Thursday February 26, 2015

Today was another windy day, although not as cold as yesterday it was cool to start. At our first hourly rest-stop Ralf asked how I was doing. I told him honestly that I wasn’t enjoying this ride, not just today’s ride but riding in the US.  We have done many rides in the US before and have really enjoyed them.  The route has not been very exciting (apart from the dogs and I can do without that kind of excitement), the weather has been cold and generally miserable and the people have not been as open and friendly. The warmshowers hosts have been wonderful and we have had a lot of luck every time we have requested a place to stay. I am not sure what it is, I just don’t feel comfortable.

After we stopped in DeRidder for lunch we headed on towards Merryville where we are staying at the Historical Museum. The sun came out, the wind changed direction, but it was still a boring ride.

Merryville is a small town with a café/restaurant, a library, a city hall and the Historical Museum. The museum welcomes touring cyclists and has a cabin and shower facilities. The museum site consists of an old building, which houses the local memorabilia.

Burk\’s Log Cabin built in 1883, a jail and a stage area where the Heritage Festival takes place every March.

The cabin (not the one above) consists of a small heater, a sofa bed, a table and chairs. It is very cosy, however, we are sharing it with a large amount of ladybugs. I am sure once we have turned the light off they will go to sleep as well.

We went over to the museum to meet Renee and Eddie and had a good look around the museum. We had a great chat with them, they are lovely people. Eddie told Ralf that Merryville lost its City status at the turn of the century and is now a Town. It currently has a population of over 2,000 people, it may lose its Town status and become a community. If that happens it loses its post office and is off the map.  Renee showed me these Fire Extinguishers, apparently you throw them at the base of the fire.  Very rare to find some in tact.

We ate dinner at Stu’s Grill the local restaurant. My first burger in 20 years! I am officially no longer a vegetarian!