Before leaving home, I installed a new mount for my iPhone on the handlebar. I wired a power cord to the mount, but didn't think about the location of the headphone jack. About 20 miles into the trip, I was already tired of the cord flailing around in front of my face. A trip to Best Buy and $5 later, I won't have that problem tomorrow. It was really annoying for 450 miles, but my tunes were more important.
By the time I made it to Natchitoches, I was ready for some of the town's famous meat pies, and they did not disappoint. The weather was not bad this morning, but by the time I finished lunch, the heat index was 104. It took 3 hours before I found bearable riding conditions. Not too long after that, I spotted a bridge in the distance that was not on my GPS. I made a u-turn and headed for the bridge, and it was well worth it. It cut some time off the ride and it was the coolest bridge I've ever seen. With a $409 million price tag, it should be. The Audubon bridge crosses the Mississippi, and is a similar design to the new Large Marge Bridge in Dallas, but the Audubon bridge actually goes somewhere. I saw thunderstorms building nearby, or I would have stopped for some better pictures.
I circled the city of Baton Rouge for an hour, trying to find a way to avoid the thunderstorms. The lightning was popping all around me and the thunder made a sound like the sky was ripping open each time. I finally gave up and unpacked the rain suit, so I could make it to my hotel. I drove through rain that was heavy enough to slow the interstate speeds to 30 mph, but only had to spend 20 minutes in it to make it to my final destination for the day.
After a shower and shave, I headed to Chimes for dinner on the LSU campus. I had never been to LSU, so I took a drive through campus at dusk and it is beautiful. I cruised around University Lake, and that campus is amazing.
After a good burger and a couple of IPA's, I'm ready to get some rest and do it again tomorrow.
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