Day 8 - June 19

Charlie and I crossed lake Pontchartrain on the causeway (over 20 miles long) this morning and rode into New Orleans. We hadn't talked to anyone nor had we watched the news, thereby limiting our SWD selection. So we will address a word that we have all been talking about these days, namely......"awl", or if you live in the area of New Orleans... "earl". While most of you are already familiar with these pronunciations I will use each in a sentence for clarification. If you live in most of the south you would say, "That awl is really having a terrible impact on the people living along the Gulf." If you lived in New Orleans you would say, "After I voted for that Son of a Gun, Obama isn't doing a darn thing to get rid of the earl that's destroyed Bubba's shrimping business."

Charlie and I wandered around the French Quarter for a few hours this morning. It was too early to savor all it had to offer; but even this early, street musicians were cranking up and all the restaurant and store owners were washing off the sidewalks in front of there businesses. Even though the French heritage is obviously strong in the city, it is still an impressive town and evident that if one were still sampling the fruit of the barley and the corn it would be a fun place to hang out.

We left the city about noon and headed northwest. We rode out on route 10 (a super slab) but at Baton Rouge we switched to secondary roads, which both of us find more enjoyable.

I really hate to complain about the weather, because we've seen no rain during riding hours after leaving Virginia. However (and isn't there always a however?), the heat is brutal. You can simulate these conditions by riding a motorcycle down I-94 and setting it on fire. Getting on down the road at 60 mph is like riding into a blow torch. We stopped frequently to rest and hydrate, but there really isn't any relief.

We ended the day at a motel near Fort Polk, Louisiana. This puts us within easy striking distance of Texas tomorrow morning.

One final aside; the bike (mine that is) gave me some fits today. It stalled once early in the day, then after gassing up in this town, it died again and sounded (and felt) as though it was hitting on just one cylinder. Also, the clutch feels as though the plates are slipping from time to time. I'm hoping it's only temporary (maybe due to the heat) and will have cleared up by tomorrow when things have cooled down a bit.