Day 4 May 5, 2011

Happy Cinco de Mayo and Happy Birthday to my Motor!

Three years ago during our annual ride, we were riding Route 66 and stopped in Litchfield, ILL so that I could get an oil change for my Motor. While we were waiting, we looked at all of the new Motors in the showroom. I saw "my Motor" there. The salesman told me that he would give me a "great deal" on the Motor and a "great deal" on a trade in. I told him that I would have to discuss the purchase with my wife first. We finished the ride on a Monday and told Laura about "the Motor." She told me, "you were there, why didn't you get it?" On Saturday, Chuck and I rode with J.B. Henderson back to Missouri so that he wouldn't ride alone. We arrived at J.B.'s home on May 4, Sunday. I called the dealership and asked them to get the Motor ready as I would be there the next day, Monday, May 5. J.B. and his wife, Susie, Chuck and I rode to Litchfield on Monday. When I got there they told me that the Motor was ready. I parked next to it, swapped all my stuff from the old Motor to the new, signed the papers and we left! What a sweet ride.

OK, enough of the nostalgia. My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM. My new roomie, C.E., and I got up, got dressed and packed. We went down to the breakfast room. We were the only two of our group at the time. We finished our breakfast and then went out and prepared our Motors for the day's ride. The other four came down and had breakfast. Chuck roomed with Ken and Jan roomed with Bruce. We all got our bags and packed our Motors. We were all finished and were ready to go. As I was on the Motor waiting to leave, I was thinking...a good night's sleep; a good breakfast, 66 degree weather, partly cloudy sky's and freshly cut grass in front of the hotel...what a way to start the day! We left at 8:46 AM.

Bruce continued to lead us. Chuck was low on gas so we didn't ride too far. We rode for 27 miles and at 9:13 AM, we stopped at a Shell station in Grosse Tete, LA. Where??! Grosse what? There are some strange names here in Louisiana! We had fun with that name! We left at 9:35 AM.

C.E. was now in the lead. He had programmed his navigation system for Venice, LA. He was very concerned that he would make a wrong turn or get us lost. C.E. came through just fine and led us to where we needed to go. We rode for 74 miles and stopped at 10:45 AM in LaPlace, LA for a short break and pit stop. We continued on at 11:06 AM.

We were not too far from New Orleans and C.E. led us through the city through lunch hour traffic. We had not problems going through the city and were finally south of New Orleans and on the Highway going towards Venice, the start of the Mississippi River. We rode through a small town named Belle Chasse. There is an Air Force Base there with a Blue Angels Jet on display in front of the Base. As a matter of fact, there is supposed to be an air show at the Base this weekend. The Blue Angels were flying overhead, practicing. We rode for 46 miles and stopped in Jesuit Bend at 12:12 PM at a Conoco station for a pit stop. As we were there, the Blue Angels flew overhead a couple more times. We left at 12:27 PM.

C.E. continued to lead us southbound on Highway 23, a two laned road with NO stop signs or traffic lights. As we were riding, we passed a sign for Myrtle Point, a very small town. Soon after passing the sign, I saw something on the road and was not sure what it was. A few minutes later, I was looking around and noticed that C.E.'s Motor was missing the antenna. It was the antenna! There was nothing we could do at this point. We continued and after riding 30 miles, believe it or not, in the town of Port Sulphur, there was a Subway! The parking lot was dirt and gravel and there were a lot of cars and trucks parked in the lot. There was a small cement slab next to the Subway with a pick up truck parked on it. C.E. rode to the cement slab while the rest of us parked on the gravel. As I was getting off of my Motor, Jan called out to me to go and help C.E. He had dropped his Motor on the right side and was attempting to pick it up. I went over and told C.E. not to try on his own and that I would help him. As we were lifting the Motor, Ken came over and helped. C.E. moved his Motor next to ours and we all went inside to have lunch. Luckily, C.E. was not injured. Lunch went well and after we were done, we walked behind the building and walked up the levee to the top. The River was running quickly. There was a barge going downstream moving at a good speed. There was also another barge going upstream and it appeared to really be working. We continued southbound at 1:39 PM with C.E. still leading.

We continued another 35 miles and finally arrived in Venice, LA at 2:28 PM. There was a billboard stating, "Welcome to Venice." We continued southbound hoping to get to the end of the road. The River was flowing over and onto the road. There were large areas with water on the road. The closer we got to the end of the road, there was more flooding. The water on the road was up to the "floorboards." We stopped and C.E. spoke to a man in a red truck who told C.E. that there was about four more miles to travel and the further you go, the deeper the water is. We opted to turn around and head back to the "Welcome to Venice" billboard and take pictures. After taking pictures at the billboard we left at 2:37 PM. Chuck was in dire need of gas so he told C.E. to stop at the first available gas station and he and Jan would put in one gallon of gas. This would have been enough to get us back to the Conoco station in Jesuit Bend.

We rode for 59 miles and arrived at the Conoco station in Jesuit Bend at 3:48 PM. We gassed up and took a break. We were trying to figure out how we were going to get to the River Road, find a hotel for the night and get as far north as possible during the "rush hour" traffic. We left at 4:30 PM.

Chuck's turn to lead. I was behind him...his "wing man." I had programmed the area where we had decided to go on my navigation system. As we were riding, I was giving Chuck directions. When there was a question as to where we needed to turn, I unfolded my map and looked at it. Do you know how difficult it is to look at a map while operating a Motorcycle? We would come to a red light and I would look at the map while my Motor was in neutral. When the light turned green, Chuck told me and I would hold the map with my teeth as I put the Motor in gear and accelerated. While we were moving, I fold the map and put it back in the pouch. At the next red light, I would do the same thing again. Chuck told me that eventually I would end up swallowing the map! Well, I am not sure how we did it, but we found the River Road. The road was well maintained, smooth and not very many stops. We rode next to the levee. The levee was grass covered and well manicured. It looked like a nice park. We continue for 40 miles and at 5:55 PM, we stopped at a Shell gas station in Ama, LA for a needed pit stop. In fact, Chuck entered the parking lot and circled the lot and ended at the far end of the lot from the station, next to the road. Bruce stopped his Motor in front of the station and ran in to the rest room. We searched the Droid and navigation system for a hotel to spend the night. We found one not too far away. We left at 6:15 PM headed for the hotel.

We rode for only 6 miles and at 6:24 we stopped at a Best Western in Luling, LA to check on the prices. They wanted far too much per night. We were very surprised, considering the fact that the parking lot was empty! Jan and I rode just west to a Comfort Inn to check on the prices. They wanted $1.50 less per night. They were crazy too! Jan and I returned to the group and Chuck found a Best Western on the Droid about 50 miles away. He called and spoke with the clerk and got a good rate and told her that we would be there within the hour. Away we went. We left at 6:42 PM.

I entered the address on the navigation system and Chuck led the group. I was giving Chuck directions on where to turn. We rode 50 miles and at 7:29 PM we arrived at the Best Western in Donaldsonville, LA. We checked in and unloaded our bags and took them to our rooms. Chuck had asked the clerk about a good restaurant that she would recommend. She told us about the Grapevine Cafe and Gallery in downtown Donaldsonville. She gave us great directions and we were there in quick time. The food was very good and the atmosphere was also very good. It was located in the downtown area. We read that downtown Donaldsonville is the second largest historic district in the State of Louisiana, second to the French Quarter in New Orleans. Too bad we rode through downtown at night. We finished dinner and returned to the hotel. We parked our Motors and tucked them in for the night.

Tomorrow, we plan to head north, following the River and make a detour to see C.E.'s Mom. C.E. has already called her and she is expecting us tomorrow. It will be nice to meet the Mother of the giant "teddy bear" that rides with us. Who know where we will end up tomorrow...