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___ We hit 1500 miles as we rode from Bastrop, Texas to LaGrange, Texas. We had a beautiful ride through the Bastrop State Park where many of the trees’ leaves were changing colors.
While we were in LaGrange we toured the old town jail and saw the old noose that they used for hangings. Creepy!
We also learned that that LaGrange is where the house of ill repute featured in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas was located. However, Hollywood was not allowed to film the movie here because the local churches didn’t want LaGrange’s reputation to be tarnished.
At the campground in LaGrange, I worked some magic and levitated a very heavy leaf. From LaGrange we cycled through the East Texas Antique Show capitals: Winchester and Round Top. Apparently, they have great big huge outdoor antique shows twice a year in April and October. From what we could tell, they must have a ton of people show up for the event. However, on November 8th, everything was closed and there didn’t seem to be a soul around. For this reason, we had a hard time finding an place to pitch our tent and ended up continuing on to Burton. In Burton we were lucky enough to obtain permission from the Mayor, Steve Miller, to camp behind the flower shop in town. Steve Miller was also the owner of the local café, so we showed our appreciation by eating dinner at his restaurant. We walked around Burton and saw some very interesting things. We managed to find an old cotton gin that has been restored and is operated once a year during the cotton festival. We didn’t get to tour it, but we did get to see a video about it and how it was restored. We also learned exactly what a gin does to the cotton. It removes the seeds! Neither of us knew that before.
Also as we were walking around town, we found this interesting outhouse. Outhouses are always so photogenic!
From Burton we rode to Navasota, Texas where we stayed in the city park for 3 days. Camping there was free and they even had warm showers and electric hookups! While we were in Navasota we took lots of walks and saw some interesting things. We enjoyed walking through the neighborhoods looking at the many beautiful old homes. They certainly are beginning to look like the type of homes we expected to see in the South.
Here is one of the beautiful homes that was on the main street of Navasota We also found a bust of a famous French dude who accidentally landed in Texas when he and his crew were trying to find the mouth of the Mississippi. He must have been very popular because, according to the plaque on his bust, he was murdered by his men. Looks like a pleasant guy to me. What do you think?
Here is Rob trying to do his best impression of this French Dude. What is really funny is that we kept seeing busts and paintings of this guy throughout Eastern Texas and Louisiana. Somebody must really like him! We really wanted to rent a DVD and watch it on our computer while we were in Navasota, but both video stores in town required a Texas driver’s license and a utility bill in order to rent a movie! So we went to Wal Mart and bought two cheap DVD’s to watch. Fortunately, they ended up being good movies. They were The Crossing Guard and Bugsy. One of the main reasons we stayed in Navasota for three days was because the weather was so cold and the wind was so strong. We kept hoping it would warm up and be nice weather like we’d had up until this point. Unfortunately, this really marked the permanent change to cold weather. Our lovely, warm, fall days were over.
Here is a picture of a nice sunset we saw while we were in Navasota. From Navasota we rode to the Sam Houston National Forest, which was a beautiful ride through a Loblolly Pine corridor. We stopped in the national forest and camped in a nice spot in the trees. It was a beautiful camping spot, but we were harassed continuously by the bees until the sun set. While we were there, Rob managed to find an old locust skin to harass me with.
Our next stop for camping was at Lake Livingston (still in Texas). We were lucky enough to get a great spot next to the lake. We spent the afternoon swimming, which was lovely. Unfortunately, a stray dog who had apparently been left at the campground found us and we both fell in love with her. We started calling her “Biscuit” and we fed her some of our dinner. She hung out with us all afternoon and when we went to bed, she laid down next to Rob’s feet outside the tent. She kept guard all night and occasionally let out a good bark when anyone got too close to the tent. The next day when we went to leave, she followed us out of the park and up the road for about 1 ½ miles. It broke our hearts. We really wished we could keep her, but couldn’t think of a way to put her on our bikes. We told the owners of the campground about her. We are hoping someone will find her and give her the love that she needs.
Here is a picture of Rob with Biscuit.
This is a lizard that we saw in the restroom at Lake Livingston
We have been seeing more and more Spanish moss on the trees. It is so beautiful! This picture was taken while we were at Lake Livingston. The night after Lake Livingston we camped by the side of the road near Honey Island, Texas. Then we spent the night in an RV Park in Silsbee. Our last night in Texas was in Kirbyville. We camped in Magnolia Park in town. We enjoyed our afternoon and evening there and were lucky enough to find a barbeque shop nearby where we enjoyed a great sandwich. However, now that we think about it, we’re glad that we survived after eating there. This is the pool of blood that was in the parking lot outside their store. Do you think this meets health code standards?
I’ve seen lots of puddles before, but never a puddle of blood! We crossed into Louisiana just East of Bon Weir, Texas. On the way out of Texas, we had to stop and take a picture at the “Welcome to Texas” sign because we didn’t see one when we entered the state in El Paso
Of course, we also had to get a picture by the “Welcome to Louisiana” sign.
Next to this sign we found several sets of plastic beads. Rob and I each took one. He picked up a green one and I took a purple. We wore them for good luck all across the state! We rode into DeRidder and through the help of the police and a flyer that was posted at the tourist info center, we were able to find an RV Park in town. For some reason, it wasn’t listed on our bike map It is a very nice RV park tucked back into the woods. We set up camp and then sat around feeling pretty excited about having finally made it to Louisiana.
Here is a picture of some of the beautiful trees that were near the campground in DeRidder Early the next morning, it started to rain. Before too long, the rain was dripping through the top of the tent and seeping in through the sides. About 8 am, Monika, the owner of the RV Park came by to invite us to stay at her home until the bad weather passed. This was very, very fortunate for us because we had no way to keep dry otherwise and we also didn’t have any food. We had planned to go to the store that day, but we hadn’t planned on going there in the pouring rain! We ended up staying with Monika and Jeff for 3 days as the weather system came in and drenched everything. It rained about 7 inches in those three days and the wind kicked up and blew all over the place. At one point there was a tornado warning, but luckily, that never materialized. We were very lucky they took us in. We would have been very miserable in the tent! Monika and Jeff have a very nice home and are kind enough to share it with more than just us two crazy bikers. They have many wonderful dogs and cats who they have taken in over the years. They are all pets that have been abandoned and have somehow found Jeff and Monika. They all have their very own sad story, but are now happy and well fed. We enjoyed meeting them and took advantage of all the nice attention they gave us.
Here I am enjoying attention from Joey and Spotty. Joey liked to lay on the couch with his legs up in the air and have his belly rubbed. Spotty liked to sit next to us and have us pet him all day long while he looked around the room to make sure everything was under control. Spotty also liked to wake us up in the morning!
Prince was another one of the dogs at Jeff and Monika’s. He liked to sit in his chair on the back porch and give us a very cute look with his sad puppy dog eyes.
Here are Monika and Jeff on the back porch with some of their critters. We really enjoyed our visit with them. They treated us like family. We’re lucky to have met them.
This is what Jeff and Monika’s backyard looked like after all the rain.
While we were in DeRidder, we did get to see the museum. It was a nice museum with lots of interesting artifacts. The biggest display in the museum is a big doll collection. Rob thinks these type of things are very spooky. So he took the above picture of some of the spookiest dolls they had on display. He says they give him the heeby geebies! The weather finally cleared when a cold Northerly blew in and chased away all the clouds, so we decided to get on our way. From DeRidder we rode to Oberlin and camped in the trees by the side of the road. From Oberlin we rode through Mamou on our way to Opelousas. Just outside of Mamou, we saw this cute little fairy tale house and had to take a picture of it.
We also crossed over a river that had the most beautiful white sand beaches. This is the first white sand we’ve seen so far on our trip
In Opelousas we were able to camp at the city park in town. This was lucky because there are lots of things to see in Opelousas. We decided to stay in Opelousas another day so we could see the sights and enjoy some Cajun food. Our first night in town, we ate our first Cajun food at a little café. Rob had a catfish poboy and I had shrimp gumbo. They were both very good. After eating we went to the museum, which had some interesting Civil War relics, including some Confederate money. They also had a Civil War era surgeon’s kit, which basically consisted of a saw.
Not exactly my idea of modern medicine!! Opelousas has a nice historic downtown and we spent some time walking around there and learning about the town history. There was a really nice mural on one of the buildings depicting Antebellum life.
The next day we went to the art museum and were pleased to see the photography of a native Louisiana man named Laughlin. He is famous for his black and white photography of New Orleans. We really enjoyed looking at his pictures. He did a lot of interesting things with shadows and shapes within shapes. I think Rob really got some inspiration and ideas from his photography.
Della enjoying the black and white photos in the art gallery.
A pretty fountain outside a bank in Opelousas. While we were in Opelousas, we learned a lot about the little town’s history. Opelousas is Louisiana’s third oldest city. It was first settled in 1720 by French who used the area as a trading post and a stopping point for travelers going between Nachitoches and New Orleans. The district was named for the Opelousas tribe of Indians who located their capital at this site many years before the French arrived. The rule of the territory switched back and forth between France and Spain during the 1700’s. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Opelousas was named in 1805 as the seat of the Imperial St. Landry Parish. In 1821 the town was incorporated. Opelousas was the Confederate capital of Louisiana during the Civil War when the Union controlled Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Opelousas is considered the Cajun-Creole food Capitol of the World. The famous Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme is from here. The Tony Chachere Cajun spice factory is also located here. Opelousas is also considered the birthplace of Zydeco music. They have a Zydeco music festival here every year. Opelousas also has an annual Yam festival which is known as Yambilee
Here is a nice sunset that we were lucky enough to see while we were in Opelousas. From Opelousas we only rode 8 miles into Washington and set up camp at Willie’s Campground next to the river.
We were hoping to see some gators while we were camped here, but didn’t have any luck with that. Our main purpose for staying in Washington was so we could see the Magnolia Plantation. The plantation home itself is private, but the owners have kindly opened the beautiful grounds and garden to the public. There are 3 miles of walking trails around the plantation that we thoroughly enjoyed. While we were there we got some wonderful pictures.
Here is a picture of the Magnolia plantation house.
Some beautiful Oak trees on the plantation grounds.
At Magnolia Plantation we saw our first Cypress Swamp. Isn’t it beautiful?
We saw quite a few turtles and squirrels, but no Alligators!
These are the baby cypress trees. We think they look like stalagmites.
There were some beautiful flowers growing on the side of the barn at the plantation. The next day we rode from Washington, Louisiana to Simmesport, Louisiana through the Thistelwaite Natural Preserve. It was a beautiful, sunny warm day and we had a nice, flat ride through the Louisiana countryside. We went past numerous sugarcane and cotton fields. The cotton had already been harvested and the sugarcane appeared to be at various stages of growth. We were lucky enough to see a big machine in the fields harvesting some sugarcane. It was quite a site. Rob really took quite a few pictures along the way. We were enchanted by the Louisiana scenery
This is an old tree we saw along the side of the road.
Here is an old car that someone abandoned in the bayou.
Strange looking buzz cut Oak Tree. Can you tell why they had to trim it in such a way?
An old shack on a farm.
More pretty Spanish moss!
A very scenic old farm in the middle of the Louisiana countryside . In Simmesport we set up our tent at the Civil War Yellow Bayou State Park. Apparently one of the Civil War battles was fought here. We set up under a picnic shelter because we knew it was going to rain. It did indeed start to rain. Unfortunately, along with the rain there was 50 mph wind. As you can probably imagine, the picnic shelter didn’t make much difference because the rain was blowing horizontally and soaking everything. Our tent was completely flattened by the wind, so we had to empty it out, take it down and quickly haul all of our stuff into the ladies restroom. Yes, you’ve read this correctly. The only place we could take shelter in was the restroom. It rained and blew all night, so we ended up sleeping on the floor of the restroom! Not our most enjoyable evening, but certainly memorable. We sat up for a while and played a game of gin rummy. Meanwhile, two mice and one cockroach visited. We slept with the lights on in hopes of keeping away any more visitors!
Della reviewing the next day’s route by flashlight.
This is a picture of Rob and some of our stuff in the restroom at the Civil War Yellow Bayou State Park in Simmesport, Louisiana. We survived the rainy, windy night in the restroom and woke up to sunny clear skies. The wind was still blowing and was very, very cold. It was the coldest day we had experienced so far. Just outside of Simmesport we crossed the Atchafalaya River and were on our way toward the Mississippi River.
Della riding along the Mississippi River Dike
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