Lake Charles Ramble

We made it to Lake Charles, Louisiana today. No "welcome to Louisiana" signs along the way, but we'll have margaritas tonight!! The day started with one of our lead riders sending people the wrong way, but everyone eventually managed to get back on the route with minimal angst. It was another very flat day except for two bridge crossings (and I didn't need to drop down too many gears to cross them). More trees, cows, horses, and as we got closer to Lake Charles we saw some signs of suburbia (and lots of traffic). The scenery isn't nearly as dramatic as the hills of the west. The roadside debris, however, was interesting.

The cue sheet was off by quite a bit, even allowing for the early goof. The road surface was good overall, with sections which were pretty rough. Could have used a few towns along the way for a break in the tedium and for a place for lunch, but none were to be had. Had a light headwind most of the day, so had to keep pedaling, and pedaling, and pedaling........ Patty and I played alphabet games -- using the letters of the alphabet name countries, animals, food, colors, parts of the body. We also named the states and state capitals. We kind of burned out after that, and decided xanadu was an animal, food, and color.

Bike stats: 82.76 miles; 6 hrs. 39 minutes riding time; 1,355 total trip miles.

Food stats: Mini-cinnamon roll, scrambled eggs and a banana for breakfast. On the road had another banana, some fruit chews, some almonds and M&Ms, and a donut. For lunch, bean burrito (after arriving at the hotel). Don't know what Linda is cooking up for tonight.