DAY 46 - October 25, 2017 - rest day

Merryville, LA

Another well earned rest day.  I had original thought it was odd to have a rest day so soon after Austin, but it has been six days.  My legs were quite tired (sore?) yesterday, so taking it easy today was not difficult!

Paul and Marion Broeder are new to the Merryville Historic Society, although they have lived in Merryville all their lives.  Marion helped with dinner last night,  and Paul decided that they were going to provide breakfast on our rest day.  No one asked, they just decided on their own.  When morning came, they were cooking bacon, eggs, potatos, boudin, and sausage.  The sausage was 60/40 venison and pork, and had a kick to it.  Seems they like their spices in Louisiana!  Paul and Marion are very generous and kind people.  Paul led us in grace last night at dinner and again this morning.  He is also quite the story teller, with a redneck type accent, but very smart.  He raises red deer for his own consumption and for selling to ranchers.  He "harvested" one of his red stags last year, and he was very emotional about it, as it was one of his most friendly stags.  Marion showed me a photo of the skull and antlers, and I told her that I wanted to buy it (she does have it for sale). She brought it in later that day to show me.  I thought it might look odd strapped to my handlebars, so it does need to be shipped home.  Unfortunately, I did not have enough cash, and there is not an ATM in Merryville.  She said something to the effect of "No worries, just send me the money when you get home."  Still need to think about it, as we do not have enough wall space.

Breakfast was great.  The same folk brought dinner in later that evening - red beans and sausage, corn bread, cole slaw, and more desert! The red beans and sausage were unlike any that I have had before.  Wow!

This town, especially the Historic Society, really likes the bicycle groups that come through - they do not charge for the camping or the meals, but we left them a large donation.  Hard to leave such kind hearted people who opened up their buildings for us.  (They built showers/bathrooms outside just for cyclists).  I hope I can come back someday and listen to more of their stories!