Texas House of Representatives in full swing:

Blurry picture of a former Governor:

Rattlesnake Video:

House of Represenatives Video: