Back in Louisiana

We are back in Louisiana! We crossed the border again yesterday while riding.  We started yesterday in Poplarville, MS at one of the world's finest camp grounds. It poured on Sunday night but we stayed dry in our tent with no problems. Robert started the day's ride with us and rode for the first 30 miles or so with us. We are back on our official route after taking a New Orleans detour (which was totally worth it). The roads are a lot quieter without so much traffic. We are not around any big cities right now so the riding is much easier than in days past. Weather continues to be good but wet. I don't think our tent has completely dried since leaving Florida. Its so wet every night that nothing dries. Super humid down here. Temps have been in the mid 60s and 70s and the wind has not been bad yet. We ended yesterday in a campground in Franklinton, LA. We rode about 50 miles total that day. This camp ground was really cracking me up. It is set up to use for their summer fair so not many people use it most of the other times of the year. The guy who checked us in, Chris, shot the sh*t with us for an hour or two. He proceeded to smoke and drink the entire time while talking to us and he claimed he was on the job. He was also driving. He also had a fully stocked cooler (which I utilized) in the back of his dual-wide pickup truck. This is the south. I have seen a lot of people driving around with brown bags. We watched the LSU game at a local bar and pretended to be LSU fans so as not to get harassed. We sat next to a pair of gentleman who talked to us the entire time and loved us, but I could not for the life of me understand a damn word they were saying. Lots of nodding my head and laughing. It poured again last night but again we stayed dry in the tent. We left Franklinton and headed toward Jackson, LA. It was about a 70 mile ride today. Lots of hills. I had no idea there were this many hills in LA?? It reminded me of Ironman Wisconsin bike course. Scenery was very similiar too. I got my ass kicked today and so did Natalie. Hard to pull the trailer up some of these hills. We are staying indoors tonight with a couple who allows bike tourists to stay with them. Perry and Lep. Super nice couple who let us take a shower, do laundry, AND made us a massive dinner. Just what we needed after a super hard riding day. I love all of the people I am meeting. People down here may not understand what we are doing but they are some of the nicest people I have met.  I think everyone should take a trip like this. The people you meet reassure you that there are still good people in this world who want nothing more than to help others out. Will update in a few days. Natalie is doing well. She came down with a minor cold (thanks Robert!) but is doing well. Sorry I haven't posted any pictures yet. Honestly we haven't really seen anything that cool and I'm too lazy at the end of days to dig around in my trailer. Scenery around here looks similiar to midwest anyway. I will try my hardest to post some next time. Peace and chicken grease!

~Drew