Day 16. 4/19/22. 78 mi. 7:08 hrs. 806 ft. elev. 11mph
DeRidder to Ville Platte Long day!
DeRidder layover was our introduction to Louisiana Cajun food. It’s a new experience for all of us. We went to Steamboat Bills and Izzy (Isabelle) was our delightful server. We peppered her with questions about food, local crops, and pronunciations. She obliged our tourist naïveté with humor and grace. She has relocated from New Orleans because of Hurricane Ida in 2021 to Pitkin, LA. Small town America. Honestly, one of the best parts of this ride is the people you meet! This supports my theory that most people are good and kind
Our day started out chilly. It warmed up into the 70’s and was perfectly comfortable all day. Not the usual humidity.
On our ride today we stopped for lunch in Oberlin at Jones Cafe. While there we met a fellow cyclist heading east. Sandy from Scotland is riding solo. He is pulling a “bob” trailer with his bagpipes in tow. We were all headed to Ville Platte so we met up at the motel and shared a Mexican dinner together and swapped stories along the route.
cinnicrew 
Chic’s father was from DeRidder so she is very familiar with that city. As a child her family would visit every year. Curt should remember Chic.
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Of course I remember Chic , didn’t know her family was from Deridder. In Bunkie now , stopping for lunch.
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With all due respect to Sandy, I must interject here what one of my siblings uttered at a funeral we attended when a bagpiper got out his bagpipe to end the service: “If you’ve heard one bagpipe song, you’ve heard them both!”
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