Ride Day 45

It rained pretty hard last night and kept me awake for most of the night. My tent started to float and there was a lot of real close lightning so I ended up going into the laundry room at the RV park to get out of the weather. I was kind of tired when I started my ride around 7 in the morning. I meandered down the road after packing my dripping wet tent. The weather was good, partly cloudy and not too hot yet. There was a nice big shoulder on the road so I was rolling up the miles easily. I went into the town of New Roads Louisiana to see what was there and I just rode through without stopping except when I saw the boat launch ramp on the Mississippi River. I stopped to watch the early morning show. Sure enough there was a rig that they could not pull out of the water because they did not have 4x4 drive and their tires just spun on the slippery ramp. They tried all different ways of going up the ramp but they slipped back down into the water every time. I suggested they try to put a line on the truck and tow it up the ramp as they pull it out and they talked that over before trying it. Their first attempt failed when the webbed strap they used came apart. They doubled it up and the next time they spun their tires again. I suggested that the truck with the boat on it just put a gentle touch on the pedal instead of flooring it. They tried that and sure enough they slowly pulled their rig up and out. I love the launching ramp shows, they very rarely fail to entertain. I hit the road again and headed for the new Audubon Bridge across the Mississippi River. It has been open about a year now. It was a good looking bridge but nothing spectacular. The river looked good from the crest of the bridge. I took a few pics and kept riding. The road was good so I was making good time. There were more and more hills as I went along today. At one point I was thinking Texas roller coaster but it was never that bad and it was cooler here than it was in Texas. I saw a beautiful large black snake on the road today. It was at least 6 feet long and fat. It was on the road so I tried to spin around on my bike and get my camera out but the snake was too quick for me. He almost jumped in the sky when he took off for the forest and he disappeared in a flash. I was disappointed that I was too slow to get a pic of this snake. I am not sure what type of snake it was. When I get internet again I will look up large black snake in Louisiana and see if I can find out what it was. I did look up the snake and I think it was a black pine snake.   I kept going until I hit 80 miles of riding then I stopped and put my tent up at Hyde Park in Easleyville Louisiana, not much around these parts. The road was hilly toward the end of my ride so I was happy to stop. About five minutes after I stopped the skies opened up and dumped for about 15 minutes. I timed that about right today. There is a covered area to put up my tent tonight so I should be alright even if it continues to rain. I have earplugs for the rain but the big boomers would still wake me up. I already stopped at a store and bought some food to cook for dinner so I am set for the night. More later…