Odo 4541.0 morn
Since my achilles tendons felt a little sore this morning I decided to just ride to DeRidder at an easy pace. It was another pretty day, and the wind seemed neutral. The first order of business was to get to Merryville, where I expected that a package Sara mailed on Tuesday should be waiting for me. (Warm tights, snacks, & chocolate - Mmmmmm.)
On the way, I encountered a man and his daughter, who were doing the route from east to west. Their difference was that his wife was driving a VW camper for support, so they didn't have to carry any gear on their bikes!
When I got to the post office, the package was indeed waiting for me. I got a box and mailed home the lightweight tights and the heavyweight wool socks. I am a little concerned that I'll want those socks, but I need the extra space in the panniers. Then I tried to call Sara, but there was no service! DeRidder is a much larger town, but when I arrived, I discovered there was no Verizon service there either!
I checked out the first of the 3 RV parks listed. It looked pretty bare bones, and when I checked for restrooms, I discovered the only restroom was padlocked, and nobody seemed to be in the office. Not good signs, so I headed for the Pleasant Hill RV Park.
When I finally arrived at the Pleasant Hill RV Park, I was surprised to learn that it actually caters to cyclists! And also that Wolfram had already arrived. He turned out to be the guy that was ahead of me. (www.insideasien.de) I found out later that he had started behind me that day, but arrived at the park first, probably mostly due to my late start and my enjoyment of a very lesurely lunch in Merryville. The setup at the park is quite nice. There was a log building devoted to us containing a restroom/shower, laundry, kitchen (with full stock of spices), stove, oven, full size refridgerator, and an eating area/lounge. Amazingly, the fee was only $5!
I talked to Wolfram and learned he rode east from Germany through central Asia and China. His ride then continued from Los Angeles using the southern tier route. We talked about a lot of stuff, and I asked him if he ever felt endangered or had any problems beyond the normal bike maintenance requirements. He said that there hadn't been any problems.
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