Hammond to Bogalusa, LA

We traveled 55 miles today on some nice country roads today. Most of the ride we tried to go at a leisurely pace, sort of another rolling rest day. We went through a town called Uneedus and there was a sad looking little building that was falling apart on the opposite side of the road that looked like it used to store grain at one time. Next to it was a sign saying Uneedus Superdome. I don't know if it is a comment on the New Orlean's Superdome fiasco after Katrina or if it has always been there like that...

On that same road was a Global Wildlife Center with various grazing animals. From our vantage point on the outside of the fence, there looked like there were emus and various antelope creatures from Africa. Bikers were not allowed and a few people that did want to visit went in to find that there were no walk-ins as this was school vacation week and the morning was already full due to reservations.

Animals seems to be the theme of the day. We had several dogs chase us. You wouldn't think those tiny little yappers would do much, but they sure can run after bikes ready to nibble on ankles. We tried the yelling techniques and finally ended up SPRINTING to get away.

Further down the road in a very secluded area, was a little puppy of some small mixed breed chasing after a truck in the middle of the road. We stopped to see if we could see some identification and wandered about for a while with this little puppy yapping, licking, and wagging its tail all at once. It didn't seem to be hungry or thirsty so we eventually pedaled on slowly trying to flag down people, who waved at us, smiled and went on. He followed us for about a mile and we came to some mailboxes, flagged down a truck, and asked him to take the dog. The poor man stepped up and said he would give it to someone for us. I hope he did, but it was probably abandoned that afternoon by someone else.

We arrived around 2 pm, despite our casual ride and dog rescue encounter, and I believe we have a low mileage day tomorrow when we cross into Mississippi. Perhaps I'll have time to do my laundry, and start making some phone calls to bike shops about packing and shipping my bike home in a few weeks. There's a strange smell here at our hotel that sort of permeates the air. Someone who was in the Peace Corps said it reminds her of sugar cane and we were wondering if there was a processing mill around here.
Have a good day!
Robin