We feel pampered tonight in a Best Western hotel in Ville Platte LA.  That is to say if pampered means you've done laundry in the bathtub and your cycling jerseys and shorts are hung on a makeshift clothes line that you need to duck under when you need to use the toilet.

Still we are indoors in the are conditioning, feeling fine after a meal at the Mexican restaurant next door.

We were up this morning at 6 and were mostly packed when we headed inside Maddie's truck stop for breakfast.   There were a trio of ladies inside that the gathered patrons dubbed 'the golden girls'.  They were delightfully interested in our trip and we spent more time than intended chatting with them as we ate fried burritos and sipped coffee.  When we finished eating we returned to the back of the truck stop to complete packing and said goodbye to David Leroy, the Frenchman, who was heading south to complete his loop back to New Orleans. Then we rolled out to a day of riding in sunshine and generally favorable tailwinds.

Our route followed the curves of several rivers and oxbows in the area,  though generally level terrain.

We stopped for lunch in Bunkie where the girls basketball team were collecting donations for their upcoming season.  We donated a few dollars and then posed for photos with several of the girls who couldn't believe what we were doing.

Then the route lead us along the boundary of Chicot State park on a road that twisted under a canopy of trees and finally back to delta farmland as we rolled into Ville Platte.

Ville Platte is a city whose town center has essentially closed as businesses have gradually migrated to the suburban edges of the area.  It's a bit strange to ride through and left me wondering what the future holds for such a town.

We plan to get up early tomorrow and try to make the 74 miles into Deridder LA.  There aren't many options in the 50-60 mile distance so we'll be trying to make time.

Feeling pampered and fine.