Lobsters to Llamas, Maritimes to Argentina

I stopped at the taco bell in Gonzales just before the bike acted up.I love their soft shelled tacos, two for just over three bucks.

I spoke to Gabby their server. She asked about my bike because it was "different". I told here i was riding it to Argentina. The look on her face is what adventure riding is all about. You could tell she was thrilled at the idea that it would even occur to anyone to ride to SA....priceless!

I gave her a link to the report and i hope she's following along. I wish i'd thought to take her picture.

I spoke to the Taco Bell Manager too. Really nice guy. He wants to ride to Canada. Now he likely will.

Kedgi

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween

Angele sent this picture from home of two familiar looking trick or treaters with Bob the Cat in his Halloween, Black Cat costume

It takes forever for HD Video to download to YouTube. I can't get it to download to my Smugmug account at all. This little 3 minute segment took over two hours. I put it on download last night when I went to bed. I submitted it, unedited, just so you all can see how awesome the ride is here at times. It was cold going across the bridge but it was beautiful. You should be able to watch this in full screen.

This is the big bridge you take after leaving Gulf Shores, AL, riding West to Fort Morgan and then taking the Mobile Bay Ferry to Dauphin Island. This brings you back to mainland Alabama.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeKsJWmurug&feature=share&list=UUTN4A2yCrmsSJ0FnaWGecCA

Subscribed!!

Been lurkin' in the shadows but i figured it was time to stick my head up.

Lookin' forward to more of this ride report.

Cheers!!

(PM Sent)

Hey Brad welcome!

Lurkers are welcome but also encouraged to speak out.

I'm in Port Arthur Texas tonight, stand by for an update.....

Firstly to correct something I couldn't figure out last night.

One of the great things about riding, especially by yourself is you think. You really think because you have the time and the solitude to do it. I thought about what happened to the picture I took of the great lunch Ray treated me to in Mandeville, LA

I dawned on me. I knew I took the picture, while riding today I figured it out. I'll bet I had the camera set to make a movie and that's why I couldn't find thge picture it was stored in videos

Here is is. Food porn you can pause and in fact might have to pause to see.

Thanks again Ray. I am now a deep fried pickle chip lover.


http://youtu.be/Ri7lDnDQD7c

Today was awesome. I left Baton Rouge fairly early and rode rte 190 West ( not fun) Fast, 4 lane, lots of big trucks, straight and flat to Eunice, La. The only picture I stopped to take on 190 was this yard full of discarded Fema Trailers. Thousands of them











At Eunice I turned south on rte 13, First thing I saw and I mean the first thing, like within a block of 190 was this sign



Had to check it out!!!!


Can't believe I had never heard of it.




Oh, and in the parking lot there was this historical marker with the story the town of Eunice, LA

FEMA should send those trailers to NJ now. They could use them there instead of sitting along this highway.

Great report. Can't believe you are riding all the way to Terra Del Fuego. Are you shipping the bike and flying home? How many months do you plan on making the adventure?

Ya learn something new every day.

I had always used Cajun and Zydeco music or the names interchangeably. Not correct. Cajun has it's own distinct style.

I met Mrs, Reed, who was born a Boone and she gave me the tour of the museum

Awesome, or at least I thought so.

Here is Mrs Reed, she told me she had grown up Cajun, speaking French and English but that that was rare in the area now.




She was very informative and sure knew her stuff about Cajun, the current local Cajun Music spots in the area, Mr Savoy, a famous accordion maker from the area. Jams, music schools, all kinds of neat stuff. Even a Cajun Music station I think she said it's call sign was KBOR which is on the web out of Eunice

Apparently Eunice is a happening spot on Saturdays. I would love to check it all out but today I had other plans. Here are some pictures I snapped in the museum and they had dozens of CD's for sales. If I was there in a car I would have had a tough time not buying every one. I would love to sit and listen to those CD's As it was I settled for just pictures


A German made Sterling, Angele has a Hohner Arriette at home that is very similar. Mrs Reed said the Sterlings were never sold in Louisiana after the War.




And a lot of other cool stuff











Fiddles were made out of local woods including Pecan. I'd love to try and build one.


Cajun Music has been played on the Space Shuttle. This actual CD was used. Astronauts are cool in more ways than one.




The walls were filled with info on Cajun Stars




Just a lot of neat stuff

When I left the Museum and I dis so before I really wanted to, but I had other fish to fry. I wanted to ride LA Route 82, The Gulf Beach Highway. I love it!

Angele and I passed through Cameron Parish 4 years ago in our van. I really wanted to go again. It did not disappoint. The Gulf Beach Highway is very remote, mostly flat, no traffic and runs though a stretch of Luisiana I'm sure most people from Louisiana have never been to. Just Google Map Cameron, LA to see where I mean.

It is a long ride from Eunice around the loop to Port Arthur Texas, I had to get moving when I left the Museum.

Here are some pictures I took this afternoon

The inter-coastal waterway




This is how they build since Hurricane Rita








Rte 82





Oaks that likely were victims of Rita





A Cajun High Rise





Drilling right onshore






Turned over 30,000 kms just East of Cameron, LA









River Ferry on Rte 82



I took some GoPro film at Holly Beach LA. It's a cool little place but it was wiped off the map by Hurricane Rita. It has a spectacular beach you can drive on.

A hour or more later I crossed into Texas at Port Arthur




Found a $35 room with wifi




and was immediately adopted by the motel cat


I love Cats! I miss Bob the Cat




Now you are up to date!

I have been trying to download a short Gopro Film of Holly Beach for hours. If it finally downloads I will post it today. Not sure if it's because the motel's connection is slow or what.

I was able to successfully download Southern USA and Mexico Maps to my Garmin. I had Canada and the Eastern US in there and I had run off the edge of the map.

hey Kedgi,

Sounds like a great adventure so far!

If you make it to Antigua, Guatemala (definitely a popular spot to relax a few days), be sure to come by Moto Cafe and share some stories with fellow motorcyclists, join us for a ride, or just have a beer!

Always great to meet ADV'rs.

Moto Cafe
6a Calle Oriente #14
Antigua, Guatemala
14°33'19.50"N
90°43'52.43"W

Safe travels!

Chris

When we drove through Holly Beach four years ago there was nothing but foundation slabs on empty lots thanks to Hurricane Rita a year or so earlier. The town had been wiped off the map. The only thing standing were a couple new houses being built on big stilts and a small statute of Christ in front of what had been the church. You could see houses and cars, way off miles deep into the marsh, that had been deposited there by the storm.

This trip, I really wanted to go see what had been rebuilt. It's coming along. I really like this place. The great beach and the remote location are superb.


Here is the short film I shot (unedited) of Holly Beach yesterday. It took hours to download. You can tell I really wanted to be sure my GoPro was on. I don't trust my eyes to see the flashing light and I don't trust the feel of the buttons on the camera


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5y6BQYQp8w&feature=plcp

I gotta get outta here It's 9:45 and I'm leaving for Galveston.

Heck, wish I would of caught your report early on. I run LA 82 quite often. Just love it from Port Arthur to Kaplan. Enjoying it. Many people miss this great road here in Louisiana by doing I 10 or I 20 or US 190 or US 90 across the state. Did you run through any of the other little beach communities going West. Only hassle is lack of gas stations along the coast. \
You're gonna love Galveston. Great rebuild there also. Hopefully you went down the Bolivar Peninsula and took the ferry.
Keep it coming.

Awesome Kedgi....

Started snowing here today....SNOW for F*ck S@kes!!!'

Keep going bud...enjoying the ride so far...

Cheers and best wishes,
Chris

Awesome Chris

Thanks for the invite. I'll be sure to do that

I hate snow.....hate it. I hate cold too! It was 90 degrees here in Galveston yesterday

Louisiana Rte 82 is awesome. I swear if I won the lotto I would buy a house in Holly Beach Louisiana. I saw Florida Beach and is it Grand Beach? and Cameron, I just love that stretch. Someone has built a large convenience store between Port Arthur and Holly Beach with gas pumps, near Young's Campground if you're familiar with that. I made it from Eunice to Port Authur via rte 82 on 1 tank no problem with the trusty KLR's big tank.

I figure on 4 months then I plan to ship the bike to Miami and fly home. The bike will wait in Miami until the weather warms up and then I'll fly down, pick it up and ride home to NB

I was wondering about those Fema trailers. They look to me like they are beyond the point that anyone would want to live in them. Moldy etc. But I can't help but wonder, what is the plan for them? They should be recycled at the very least.