Day 28 - September 2 Pralines, Beignets and 10k!

Upon our arrival in New Orleans we were met by Torrey's and Alan's Uncle Mike and Alvin, their cousin.  They drove down from Tupelo, MS to celebrate this trip with us.  We shared a nice dinner together and the guys caught up over a few drinks after.  This morning at 8:15am, we all met in Jackson Square for beignets for breakfast, but our first stop was Aunt Sally's Praline shop. The samples helped clarify what we had been explaining to Tim about pralines.  Then we were on to Café Du Monde for breakfast.  If you've never been there, beignets are french doughnuts covered in powder sugar, or as Tim called them - "scones" and Café Du Monde has been dishing them up for more than 150 years.

 

After our experience last night with traffic coming into New Orleans, a hot tub discussion came up about finding a way to avoid the traffic near Houston when we get that far.  That spurred a review of the plan and poring over maps this morning.  In the initial planning of this ride we booked lodging ahead of time for every city until after New Orleans.  Therefore, we didn't have a room waiting for us in Beaumont, TX - our planned destination.  This gave us some flexibility.  We had planned a short riding day so that we'd have time to explore the city this morning.  However, interest was more toward getting back on the road.  Alan thought it might be a nicer ride if we re-routed toward Shreveport, LA which would take us into Texas (the following day) north of the Houston area and its related traffic.  When Alvin heard about the new proposed plan, he added the suggestion of taking US 79 from outside Shreveport to Round Rock, TX.  This would mean more miles, but if we got on the road sooner rather than later it would work.  While we finished beignets and coffee, I secured rooms in Shreveport for tonight.  Our timing was perfect as the VooDoo HD shop was open when we walked past it on our way to the bikes. Uncle Mike took our pics as we headed back out on the road.

 

 

After fueling, we grabbed I-10 to take us to Baton Rouge. The highway is built on a series of bridges that run through the swamps.  It was quite a view to see the swamps so close to the roadway.  We crossed the Mississippi River again amongst others. I say again, as we first crossed the Mississippi when we were in Minnesota headed east.  From there we took US 190 to I-49 into Alexandria to the Renegade HD store.  A portion of US 190 runs through the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, also referred to as America's Foreign Country. The further north we went the swamps gradually gave way to trees and more solid ground. 

Our departure from Alexandria was on LA 28 towards Leesville and then north on US 171. This took us into more scenic wooded area and eventually past the turnoff for the main entrance of Fort Polk.  The most notable features in this area were all of the churches. In fact, there was even a tent being set up for a revival this upcoming weekend.  There were several Christian denominations represented. The road became rolling hills as we closed in on Shreveport.  Upon our arrival at the hotel tonight Torrey announced that today we had crossed the 10,000 mile mark on our trip! 

Total miles today: 376.1
Time to travel that distance: 9.75 hours (including time spent at breakfast)
Total Cumulative miles: 10,151
Tomorrow: Texas!