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  Everybody was up early. There was talk that the winds would pick up as the day went on and people hoped to be done before it got too bad. 

The first part was pretty nice with a cross wind or part tailwind on low traffic roads. Later we were on US 190, which was busy with logging trucks and such, and the winds more against us. The last bit was straight into the wind and maybe easier to pedal.

  The scenery was nice, things are greening up. The towns of DeRidder and Merryville do not seem prosperous.  I got a later start as Pat was on food duty. Still we got in a little after one.  Temperatures were pretty nice after mid-morning with the south wind warming things up. It was overcast most of the time.

Dog talk:  three dogs came into the road yesterday and one seemed intent on damage. Other riders mentioned another dog or two we didn't see. Not much trouble with dogs on the busy highway today.  Not a great ride, but not a lousy one either.

As a rare occasion, I am inside the Merryville library using the wifi today. They asked for my ID and had me go through a two step sign-in to get on.

If you have looked at the mileage, you will see we are about a third done. We are also about a third of the way based on time. What does this mean? It means it's time for Texas, which will be the next third of the trip.

The local people are encouraged to support tourism by the state, as the state wants tourists to go other places than NOLA.  The state will pay for the food that the local people prepare. The Merryville people supplied a fantastic dinner with oysters, gator, hush puppies, gumbo, crawfish Etouffee, etc. Excellent opportunity to meet the local people. We got a little talk on the history of Merryville. Extractive industries have been their route to prosperity at times, with first virgin long-leaf pine, then oil and gas, now lumber again.