Jannette and I rarely know where Cheeto will take us until we saddle up. That's part of the allure of riding in southern and southeastern Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Today, we thought maybe we'd head toward Avery Island and the Tabasco Sauce (McIlhenny Company) property. At least we knew we'd start that direction and see what happened. It was a warm day today, with highs in the upper 80's and low 90's depending on how close you were to Lake Ponchartrain. The humidity was quite high too, although we've become somewhat acclimated, and now anything below 80% is downright heavenly.
US 90 runs throughout the state and it's actually a pretty nice thoroughfare. Most places it's at least 4 lanes wide, sometimes with a neutral ground (median). Not usually high speed, but frequently with a 65 mph limit. That was good for us today.
We headed from Slidell, down Interstate 10 to Harahan and jumped on US 90 after crossing the Huey P. Long bridge over the mighty Mississipi. From there, we westbanked it through Boutte, Raceland, Houma and Gibson.
We stopped for fuel at a little Casino/Gas Station/Mom & Pop restaurant, called Cash Magic Bayou Vista, just across the Atchafalaya River from Morgan City. The place was called Sam's Southern Eatery, and their logo is of a Jumbo Shrimp (yes, I realize that's an oxymoron). I had a double cheeseburger (cause nothing tastes better than a homestyle hamburger), while Jannette had the fried shrimp Po-boy. Those shrimp were indeed jumbo!
While eating, we decided that Avery Island would have to wait for another trip, as there's a ton to do there and it was approaching 4pm and we were 119 miles from home. However, rather than doubleback and head home the same way (a cardinal sin for motorcyclists is to take the same route twice), we checked out another route to get us north to Interstate 10 east of Gonzales.
Finding LA-70 was tough enough in the quaint burg of Morgan City, but when the signs have either been torn down from storms, stolen by college students, or just bent so that they don't truly show the correct way, they are less than helpful. Finally getting ourselves on course, we took LA-70 and immediately enjoyed the beautiful scenery as it threaded along a spit of land between Flat Lake and Lake Palourde. The road was in fantastic shape, and there were a lot of interesting things to grab our attention: Graveyard Island, Spunky Monkey Daiquiris,Old River and Bayou Calist.
The only thing spoiling our second trip across the Big Muddy was the heavy canvas tarps covering the bridge skeleton while maintenance crews repaired and repainted the Sunshine Bridge. Shortly after that, we picked up I-10 and did the boring 75 mph 'haul-ass' back home. We were lucky that LSU was busy with a late game getting their rear ends spanked, because that kept traffic (for us) light.
As usual, Cheeto performed her best with nary a hiccup or sneeze. As a reward, she'll get an oil change soon.
2014
Miles ridden so far: 874.5
Miles ridden on this trip: 257
Total miles in 2014: 1,131.5
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