Our original intention was not to take a day off here, but our ride into the wind two days ago had beaten us up.  And the very late hour we retired last night helped to convince us to sleep in.

Not much to report for the day.  We treated the duckies to a nice massage (aka: tune-up) by Tom and Bhavaniand in the afternoon an amazing tuneup on our bodies (i.e. massage).

We spent a wonderfully relaxing afternoon and evening; words cannot describe how theraputic the day of was.

See you on the road, tomorrow.

We have been fortunate and very thankful for the cool days and low humidity (so far) in Texas and this morning was no exception.

The wind had tapered to 10 mph, though still in our face, it added just that bit of extra effort on our short jaunt out of the quiet town.  Passed one rusty, yet still functioning, refinery and then the obligatory cow fields,horses,large churches, curbside flowers and huge shade trees!  One the way into town, we were treated to a few of the beautifully painted roadside electrical boxes, but too slow on the camera to get more than one.

It was a short ride today; we had a goal to get to Beaumont to reconnect with good friends.

You talk to anyone in Texas or that knows Beaumont and their consistent comment is, “Why would you want to go to Beaumont”…..did we mention they are good friends?!

Arrived in town at high noon to have lunch with Jerry’s college track buddy, Lou.  Caught up in catching up, we neglected pictures.  After lunch, we biked the two miles to Rita’s home.  Little did we know, we had walked into an Architectural Digest home of the year……. indescribably gorgeous.

We were generally welcomed to to her home.After catching up and relaxing for a bit, our wonderful hostess throws us a party, including awesome music.  Everyone was so much fun and the food so amazing,including our first Boudainwe forgot all but a few photos.

There may not be a lot to do in Beaumont, but when you have a houseful of friends, what more could could you need!  We would have named this place Shangri-La, but the actual name is even more appropriate.

Low humidity, 60°, no wind and brilliantly sunny; perfect for a Sunday morning ride.

One would think with two huge oil refineries and Lamar University that someone would be stirring at 8:00 in the morning, but the roads were empty.  It took us about eight miles to get through town; then a long straight road offering basically nothing in scenery except for oil refineries in the distance.  Rice production was the largest industry in the 19th century, until the “Spindletop” oil gusher in 1901, the town’s population tripled in two months.  Both still thrive in the area, but the refineries dominated this road.  Two hours into our ride, we stopped for a biscuit break.  Shortly before 11:00, we approached a two mile, very tall bridge over the Neches River.  Thankfully, we had the newer of the two bridges,so not quite as tall as the southbound bridge, but tall enough.  The view of Sabine Lake and then further to the Gulf, was serene.  Other than this view, our entertainment was counting the various number of paved road surfaces we traversed; can’t imagine having missed any.

A few supply stops (beer & wine) on the way to the hotel and we were checked in by 1:00.  Staying close to the interstate and far away from everything, required pizza delivery with our (previously purchased) bottle of wine.  It wasn’t fancy, but a nice finish to a comfortable 40 mile day.

We had a two mile loop in the midst of construction to rejoin our course.  Trains waited on the outskirts of town to be called in to load and firework stations, waiting for the holidays, lined the road.

Outside of town, we enjoyed a wide shoulder and nice shade.  Traffic was not constant, but loud when the trucks and traffic barreled by.

Forecast was for a southeast wind to pick up during the day; naturally our first 13 miles was north, before the wind began.  An hour into our ride, we turned east onto a quiet road and felt the wind begin to rustle.  Shortly thereafter, we crossed the very flooded Sabine River into Louisiana.  We learned later, that this is a controlled flood of the river, but these two counties take the brunt of it; sometimes not able to drive the streets for the high water.

We were surprised to run across another touring biker, Jorg, from Canada.  He was doing a large loop from Jacksonville, Florida back to Cape May, NJ where he now resides.

One turn and we went from quiet to quieter.There was no shoulder on this road but there were no cars either, so we had it to ourselves, rice fields on either side.  We could hear a light rumble in the distance, and were surprised to see a plane on the side of the road.  Apparently, they had just finished loading his crop dusting fertilizer, as he took off right beside us as we pedaled down the road.  The country road was pretty, but the wind was tough and the swirling gusts punishing.  The protective tree lined road was replaced with farms and country homes. After 43 miles we came to our first opportunity for fuel and rest.  We were hoping the little gas station would have a cafe or deli and an area to sit, but our choice was limited to packaged foods.  We stood inside the air conditioning and ate our prepackaged sandwich and muffin and pushed on twenty minutes later.  Within minutes our swirling wind was further enhanced by dust from the construction of a massive refinery.  This is the closest we have been to one and it seemed to stretch on forever.  Once completed, it will cover over 3,000 acres.

We enjoyed an all too short five mile stretch with a tail wind, relaxing as we sailed along the road.  The smiles left our faces as soon as we took the east turn into the unrelenting wind.  Stopped every few miles, just for a break.

We limped into our hotel at 3:00 after 62 miles and almost six hours in the saddle.  The only restaurant near our hotel was a Mexican restaurant and it looked like a dive.  Having already had take-out the night before, we decided it could not be avoided.  The inside was small and had the same ambiance as the outside, but the food was amazing.  This huge vat of avocado topped Fajitas included a huge poblano and cactus leaf, most delicious and well worth it!

First thought: What a Gorgeous Morning, soft blue sky accentuated with delicate clouds.

Second thought: One of these days we will have the wind to our backs, but this is not that day.

We had a one mile trek to our frontage road that was far removed from the highway.  Fields were pleasant, but we preferred the protection the trees and homes offered from the wind.  Small industry and farms existed side by side. Passing a graveyard, reminded us of the high water table in these parts; everybody is above ground.

We enjoyed almost 15 miles of scenery before our road bordered the highway.Pasturesand rice fields offered no resistance to the southeast wind.  Both Iowa

and this waterslide seemed out of place.

We had not planned to stop for lunch, but we needed a break from the wind and time off the bike.  After our relaxing forty-five minute break, we savored our pedal through town.This little pigmy goat definitely did not want his picture taken.A mile and a half later, we were thrust into the wind again.  We did our best to maintain 7 mph against the southeast wind.  It took us almost an hour and a half to go our last eleven miles.

Dinner choices were Shoney’s across the busy road or the truck stop diner next door (who said we do not live high on the hog), complete with a full size alligator.  We choose well.  Our 38 miles doesn’t sound long, but four hours in the saddle against the wind was long enough to be tired.

A nice sunset, then to bed.

We left two hours earlier (7:15) and it was already 10° warmer (73°), overcast and humid; wind ever present. This morning we rode along highway 90, which we imagine was the main east west route before the interstate was built just to the north.  Too much time and not enough traffic had passed to keep business going.  The dilapidated buildings and trees helped to shield the wind, but it always found us when the fields opened up.  We had a slow pedal through Crowley, the Rice Capital of America, enjoying the wind break.

Our six mile ride between this town and the next was miserable.  Not only had we lost our protective line of trees, but the roads were the worst we’d encountered; it was insult added to injury.  We did manage to see these “guard donkeys” and this disturbingly green pond.  Entering the town of Rayne, The Frog Capital of the World, all was forgotten; frogs were everywhere……who knew?!

Once out of town, the wind once again found and hit us hard.  Shortly after 11:00, we dropped into a gas station for a break from the wind.  Since they had a sandwich shop and a place to sit, we opted for an early lunch.  Manuel Robin and T.B Morvent were on us like white on rice!  Seriously, they were so much fun, though understanding their super thick cajun accents took some effort.  Apparently, the town we would be staying in tonight is hosting a huge crawfish festival this weekend.  They then proceeded to tell us all the ways you can eat crawfish….and cajun food, “well, you just better get ready.”  After an hour of great entertainment, we said our goodbyes and continued on.

Traffic had picked up, road conditions went from good to poor and the wind did not let up.  We plugged along for 12 miles, not having much space to look around. Although, we now know these are former rice fields, flooded to capture crawfish.

We slowly struggled through a depressed area of Lafayette and then a slight northeast turn and all was right with the world, we had a tailwind for our last two miles.  Finally checked in after five and a half hours in the saddle.

Our buddies at lunch insisted we try all the local food had to offer and the best place to do that was the town we were staying in.  We started with a sampler of crawfish, catfish, shrimp and gator,  plus a couple steamers to try.Then a small plate of Louisiana Boudin and finished with steamed Gulf shrimp.  It was an appropriately stuffed finish to an almost 58 mile day.

Another 7:15 start this morning, but the 70° temperature felt much cooler than yesterday, low humidity and a light breeze out of the south east, helped.  Our back road out of town passed small homes and pretty farms.  Nine miles into our ride we reached Henderson and the north turn (into Atchafalaya National Heritage Area), we had been looking forward to ever since encountering the south wind, days/weeks ago.  We were almost giddy with the idea of a tailwind on this long northbound stretch along the levy.  A quick jaunt to the top of the levy, to see if we were missing anything and then we were off.  Just as were settling into the saddle, ready to enjoy smooth sailing, we hit dirt, and not pay dirt, our pavement had only lasted two miles!

We bumped along the gravel road, struggling to stay upright.  A couple times we had to dismount to walk our bikes, pedaling just too treacherous.  It was such a waste of a quiet and scenic route.  Just as we thought things could not get any worse, not this, this……we had come too far to turn back now, but to play it safe we walked our bikes to the top of the levy.  Our rocky, terribly rough road, was slow with several cattle guards thrown in for an extra rattle.  Angry looking bulls with sharp horns did not even phase us.  After almost 20 miles, “vacation homes” appeared along the Bayou Courtableau Outlet Channel, we hoped it was a sign of true civilization, or at least a paved road.

Duckies had never been happier to turn into the wind along a busy highway.  Five miles later, we dropped into the town of Krotz Sprngs for lunch.  The shaded streets felt like air conditioning, but there was no food to be found.  One pedal stroke from rejoining our highway, we found a place to stop for lunch.  We would need our rest and fuel to get over this next bridge.But the owner of the cafe, insisted we not proceed via bike.  The bridge ahead of us was not the problem, but the following four mile stretch over the bayou offered no shoulder.  An hour of rest and ready to go, we politely declined her offer.  She chased us out of her cafe and insisted we load the duckies in her truck; there was no saying no.  The bridge was worse than we thought, absolutely NO shoulder and the lanes were unusually narrow; we were happy Claudette saved us from what would have been a big mistake.

Once back on the road, even pedaling the shoulder seemed too close to the traffic.  Forty five miles later we pulled into our stop for the day.  It took 15 minutes to determine the room they had booked for us, did not exist.  A mile later we checked into the next hotel, newer and more comfortable, but internet was almost non-existent.  Dinner would not be much better!  A short walk away was the only place for food.  Equipped with a bottle of wine (in a plastic cup) we “enjoyed” (with plastic fork and knife) Salisbury Steak for dinner.  When you are hungry and tired, everything is good!  It was only a 43 mile ride today (shorter tomorrow), but it had beaten us up.  We will make up for this, soon!