There is a real change this side of the state line. Superficially the Texas stars on the front of homes have changed for the fleur de leis, harking back to the french roots of this state, but it's the change in attitude that's more profound. The Texan approach to life is awesome and has it's place, but it's great to be somewhere so much more laid back. People give you a wider birth on the roads, and sometimes stop just to find out what you are up to, and where you are headed. It's a kind of proactive niceness, as opposed to reactive approach encountered in the West.
The biggest change though is the food. I guess it's no surprise given this is Cajun country, and this is not to say Texas had some serious culinary high points, but for the first time on my trip, it seems every small town or village is bursting with unchained little cafes and restaurants. Not all Cajun, but every time I've stopped to eat here (usually having done no research whatsoever) it's been superb.
In fact the only blip on the day was the vast quantity of armadillos dead on the road. It's one of the least pleasant aspects of the whole ride, but you do come across road kill and it's attendant stench at least every mile. I've seen half Noah's ark of reptiles and animals wild and domestic in various states of decay along the road from LA, but today was something else. I lost count of the amount of armadillos I saw flattened on the road mile after mile. I guess they just aren't fast enough, but seems a shame as they look cool. Guess they are soft on the outside after all.
So that's it for today's riding. I've been asked a number how far I've travelled. Unfortunately I don't have an exact figure, but it must be either just under or just over 2000 miles, and there are roughly 1800 to go.
The reason for the inaccuracy is unfortunately half my fault for being a Luddite and half the UK's hybrid approach to distance education. I'm sure there is a way to track you total distance on the GPS device, but I've never worked out how to set it, and it now seems a little late in the day. However even if I did set it up there is no guarantee I'd get it right either.
As, like all Brits my age, I have a feeling for metres and miles, but not feet or kilometres. The GPS has no metres and miles option, I had to go fully metric as I don't understand feet outside of my height. In fact a vast amount of my day is spent working out distances from kilometres on the GPS to miles to size up the challenge ahead.This is not to say I'm not using technology. In fact, one of the most surprising parts of this trip for me has been how you can use technology. I'm on the macbook every night scoping out routes, the GPS guides me in perfectly to locations almost every time, I have a satellite phone like device that can call up help to my GPS co-ordinates, often I reroute or research a change to the plan on the wi-fi in a McDonalds (always worth the small coffee for free wi-fi) whilst out on the road, etc etc.
It's amazing. It doesn't pump the pedals every day, or fight off farm boys who drive you into the ditches, or take away the constant pressure about a 100 silly things that batter you every day, or all the other things that make this a tough challenge, but the availablity to information, the variety of ways and places you can access that information, and your ability to stay in touch back home are so far advanced from where they were 5 years ago even it's quite something.
Route - Sulphur - Westlake - Kinder - Eunice
Breakfast - Cherrios, 2 bagels and an apple at the motel
Lunch - Catfish, salad and baked potato - Roy' Catfish Hut, Kinder. Delicious, proper home-cooked style food. It was a big feed though, even though I only had the small plate. Goodness knows what the large plate looks like.
Supper - Shrimp Quesadias - Hacienda Mexican Food, Eunice. Best Mexican food I've had so far, and right next to the motel. Perfect.
