Day Thirty-eight - Hammond to Bogalusa

We only had 55 miles to ride today so we took it easy and rode with some of the other girls. The temperatures have been great. The mornings are about 60 degrees and it warms up into the 80s in the early afternoon. The winds have been light. We are entering the Louisianna/Mississippi hill country. Our elevation gain for today was 980 feet. Not too bad, but more than we have been doing. The only draw back to the day was bad roads. We had some pretty bumpy surfaces to content with. We passed the Global Wild Life Center and tried to get in without any luck. They don't allow you to get out of your car and no bicycles are allowed. The animals roam about freely. I wasn't thrilled with that idea, but Shelley and Mary said they have tram tours so I thought I would give it a try. We were told that we would have to be escorted in in a vehicle by the Wildlife officials, but there was no way to let them know we were there. We finally just took some pictures from the road and went on our way. It was a very relaxing ride. We had a great time with Lynn and Karen. We all stopped for coffee and a snack in Folsom. Sound familiar? There is actually a Folsom, Louisianna. Mary thought that's were Johnny Cash was in prison. She couldn't believe it was in California. We got into Bogalusa and checked in. It really is just a little hole in wall type place. A few of us got together after dinner and played a little hearts. That was the highlight of my day! We went to bed with the air conditioner on and woke up some time in the middle of the night to a horrible smell. We found out the next morning that it was the local paper mill. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. Well, tomorrow we cross into Mississippi. Margarita night!!!!!

35 days down and 15 days to go.