Day 76

8 ants
I don't know how I've slept in some of the places that I have. Trains wizzing by, semi's roaring past, birds and bugs screaming throughout the night. The semi's were especially plentiful here. They were so loud that I was sure they were speeding. But then again, vehicles that big are sure to be loud no matter what. My tent would shake every time one that was not very aerodynamic would pass by. When I woke up in the morning, I checked for ants. The raid must have worked! There were only a few ants exploring, probably to be expected when they have nothing to find. I had to brush quite a few spiders off my tent, but they were all small and nothing compared to the monsters on the other side of the road. At my first gas station stop, I got provisions and then just before leaving, a guy asked about my trip and claimed that I must be a millionaire. This always seems weird to me when people think bike touring is expensive. It would take someone about 4 months to save up enough money for this trip which also happens to be around 4 months long. If I sell the gear afterwards, it would be much less. If I got everything used, it would be less. And so on.
I was sceptical about the next part of my journey. I was supposed to get on the Louisiana trail. I read reviews about it and it sounded like it was more for atvs or hiking- not for a road bike. Dispite the spiders from the day before, I decided to check it out anyways. I went to where I was supposed to turn onto it and passed right by it. Looking on Google, it seemed more like someone's yard than a trail. I went around and tried it a block down. Same thing. I could just barely make out where a four-wheeler had made the grass go down. I figured I was here, I might as well look at it. I approached the woods and discovered there really was a trail. It was rediculously overgrown and there were mud puddles, but it was there. I knew I would need to do something different. Luckily there were roads that followed it the whole way. I had to get about a mile down the trail first though. Part was out of the trees. It was worse- more mud puddles and hard to pedal dirt. I came across a small bridge originally made for a train. I had to push my bike carefully over the planks, knowing that any step could be the one that puts me in the water. I think I could see those weird long spiders dropping and only hanging on by their web when I rolled above them. Finally I was on the other side and both a sign and pavement greeted me. The sign indicated that the trail was for members only. Good, it's a crappy trail anyways! I took the pavement. It was lovely for pretty much the rest of the day. No shoulder, but also no traffic. Around 7 I pulled into a little gas station. I intended on buying water because of the bad luck I'd been having, but they only had 16oz bottles for a buck each- I'd have to buy like 10 to fill up. Actually that's not too bad, but I'd feel really wasteful. I filled up at the sink instead- it tasted fine. When I left, someone passed by and asked what I was doing- it was a short conversation and of course she told me to be safe. I wanted to check the general store down the street, but when I got there, it was closed. I was going to try opening the door just to make sure when the lady I talked to a minute before seemed to be calling to me. I peddled back and she said that the owner wanted to talk to me. She said she didn't realize what I was doing and she asked if I had eaten anything all day. I assured her I did, but she offered me free hot food and an ice cold fountain drink anyways. I happily accepted. It was getting late, but I decided I eat some of it there. Chicken strips and fish strips- it was really good, but I had to get back on the road and find camp. I thanked her again and continued on. I tried to get past all the houses, but it was getting dark. Perhaps there won't be crazy spiders near people. I found a road that looked like it might have been a long driveway. There was a clearing with trees blocking it from the road. It would have to work. I partially tried to hide behind two trees, but figured it would be dark soon. Plus I felt that I was far enough to the side that no one would see me. It wasn't the best spot- it was accross from a turnoff that apparently had a lot of houses. Cars turned there frequently. I held my breath when a car finally turned down my road. They must not have noticed me. Hopefully they won't in the morning either.