1999-11-11 If nothing else, I can say with great certainty that I've finally got the uneven tan my body never wanted. It's not so much the heat but the gosh dern humididy. Biking through Louisiana is HOT. I couldn't imagine doing this in the middle of the summer. I've already been biking in eighty degree weather, but it just seems to broil you here. My route today was simple: I followed 90 from Biloxi to New Orleans (Nu-orlins). Biloxi is bested only by Atlanta so far in my journey for having really miserable biking conditions. The road workers in Alabama all wore green and white horizontal striped pants. Either their union was trying to make a fashion statement or these boys were getting rewarded for good behavior. I found out that the section of 90 that runs from the Louisiana border to New Orleans was given up as dead some years ago, so the conditions of the road resembled lava beds, but with more cracks. I finally got to see some lizards. The first was a six inch green thing that scuttled across the road. The second was a six foot alligator sitting beside the road. I parked my bike next to it and took a picture. It hissed at me, but to make sure it was healthy and not another unfortunate victim of road rage, I poked it with a stick. It was healthy enough. It took off like a rocket and proceeded to head on down the road. Apparently alligators aren't worth stopping for because as people drove by, they paid it no mind. They probably were wondering why I was wasting my time with an alligator when I could be doing something productive, such as searching my bike bags for garbage and scattering it along the curb side. I've heard of birds that collect garbage in order to build an attractive nest in order to attract a mate. Maybe the locals figure that if they pour enough garbage into their ditches, it will attract tourists. I had thought Kentucky ditches were nasty, but they now seem downright white glove worthy when compared to the ditches here. Aside from the trash, the wildlife in Louisiana is great. I love seeing the cricks and marshes and swamps and "bayous" (a cross between a crick, marsh and swamp). Egrets (white birds) hang out in various ditches and totally freak out when they see me. The ones I saw today would fly as if to evade gunfire. Maybe they're just smart that way. In New Orleans I found the house of Percy and Jill, Cherie's parents. Wonderful people. Awesome house. Jill talks more than Daphne and Donna put together, but she is the only women I've ever met who can watch a movie and not miss anything. And both her and Percy have an appreciation for a well developed television commercial. My kind of people. She made a Creole dish called crawfish et touffet. Very good. They were generous enough to put me up for the night. Two showers in one day! I shall be spoiled. Of course their neighbors have barking dogs. Always with the barking.

East Louisiana