It was a beautiful sunny morning this morning. We woke up a little earlier than we usually do when we stay in a hotel because we had hopes to make it to Mississippi today, so we knew we had a lot of miles ahead of us. For breakfast, this hotel didn't have a normal continental breakfast, instead they handed out McDonald's cards for a free breakfast. We don't usually eat a whole lot of fast food, but we can never pass up free food. When we got all packed up and headed a couple buildings down the road to McDonalds, we got to order hot chocolate instead of coffee since we don't care for coffee, and each got a little breakfast sandwich. It was pretty yummy and got us filled up and ready for the ride. As we were riding out of Rayville, there were absolutely clear blue skies ahead of us, but creeping up behind us was this huge blanket of clouds. It really did look like a blanket being pulled over everything. Despite that, it stayed relatively sunny as the clouds eventually broke up into smaller clumps. Not only was it a beautiful day, but we primarily had a tail wind, we were just so happy about that! We passed through little town after little town before we got close to Wisner, which is where Becky (the choir director we met last night from Rayville Methodist Church) and her husband Howard lived. Last night before we left, she gave us directions to her house and said to stop by on our way through. It was only mid- day and we had gone just about 30 miles before we found the road she lived on. Although we weren't sure how far down the road she lived, we had her house number. We rode about a half a mile up to the first house to see what that number was. It was WAY off from her number, so at that point we were worried that it would end up being 5-10 miles down the road. Just as we were deciding on what to do, a car pulls up next to us and says "I bet I know who you two are.. you're the two that's ridden to Alaska and all over the country, am I right?!" We were surprised at first that someone would know that, but then when the man said he was Becky's husband it all made sense. He told us that the house was about 2 miles off the main road, and that Becky would love if we stopped in. What an amazing thing- whenever we are in doubt or don't know the answer to something, it seems we are always provided with the some kind of event that gives us the answer. What good timing he had. So, we were off to visit Becky and were happy to have gotten to meet her husband so that she knew when we would be there. We had a bit of a head/ side wind to battle, but that was nothing after we had such a great tail wind for 30 miles!! Just before we pulled into the driveway, we saw Howard pull out. He said he was on his way to get some catfish! It was so neat that we could see her again. She showed us around and introduced us to all of her rescue dogs, which were just so cute. She also made us hot chocolate and before we knew it Howard had returned with Catfish and french fries. Becky said that this area of Louisiana is known for it's catfish and that we couldn't leave without having some. It was really tasty!!! For dessert, we had an ice cream cup and some super yummy cake. Afterwards, Becky and Howard took us on a tour of their family's 100+ year old farm house that was located on their property. That was really neat!! I'm so glad that they shared that with us. We have been so fortunate to meet so many wonderful people. I'm so glad we got to see Becky again and to meet her husband. After visiting for a little bit, we continued on down the road, still enjoying the tailwind. We weren't sure if we would make it all the way into MS today, but we knew we could get pretty close. We rode through part of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area on the way. When we got to the town of Ferriday, we thought about stopping for the night at a nice church that we saw, but we decided to continue on since we never know if we will get a tailwind the next day. We made it all the way to the town of Ridgecrest and found another great church. There were cars out front so it was perfect- we could ask permission to set up the tent. They said there was not problem at all to do so and told us that we could set up under the overhang in the back. It was perfect. Before they left, they let us use bathroom inside, which saved us from having to walk to the gas station next door. Another wonderful day on the bike. Can't wait to go into MS tomorrow, then back into LA towards Baton Rouge! Our miles totaled 75.62 today.
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