I awoke early that big day… Plenty of time for all I needed to do before departure; so, … why didn’t I get it all done early? Do I have some built-in pacing mechanism, a metronome of some sort, that causes me to subconsciously consume all available time… plus 5%?
Beats anything I’ve ever seen, but there it is plain as day for anybody to see who bothers to watch! Maybe I just do it subconsciously to create a reminder to myself that I don’t have to bother stressing about ‘running late’ or meeting any schedule… then proving the point! Who knows… The mind can do some mighty curious things, and it can play some surprising tricks on us…
No sweat, I’d wound up close enough to my target that there simply was no reason for hurry. Well, unless you count racing against the thermometer! South Louisiana can be hot and humid, and even though neither were oppressive this time down there, they were both still above my comfort level. Ah, who cares, I’d just stop more often and turn in for the day a bit earlier, I told myself… Hey, this retirement thing sure has some advantages!
I did finally roll out, and I took US HWY 190 instead of I-12… A couple of reasons for that, but passing just north of Baton Rouge instead of plowing right throw the middle of town was first on that list! Traffic usually moves OK, but it always seems to be heavy no matter when I make the run… It's even worse now, since Hurricane Katrina drove many residents from further south to relocate to this city...
Once in a while, however, the dreaded 'giant parking lot' feature appears, and that is always followed by the totally unpleasant 'first gear creep'… Did I mention it also is usually hot and humid down there? US 190 is an acceptable alternative to even the risk of boo-boos in the heart of that capital city...
Soon enough we were back on I-10, and we were making good time towards Lafayette… and the turn-off for New Iberia. South through town, I was carefully watching signs and doing what I could to navigate the not tricky at all maneuvers and the zigs and zags necessary to cover the final 40 miles or so…
I still managed to take a wrong turn, as so often happens, but I recovered fairly easily! Yep, I cast aside all claim to manliness and any obligation I might have to the stoic tradition of men everywhere… and I stopped to ask for directions!
I've swallowed my pride many, many times all over North America and done this... nothing new here at all. I once was chatting with two of my pals. One of them asked me how many miles ALI had on her now, and I told him. WOW! That's a lot of miles, he'd responded. The other pal then observed, she wouldn't have half that many miles if I could navigate worth a damn!
I know I should get a GPS… I’ve been told that a lot! I just hate the thought of giving in yet again to the avalanche of technology, though, and to the constant intrusion gadgets and gizmos are having into our ‘normal’ lives… Besides, I can’t even spell GPS…
Back in New Iberia, it seems I’d turned right when I should have delayed that turn for the next road south of the one I did take… Oh well, we'd only traveled about ten miles down the wrong road towards Abbeville, but it did afford a break opportunity - a chance to cool down, rest my bod, replenish body fluids, and flex my buttocks… all items very much in need of attention!
We backtracked, made the correct turn towards Avery Island, and finally we were pulling up to the ticket booth and chatting with the nice gentleman who gave directions and other useful information… plus the ticket to place on my windshield and later become a souvenir. Why a guy who lives the way I do bothers to collect 'treasures' and memorabilia is another major mystery, but still I do it... makes for frequent and very busy future trash days!
I rode in, stopped and took a couple of pictures… then rode back out! I did go inside the store and pick up an online ordering booklet (I didn’t have the address with me where I wanted to send a surprise), but I did take a pass on the plant tour… How could I do that, you might wonder?
Well, first of all, it would be awhile before the next one started, and I was already hot and tired. Second, I simply had no interest… I’ve done a couple of ‘plant tours’ in times past, and, while interesting, they just don’t have much of a draw for me anymore. Lastly, the product itself holds no huge appeal for me, so not getting any samples was not considered a significant sacrifice.
Do I still get credit for making the ride out there? Am I going to have to return again to fully atone for my previous transgressions? Have I actually committed yet another transgression by not doing the tour? Oh, woe is me… An approving conscience can be such a relentless task master sometimes!
I mounted-up and headed back out. I only made it as far as New Iberia before the motels I’d spotted on the way in popped to the fore of my thinking! OK, let’s just make it time to settle in for the day and take stock of my situation… I got a room…
I needed to recheck the weather forecast anyway, and to calculate some miles and contemplate some possible stopping points between there and Clinton, TN. I also needed to verify if my preliminary long-cut route through Missouri was still the way to go… Planning again... Go figure!
I’d been looking at that seemingly weird, very much not direct route as one way to avoid the rain to our north but to continue riding each day… two of the many things I do enjoy doing! My thought was to hook around behind that green moisture blob on the weather map and follow it eastward… but not too closely, of course! No rest for the weary… or wicked either, apparently… especially when must-do planning is involved. Anybody feeling sorry for me yet?
DDT
