Friday February 20, 2015

We had a lovely breakfast at the Days Inn and were on the road by 8:30. It was a busy road with little to no shoulders.

As we headed out on Highway 190, we knew we had a couple of big interchanges to get through. As we came up to them we just put our heads down and peddled like heck, they were a little scary but we negotiated them all safely.

Eventually we were on the Scenic Highway 61 heading north. For the majority of the ride it was not very scenic. We passed chemical plants and train yards.

We did pass one grain elevator, but the route was very industrialized. The last 10 ks coming towards Francisville and New Roads were the only scenic part of this route.

We stopped at one area for our usual hourly break and Ralf took a couple of photos of the chemical plants. Only a couple of ks up the road we were stopped by a guy in a pick-up. He asked if we had taken photographs of the plants, I told him we had as this is called the scenic highway and it isn’t very scenic. He was security from the Exxon/Mobile plant and said that Mobile did not like photos being taken of their plant. There were no “No Photograph” signs, but I apologized.

We have been noticing signs that say posted. Ralf and I have been discussing what it means. We decided that it is a trespassing sign, if you pass it the homeowner has the full right to shoot you. Actually D.M.A.P Posted is in regards to the Deer Management Assistance Program. This program allows you to apply for a permit to harvest antlerless deer in the posted area.

The next place we stopped I noticed a little stuffed toy on the side of the road, it was a koala. As we hadn’t bought a koala in Australia as a souvenir, I picked the little guy up and attached him to the back of my bike. Ralf wanted to call him road-kill, but I have decided to call him Adeo – Adelaide was my favourite city in Australia and as the Aussies shorten words and add o’s to the end of the word, I thought Adeo was a good name for him. Sydney would have been way too obvious.

North of New Roads is the Audubon State Historic Park and Oakley Plantation. This is where Audubon drew some of his famous bird drawings.

I would have liked to have visited but it was already a long day and we needed to find the motel.  We crossed the Mississippi on the Audubon Bridge.

Coming into New Roads, looked a little rough around the edges, but as we got to the Main Street and cycled along the False river there were some lovely houses. We got to our motel which had recently been renovated. It was expensive and no breakfast offered, but it was really clean and comfy beds.