It has been a while since I took off on a purposeless, drunken ricochet into the hinterlands. It may be a while longer as I'm finding purposeful riding rewarding. The downside is that stuff seen on the way either gets skipped or is dimenished in applied attention. In other works, the further away the focus of the trip, the less focus on the path to it. This may be a temporary condition.
    Looking at Southwest Louisiana snuggled up against Southeast Texas, it seems that part of Texas is but another parish of Louisiana. Afterall, it's just past Lake Charles. Ray Daigle, living south of LC, rides back and forth to St.Landry Parish all the time. What could be the big deal. That's what I thought. When you take the scenic route and refuse, absolutely, to retrace a road taken, then the trip can double in length. I may not have initially bitten off too much, but I seemed to have taken several more bites along the way, topping off at a back busting 430 miles.

 
    If you've never been to this site and don't understand its purpose, well, it's totally about me with a little about where I go and what I see thrown in to accentuate, me.
    I just feel that information needs to be restated from time to time.
  "Aw, Aw was right", all the faithful are saying to themselves. The faithful are two or three in number, no immediate family members listed.
    If you are still with me after the last paragraphs, cool. The Civil War thing, the interest I said I was desserting a while back,  is still causing me to actually read a little and I've found yet another artillery dude.
    What's with them? I haven't read one story about Igottha Pluggedgun who couldn't hit the side of a barn and wouldn't participate because he was sleeping around with the tavern maids.  The three I've read about were supermen, just  and loyal, examples to be praised and emulated. Well, they may have slept around, but they were ready when the calling came.
     Now, Fred, I don't mean that you should go out and get a cannon to be like these guys, just  do the best the can and you'll be a winner, some day.
    Who can name the two gunners I've written about?
    You in the back? No? Hum?
    Being you're the only one here, they are Mississiippi's Morton and our own south Louisianian, Cornay.
    Who is this third one and how is he linked to Texas, where I'm headed?
    His name is Dowling. He and 46 others whipped the Union Navy, destroying two ironclads, capturing 350 sailors and sending the fleet, complete with 15,000 soldiers, back to New Orleans, never to return again. They humiliated Farragut and Banks, one an easy mark and the other, not so easy. I simply had to see where these guys did it, even if I had to travel to the far flung Parish of East Texas.
     Ray Fagan, or anyone else whose had the pleasure of my company, can tell you the next line.
     I finally got away about ten o'clock. Maybe a little later. I made haste using a "direct route" to achieve my goal, the mouth of the Sabine River. Looking back at the tracks I left in the gps, I am amazed at how efficient my ride into Abbeville was. Abbevile is where you can stop thinking and planning if your goal is Texas. You can either take the high road, La.14 or the low road, La.82. The low road was too chancy and I just couldn't endure seeing the destruction again. I will simply say it is terrible and those are hard working people who lost everything and deserve our help.
     La.14 was not scarless by a long shot, but the difference is as night is to day. I would see enough of that witch Rita as I rode along going south.
   Approaching Abbeville from the norheast, I passed up this old honkytonk or rooster fighting arena or both. Often great honkytonks did have both running at the same time. Jay's in Cankton was such a place. There I saw the most bizarre mixture of people. College "hippies" and local rooster fighters commingled in seeming bliss. The rooster room was soundproff so neither group would be bothered by the other. Both areas were very loud. Oh, of course, egg cartons were used on the walls. Fitting.
  La.14 is a good "beginner's" road. It is not that challenging, but has its points of interest. I like it becaue it doesn't throw too much at you at one time. You can savor what you see and really have time for contemplation. A lot of time.
  Just before Hayes, I can't tell you how far as distance is a blurr, the Mermentau River offers a break. It is cool and beautiful. See the clouds? That is the front line that provided this 70 degree day. I was worried it would crawl back on me and I'd face unknown weather is a wild area.
For more on La.14, a lot more, you can check out ITS ARTICLE.