You will all be happy to know that I was not carried into the swamp by centipedes and eaten by alligators, I just had a mostly peaceful nights sleep in the hot stickiness of Huntsville State Park. But then I got to wake up to this:
The park was pretty peaceful in the morning without all the unknown critters hiding in the shadows. I did notice, though, that the squirrels moved extra slow in the park. I am going to say that it is a result of the heat. All that fur and the heat cannot feel good.
As I was leaving Texas I realized something that I forgot to mention earlier about the state, the highway system. First of all, the speed limits are almost all at least 75 mph. I am pretty sure that it's because the state is so damn big and it takes forever to get anywhere even if you are going 80. But more importantly, the signage is strange. Anti-littering signs actually say "Don't Mess With Texas," and signs that say "Obey Warning Signs - State Law" are seen all over the place. It makes me wonder why they need to post those signs… Most of the warning signs are pretty much understandable; yellow diamonds with a fire truck to indicate a fire station, warnings about reduced speed limits, "Share The Road" signs with a picture of a motorcycle, sharp right or left turn warnings, etc. All pretty easy to understand and obey. Then they throw a wrench at you, a yellow diamond warning sign that says "Church." What the hell am I supposed to do to obey that? Are they telling me to go? Do they want me to slow down and pay my respects? What is it that they want from me here? I want to "Obey Warning Signs," but I am unsure what I am being told to do… Ahh, Texas.
I got out of Texas fairly quickly today and found myself in Louisiana in the rain. I wound up completely soaked by the time I reached Leesville, so I stopped to change into dry clothes and put on my rain gear, and then it stopped raining. Damn!
I rode on and stopped in Alexandria (It is worth noting that the next town over from Alexandria is Ball, LA) for something to eat. I wound up going into a place called the American Grill because I really needed to eat. It was an old Quizno's that had been converted into a "grill." I am not entirely sure what all they served, but the recommended the cheeseburger because it was soaked in Au Jus. And they were right, it was pretty awesome. And way better than any Quizno's I have ever been to! Hands down.
I quickly realized that I am the minority here in Louisiana, which is not bad, just an observation, and something that I am really unaccustomed to. On top of that, just being in the South is a little weird for me. Up to this point on the trip I have been in places that are more or less familiar to me, but this is all new to me, and strange.
Toward the end of the day I got to ride on some smaller country roads and see the farm land and bayou a little bit. This place in fascinating! There is so much water! And Alison was right, it's a different kind of green here than I have ever seen.
It turns out that there is some kind of relationship between cattle and cranes here:
I am unsure what it means, but they are paired up all over the place.
I was also struck by the amount of junk that has been put to good use around here. Unlike some other rural parts of the country where there are little piles of junk in the middle of fields, they have made things useful:
It makes me wonder how many times that field was plowed with that plow before it was retired to gatehood.
I was struck with several opportunities to be grateful for my life today, I saw a lot of people buying single tall boy beers in brown bags. I know that this happens all over the place, but this is the first time on the trip that it has been so in my face. I mean, I even saw a guy in the passenger's seat of a car taking pulls off a liquor bottle. It makes me extra cautious about other people's driving to say the least.
I wound up attending the Delhi (pronounced Del Hi) Group tonight. I first went to the address I got online, and it was a locked up warehouse. So I went back to a gas station to do some research and when I got off the bike I saw Bruce. I didn't know he was Bruce yet, but I did know that the blue book he was carrying looked familiar. I asked him where the meeting was and he pointed to the church across the street! Brilliant!
The meeting was great, although it was a podium meeting, and I still get a little panicked about standing up in front of everyone. I had a very nice time at the Delhi group, and was grateful that it had decided to rain only when we were in the meeting.
I finished the day with a chicken fried steak at a truck stop diner. Dude bless America! What else can I say.
Oh, right. I was also greeted by this guy here in Delhi:
"Welcome to Louisiana!"
And one last thing. Forget about brain injury and death and all of that, I would still wear a full face helmet because of this:
I would think it was the bird size moth from last night if not for the sharp "crack" it made hitting me.
