Today was the kind of bicycling day that makes cyclists smile.

We started the day with Perry and Lep Templeton,  having coffee and biscuits for breakfast as we continued talking bicycle tours, past and future.  Then Barb, the Frenchman David Leroy and I bid Perry adieu and pushed off into a cool sunshine-filled morning.

The first pleasant surprise of the day was that we didn't need to climb a rather long hill that we coasted down to finish our ride yesterday.   Yeah!  Instead we continued downhill towards the Mississippi River and the James Audubon Bridge.  The bridge was completed in 2010 and replaced the ferry that had previously crossed the river at  St Francisville.   It was an easy climb up the bridge on a roadway with wide shoulders.   The view at the top was spectacular and we were excited to be crossing a kind of geographical landmark.

The second delight of the day was that west of the Mississippi the land is essentially flat.  The rest of the day the largest hills we were climbing were levees and bridges.

And finally, we were blessed with favorable tails winds.  :)

In spite of a rather late departure, we had done 30 miles by 11:00 when we stopped at the Not Your Momma's Cafe in Morganza.  Unfortunately,  the restaurant is being remodeled and quite a few menu items weren't available, but my crawfish pie was delicious as was the Cajun fried chicken.  Barb's club salad with chicken and bacon was great too and she had plenty to share.

We continued the afternoon following small country roads along the levee of the Atchafalaya River.   We stopped briefly to rest at the Royal Oaks Baptist church and ran into Howard, a 68 year old member of the church who was working on a new addition on the back of the church.   He said the church was built over 140 years ago and had been moved several times out of harm's way of the flooding river, the last time in 1939 when only half the church could be saved.  The women of the church thought it high time to update the kitchen and bathrooms.

Not even Barb's second flat tire of the ruined our high spirits and we were back speeding towards supper and camping at Simmesport.

After supper we headed to the New City Park, only to find the promised bathrooms and water supply weren't available.  So we came back to Maddie's, a local truck stop to seek directions.  The owner spotted Barb and I in our bike clothes and guessed immediately what we needed.  Camping behind the truck stopped is free, and showers are $6.  We have availed ourselves of both.

We set up camp under beautiful cloudless skies, so I decided to forgo my rain fly and come into the air conditioning to work on my blog.  It was an error in judgement as 10 minutes  ago a small thunderstorm popped up and I had to run out and get the tent's f fly put on.  Live and learn.

Tomorrow,  we will part ways with David as he continues his loop tour back towards New Orleans and we head west towards Bunker and another warmshower.org host.

We're close to 900 miles into our trip and having a great time.