May 4: Crossett, Arkansas to Lake Providence, Louisiana
Blood sugars were much better today. Thanks, everybody, for your emails with concern, advice, and support. I knew a infusion site change would bring my blood sugars back into line.
Yesterday’s 78-mile ride, with the blood sugar swings and the heat. left me feeling a bit drained when I started out on today’s ride. Fortunately, a north wind, cloudy skies, and nearly table-top flat terrain made things a bit easier on me today.
This morning, I crossed the border into Louisiana. Louisiana is our tenth state. I attached the camera to the handlebar and captured some video to commemorate the event.
Our original plan was to drop into Louisiana and then back north again so we could cross the Mississippi at Greenville, Mississippi. It was a bit out of our way, but it looked to be a less busy crossing than the crossing at Vicksburg. But Vicksburg has a lot of history and we wanted to see it. Pat and I talked about the trade-offs for a couple days. Finally, last night, we decided to experience a bit more of Louisiana and head for Vicksburg.
On the way to Vicksburg, we would have to spend one night in Louisiana and Lake Providence seemed like the place to do it. Not that Lake Providence was on the most direct route; it was simply one of the few places I could reach today by bicycle that also had a place to stay.
Locating lodging is turning out to be more difficult than we had thought it would be. In order to stay on the less travelled roads, that is, the ones good for cycling, we tend to pass through smaller towns. These smaller towns often don’t have hotels or campgrounds. So to find lodging, we frequently have to extend the day’s ride a bit further or even change our route. It’s been very time-consuming to do this everyday and frustrating at times.
On the way to Lake Providence, we passed through a series of small towns — Bastrop, Mer Rouge, Bonne Idee, Goodwill, Pioneer. Here’s the Welcome to Mer Rouge sign and a photo of some typical scenery in the area.
May 4th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
Hi Pete and pat - You seem to be a little ahead of schedule. I hope you can take a day of rest somewhere in the Vicksburg area. The Civil War Battlefield/Memorial Park is really interesting. I swear that was a June Bug. Yech, I always hated them even though they never do anything but hang around. WE will be looking forward to the Mayfly hatch in northern Minnesota when we go up there. It is always something!!! M&D
May 4th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
Pete, into your 10th state (over 20%)–hurrah!
This is a tardy response about keeping your mouth shut. As you know, I grew up in Minnesota, too, and we discovered that valuable truth early in our bicycling careers. While racing along at twilight on a summer evening, one of my best friends opened her mouth to shout to a friend and–wham! She SWALLOWED one of those infamous, horrible, huge, buzzing June bugs. She survived, but it grossed us all out so effectively that we totally stopped talking while riding–and we still shudder 50 years later. So … in those humid regions, save your smiles for the rest breaks I guess!
May 5th, 2006 at 6:39 am
It sounds like time for a rest day and some jumbalaya!
May 5th, 2006 at 7:19 am
Pete, those are in ride protein supplements…Glad to hear you’re doing well. Keep up the good work!