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Saturday 21 April 2012
Misty Swamps and Bayous -Simmesport, a mere 46 miles
The only visitor we had through the night was a racoon, raiding our garbage bin, and a noisy owl. Plenty creepy crawlies but no snakes or alligators. There was mist over the fields and bayous ( muddy creek ), this morning, making for an atmospheric start. What fertile land this is - wheat swaying in the breeze, corn and rich rows of 'corn on the cob'. Vast fields of produce. This was a short day of 46 miles so I just meandered along, following the map, until Cottonport, where I sat in the sun, on the banks of a bayou and enjoyed my lunch. Todd and Merv came along so I joined them for the last 10 miles. We noticed some of the houses were boarded up, apparently earlier this month, April 5th , hailstones between golfball and baseball size fell and destroyed the facings on the windows. Also, the wind whipped up and ripped the leaves from the trees. We were lucky to miss that!! Passed huge, thick oak trees planted in 1823, still full of growth and life. Dogs chased me three times, once a pack of 3. Merv beat me though, he had 5 dogs after him. Jon said ' it was so funny', poor Merv pedalling furiously with this trail of dogs behind him. Tomorrow we go through Morganza where the 'cafe scene' in Easy Rider was filmed. We also reach and cross the mighty Mississippi, which in this area, in 1923 flooded 50 miles across. 250 people died and the rescue effort concentrated on white rather than black people. Afterwards, there was a mass exodus of black people to towns like Chicago. Instead of cooking tonight, which he couldn't face, Todd took us to a 'Family Grill' and I had a 'Combo Basket'. Catfish, oysters, shrimps and fries washed down with iced tea. The mileage will need to increase if I keep eating like this, it's a hard life....still loving it....
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