My tent-spot, dinner @ the Washington Community Center...
Followed by dancing to the tunes of Corey Ledet...
To finish the day off Karen & Sharon invited Harry and me to the porch of the house they're staying tonight. A great coincident that Karen and Sharon's hotel cancelled the original reservations, then calling the owner of this house to see if they could stay there again. like last year, and then the owner needed a place to stay in New Orleans and so Karen offered her house to them, just a great deal, while they all just met once before a year ago.
Now we're all on this porch while lightning is going on all around Washington, I can tell that rain is just around the corner and so I skipped further drinking and headed back to the school were my lace to sleep is. The minute I sipped-up in the tent it started. First the official alligator tear size drops, than a bit heavier and finally the big down-poor, ad boy does it rain here. I didn't care, the tent stays dry inside and all is well. I did had a hart time falling asleep with all that noise, thunder lightning and buckets of water been thrown from the sky. It is another adventure.
I wake-up early in the morning, about 4, it is still dark, raining and I have to go pee NOW!!!
I take the plunge, standing water all around me, what a mess. I do my business and hurry back inside the tent. A few spots on the floor were soaking wet, always the lowest parts, were the luggage lays and other heavy things that press through the grass into the standing water. I'm not looking forward to pack-up my things this morning and try to sleep some more.
I manage to sleep some more and when the alarm goes off at 7 it still is raining, what a bummer!
But I was smart when I set-up the tent, right near a over-hang of one of the school buildings so I can get all my stuff outside and place it into the dry. The messiest part is to roll-up the tent, soaking wet. The rest of my stuff is damp and will dry out fast if it ever stops raining. And it does right when I'm all done with my chores of morning toilet and clean-up. By the time I sit on the bike to rode back into town to the Steamboat Warehouse the rain is history. The breakfast is so so but I hang around as long as possible to wait for dryer roads.
Lake Tentsite in the Morning...
Then a strange thing happen, as I'm riding along I wanted to take some pictures and I could not find my camera, what the hell, have I forgotten it at the site where I camped, because that's where I took the last shot of the tent in lake, I must have left it right on that windowsill.
This is mind-boggling now, I'm already too far from Washington and I'm thinking that in Mamou I ask one of the organizers to help me locate that darn thing. It has not rained since HArry and I hit the road, the sun is pushing through but the clouds don't let it happen. We're passing through more farmland with horses and cattle and riding through the town of Point Blue, which might as well refer to our butts... Harry has been moaning more that me, usually it is the other way around, we're on mile 130, Mamou is getting closer, the wind is from behind for once and that make everything so much more pleasurable, sore butt and all.
After the 32 mile trip today I roll into Mamou, find somebody important form the ride to start explaining the situation with my camera, calls get made and the janitor of the school has been contacted while I be going in and out of Fred's Lounge to dance and then to catch some fresh air. Fred's is the institution in the part of the world, the bar is only open on Saturday from 8 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, then you have to go on and find another place to keep your levels on Bud Light up.
At one point of the time as I'm outside I hear my phone ring, looking through all my pockets and reaching into the back-pocket of my bike-jersey and a have my camera in my hand, cool now that is solved but the phone is still ringing. It is Joann Seaver calling, checking in with me to see how the ride is. That silly girl cancelled the bike-ride because she does not like the line-up of the bands, and so she decided not to ride this year, what a bummer, we all miss her, she is a great riding buddy.
Now that I have my camera back I better get some pictures of Fred's Lounge here in Mamou...
The owner of Fred's... Tate Sue, a wild one...
Also in Mamou we have lunch...
More people on the side of the Fred's...
Onward towards Eunice, our destination for tonight, not much lays between these two towns, lots of flooded rice-fields to grow rice and farm crawfish. Every once in a while you'll see a fisherman on a special boat emptying the baskets were crawfish gets trapped in, and they better get busy because we're gonna have a big cook-out tonight, so grab as many as you can Mr. Fisherman. The other thing between these two towns is lot and lots of wind, and of course straight in our faces... it was an 11 mile uphill ride n a flat road to nowhere, hate that wind.
The last smiling face before Eunice...
But the reward makes all that riding worth it, the Cafe Mosaic in downtown Eunice is making the best lattes in town, and so it is time to kick back and smell the java. A few riders are already sitting outside and slurping away, then later Harry joins me, Michael, Lilly and Bob, last was Judy a little party of laughter happens.
Cafe Mosaic... party time...
But the timing in this town is crucial and I better get going and set up camp for tonight.
Judy updated me on todays weather forecast and advised me to camp inside. Expected is a lot of rain tonight and since my tent is already soaking wet it might not even dry out. I find my luggage and drag it into the gym, it is already hard to find a place, I settle next to Harry.
3 o'clock today means setting-up the tent to get it dry but sleep in the gym because it is gonna get real wet tonight...
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