Cartersville to Baton Rouge and on to San Antonio.

Here's my first post about why I'm riding and why donating to Water Life Hope will make alley cats sing in 4-part harmony.

Carol, me and Steve about to take off.

It was a seriously cold morning in Cartersville.  We had winter biking gear to wear, but that works when you're moving.  We stood next to Ed the bus while Carol's good-natured husband Patrick took pictures.  Once we got underway we found that Matt's testimonials about heat were on target.
Matt had driven the bus from California to Colorado, then home to Georgia when he bought it.  The purchase was made in lieu of paying as much or somewhat more for moving services after working a couple of years in Boulder.  And it wasn't his first bus.   Matt is deeply sympatico with the bus as well, having swapped out the steering column to allow the steering wheel to tilt, and added cruise control to Ed's comforts.  While not quite the bus equivalent of giving birth, the procedure does provide a high degree of intimacy.

Louisiana was warm and the natives were friendly.

On the other hand, the current crop of drivers is completely green.  I went first for the simple reason that I'm best at anything early in the day.  Maybe that helped, maybe it didn't.  We were, however, undented and undeterred when Carol took over on the far side of Birmingham.  She got as far as a grubby, short-ramped exit off I-59 South in Mississippi and Steve went most of the rest of the way.  I think we're all getting the knack.  Doing de-populated rural freeways is like having training wheels.  Still, any driving in the bus gives us operating hours that start to build familiarity if not mastery.

As we headed south the temperatures improved and we shed layers.   We arrived at Warm Showers hosts Mika & Jennifer's in Baton Rouge and tumbled happily out of the bus into spring.

Mika and jennifer are community-minded
folks.  Here's a silkscreen from something or other
they supported.

Jennifer went out with a friend while Mika stayed and cooked us the best chickpeas ever.  He told us the sauce was made of tomato paste, maple syrup, tamari and liquid smoke.  I'm putting it into the blog so I could remember.  It was terrific.

We spent the evening chewing the fat with Mika, learning about his journey from Germany to Finland to Australia to Louisiana.  He and Jennifer serve as hosts for Warm Showers all the time, being both close to the Southern Tier and on the way to New Orleans.  We put a pint in the world map at Atlanta, since there wasn't a spot for Decatur or Cartersville.  After all the bus activity and a full day's driving we all really slept.

By the Time we got going in the morning, Mika and Jennifer were both gone.  Not sure which bikes they took -- there were still plenty of spiffy, well-chosen bikes around the house.

We stopped at a mechanic a few blocks away to check on the bus maintenance that Matt

We were definitely in Louisiana at the
beginning of Lent.  This was a poster
near Henry the mechanic's place.

recommended.  Henry bore a striking resemblance to Jerry Garcia (without the weight) and was unstintingly generous with his advice.  His whole day was booked, and our maintenance would take about four hours.  It could wait until Carol and I are riding and Steve has time on his hands.

Edward bus pointed south and we got in I-10.  Having lived in Santa Monica and Venice beach, I always think of it as the Santa Monica Freeway.  Over the course of the day we went from flat Louisiana bayous to parched and rolling Texas.   We were definitely on one of America's main streets, complete with traffic jams in Houston.

Without a Warm Showers host or a better idea we checked into the Alamo KOA.  Don't be fooled -- it's in an industrial area nowhere near the Alamo, and treated ourselves to dinner at Adelante's Restaurant.

Nighty night.  El Paso tomorrow.