March 28 - Day 28

Today we found some of the beautiful parts of Louisiana!  What a difference a river crossing makes.  Once we crossed the Mississippi River, everything changed for the better - homes were maintained, roads were much nicer, and the towns more alive.  I think yesterday's conditions were largely due to the fact that we were in, or right adjacent to, floodplain the entire day. 

We went through several nice forests with very few homes, so very little traffic as well.  About 50% of the day we were in shade under "tree tunnels".  All of the forests were being managed for timber, made me wonder if most of them are owned by some of the larger timber companies. 

Notice the pipe insulation on my handlebars?  I'm losing strength in my thumbs due to putting pressure on the nerves that come through the base of my hands all day.  So, altering how I hang onto the handlebars, a lot of ibuprofen, and the extra padding has helped ease this somewhat. 

To cross the Mississippi River, we had to take a ferry. 

You can watch a short video of the ferry ride here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIBtAppWx5E

We ate lunch in the parking lot of the little church below and are staying the night in the parking lot of Spring Hill Southern Baptist church.   

Found a new fried treat tonight at dinner - breaded, deep fried bacon, mmmmm bacon!  Hard to find a way to make bacon worse for you, but they have succeeded in a most delicious way.  I also had a great banana pudding cake - we are not hurting for food on this trip that's for sure. 

We rode 101 miles today to Spring Hill, Louisiana - our fourth consecutive day of 100+ miles.