... HILLS... that's what!
We left the hotel in Amite around 7:00am with breakfast for the road. We enjoyed well paved roads and wide shoulders while biking on I- 55 North. We were shielded from the sun by the trees that lined the road which kept temperatures relatively cool. Then we turned onto route 10 West. Things were pretty different there... the shoulder stuck around for most of the ride, but we were biking with headwinds directly in front of us and the sun directly behind us. In front of us were also hill after hill after hill with little to no down hill. We knew the hills were coming, we just didn't know when. Today was the day. Luckily we are in better shape today than we were a week ago. On our way up one of the hills, we saw a dog standing up ahead on the shoulder we were using. Unsure if we should try to speed up (up the hill) or stop and use the pepper spray, we slowed down (not that we were going that fast). The dog saw how fierce we looked and bolted towards the side of the road...I guess we don't even need the pepper spray anymore (just kidding...I'm not letting anything happen to that pepper spray). We had found the only dog in the south that ran away from bikes rather than running after them. We battled the hills until around 1:00pm when we stopped at a convenice store (they don't call them 'bodegas' down here) to fill up our water bottles. We ended up getting powerade AND boiled peanuts. We know the boiled peanuts grabbed your attention, so we will take a moment to describe why we decided to eat them. Everywhere we have been so far, we have seen big signs bragging about how they serve "the best boiled peanuts in the South!" We were hungry when we stopped today, and decided it was time to take part in this Southern tradition. These peanuts, slow- cooked in kosher salt and water, were perhaps the most flavorful (and healthy) snack we have ever had. They were better than regular roasted peanuts and had an edamamee like texture. We strongly suggest people try to make their own (or buy some...just try them!)! We will be adding them to our cholent in the future. The hills didn't disappear for the rest of the day, but the shoulder eventually did for some road work. We arrived in Jackson, LA around 1:40pm, and checked into the Old Centenary Inn (built in 1934 and protected by the National Historical Society). There is absolutely nothing in Jackson, LA but our friend Lynne would be happy to know that although there isn't a full service Tiffany's store here, they have evidently opened a small satellite store that does haircuts (see picture below).
Thanks for coming along for the ride!
Check out our route at the link below: Amite to Jackson, LA
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