After sleeping less than 2 hours, last night, it was tough dragging myself out of my sleeping bag to be ready to get on the road by 5 AM. For some reason, I couldn’t fall asleep in the car (my classic move) on the way back to St. Francisville either.
After eating a hotel breakfast, I did my best to repack my things and get out the door as quickly as I could, but I was dragging. We checked our maps for route options to reduce the mileage from 91 miles to something more doable, and came up with an 82 mile route.
I know it’s hard to believe, but throughout the day, today, I got a lot of horn honking from passing vehicles. It being Halloween, I donned the costume I bought for myself in New Orleans and rode out with Tom C, as his normal riding partner, Erwin was tied up returning our return trip rental car.
As we left town, we passed Rosedown Plantation, built in 1835 and restored in the 1950s and 1960s by a wealthy oil baroness. It is now a State Historic Site, and the guys who stayed in town for our day off toured it. I wished I had time to stop and look around, but I was on a mission to finish a long day of riding and the place wasn’t open at 8 AM anyhow.
I wish I had taken some photos of the scenery along the road for the first 20-30 miles. It was lush and green and just plain beautiful. And it was also hilly. In fact, the entire day was surprisingly hilly.
Fourteen miles into our ride we arrived in Jackson, a historic town named after Andrew Jackson. It is the home of both the state’s first insane asylum (sorry, no photos) and the Margaret Dixon Correctional Institute, aka prison. As part of their rehabilitation, prisoners operate a working ranch and work on restoration projects around town. As a result, the buildings, fences and landscaping in town are all well maintained.
Mural on the side of the fire station
Up the route another 13 miles, we were in the only other town along the route–Clinton, which is now the parish seat.
The rest of the day, we wound up and down and around country roads, but never came across another real town until we arrived Franklinton.
We stayed in a little motel, there, and ate out at yet another Chinese buffet. Getting a little burned out in Chinese buffets and chicken fried steak, folks. 
In the past few days I came across some memorable Halloween displays to post today.
Living Our Bucket List 