Sunday, Feb 24, 2008

Washington, LA to Oberlin, LA. 55 miles, 1083 total.

Camped at Willie's Washington RV Park last night. It was a funky RV Park next to a river, complete with it's own small tavern. They had a band that started playing at 9:00 pm, so after I took a shower and ate dinner (a sandwich from a nearby gas station), I went in to listen to the band for a while. I didn't like how smokey it was, and my clothes still have a smell of smoke, but it was a great place to see how the locals like to have some fun. The bartender, Slim, was a very nice guy and wanted to know a lot about my trip. We talked for a long time. I enjoyed it there, and I even slept pretty good that night.

I didn't get started on my way today until 8:30 am. I have to get up earlier than that if I'm going to keep up 55 miles per day!

I found a great place to eat lunch in Ville Platte, LA, called the Pig Shack. Wow, their buffet lunch was really good! Ribs, Pork Chops, Sweet Potatoes, and so much more! The place was packed, so I ended up sitting at a table with Greg, an Oil Company employee that operates remote contolled subs at off-shore rigs, inspecting the supports and cleaning off the barnicals that attach to the supports. It sounded like a very interesting job, and Greg knew a lot about some of the small near-by towns. We had a nice visit.

Later in the day, a biker heading East (Mike) stopped and we talked for a long time. It was nice to take a little break. His wife was driving the support vehicle, and they are staying only in motels (no camping), so he was traveling very light. Mike is a graphic artist that used to work for a TV station in Chicago. We talked about work, the future, and biking! I hope that Mike and his wife will consider coming to Sisters in December for my celebration party! Bike on, Mike!

I camped in the back of the Police Station in Oberlin. I figured that it would be a fairly safe place to camp, and that way, the police knew right where I was! It worked out well, except that the train tracks were also near-by, and at least 3 trains went through in the night. No way to sleep through a passing train in the night!

There was a long section of road that was under complete re-construction. The good news was the traffic was very light! The bad news, parts were completely gravel (and mud) for about a mile. I can't ride in gravel and mud, so I had to walk my bike for part of it. All in all, though, it was a great day ... warm, no hills, no rain.