We had a good time yesterday evening in the parking lot of the Pinewood Inn. Katherine, who was born and raised in Texas celebrated our last night in this great state by wearing her special shirt.
While we were eating pork roast with apples and onions, scalloped potatoes, and salad in the parking lot, the owners of the inn came bearing gifts--2 bottles of wine! The woman showing off the wine is 88 years young and a real force to reckon with!
At the map meeting Carol warned us about the bridges and traffic on today's route and ended the meeting with this statement: Fairly flat, awfully humid, have a nice day. But my day did not start out so nice.... I was on my knees worshipping the white buddha at 6:30 AM. Never a good thing, but especially on a long bike ride. I decided it must have been the combination of the over the counter sleep aid and cough medicine that I took last night. So I got on the bike at 7:30 and went on my way.
We started out from the hotel with 6 turns in the first 6 miles--had to be on our toes this morning! There was a lot of traffic. Log trucks, oil trucks, pickup trucks with dogs in the back, trucks pulling livestock trailers... We had a cross wind for about 10 miles, and then turned into the wind, and something made me cough. And cough. And cough... I coughed for 5 miles until we got to the first sag, where I borrowed Dianne's bandana and tied it on like a bandito. Presto! No more coughing!
We crossed into Louisiana at about mile 35, and Dianne and I took each other's photos. Then Ruth came along and took one of us together. Of course we took "welcome to Texas" photos too, since there was no sign when Dianne rode in three weeks ago, and I flew in. I have quite a collection of bike and state line photos, all started with Alison on the MOOSA ride. Dianne thinks I should put them all into a collage and hang it on the wall, but I think maybe not.
We were told there would be restaurants along the way, but there were not. By the time we found a place to eat lunch we had ridden 72.5 miles. Fortunately we had stopped at the 20, 40, and 60 mile sags for snacks and drink refills. When it is this hot, you have to keep drinking.
As we neared Lake Charles we had to cross a couple of bridges over the rivers and bayous. The one above is 1.2 miles long, with not enough shoulder for a bike, so we had to take our lane. It was a scary ride, but we arrived safely, then jumped in the pool to refresh ourselves. Now we get to have a margarita party to celebrate crossing the state line. That's a pretty sweet tradition on Woman Tours.
While we were eating pork roast with apples and onions, scalloped potatoes, and salad in the parking lot, the owners of the inn came bearing gifts--2 bottles of wine! The woman showing off the wine is 88 years young and a real force to reckon with! 
At the map meeting Carol warned us about the bridges and traffic on today's route and ended the meeting with this statement: Fairly flat, awfully humid, have a nice day. But my day did not start out so nice.... I was on my knees worshipping the white buddha at 6:30 AM. Never a good thing, but especially on a long bike ride. I decided it must have been the combination of the over the counter sleep aid and cough medicine that I took last night. So I got on the bike at 7:30 and went on my way.
We started out from the hotel with 6 turns in the first 6 miles--had to be on our toes this morning! There was a lot of traffic. Log trucks, oil trucks, pickup trucks with dogs in the back, trucks pulling livestock trailers... We had a cross wind for about 10 miles, and then turned into the wind, and something made me cough. And cough. And cough... I coughed for 5 miles until we got to the first sag, where I borrowed Dianne's bandana and tied it on like a bandito. Presto! No more coughing! 
As we neared Lake Charles we had to cross a couple of bridges over the rivers and bayous. The one above is 1.2 miles long, with not enough shoulder for a bike, so we had to take our lane. It was a scary ride, but we arrived safely, then jumped in the pool to refresh ourselves. Now we get to have a margarita party to celebrate crossing the state line. That's a pretty sweet tradition on Woman Tours. 
1 comment:
Yayy for margaritas! The day sounds like kind of a drag, but you MADE it. Thank goodness for great SAG support - and Linda's meals.
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