The Day Off

After retiring for the evening just after 9:00pm I found it easy to wake up at 6:30am, half an hour before my alarm.  I slept like a brick.  After breakfast, Mike, the project manager, took me to one of the job sites.  There was a structural inspection to take place that morning, so we needed to make sure someone was there when the inspector showed up somewhere between 9am and noon.  He showed up around 10:45 and spent about 60 seconds in the house.  Apparently he had already been to this house before, but at that time something wasn't right with the building permit and the structure was fine, he just needed to make sure it still looked like it did when he saw it the first time. 

From the work site we went on to the bike shop to pick up my ride.  Bayou Bicycles (www.bayoubicycles.com) proved to be the right place to call when I picked up the phone book yesterday.  They got my ride up and running quite quickly and were fun to chat with when I stopped in.  They had a fellow Surly LHT owner in the house and another probable future owner, so I know they've got good taste in bikes!  Mike covered the cost for the repair and even bought me a back-up set of brake pads (carrying as much weight as I am, I'll need them pretty quickly I'm guessing). 

After we got back with my bike, the group of us at the MDS house got in one of their vans shortly before noon and drove down to Diamond, LA, MDS site.  I remember hearing stories from Hesston College Disaster Management graduates that were stationed down there for 8 weeks a few years ago.  Knowing the group that was there and hearing some of those stories, I really think that would have been a heck of an experience.  I wish we could have gotten a boat ride out onto the bayou, but just seeing it from where we drove out to was a sight to behold.  I tried taking pictures, but some things just can't come out right on film (SDcard?). 

On our way back from Diamond, we stopped at Zydeco's Cajun Kitchen.  The people I've met down here have been great and all, but I'm really going to miss the food!  Now we're back at the house and I'm preparing for the ride tomorrow.  I intend to ride to Pass Christian, MS, tomorrow (about 60 miles) and then on to Dauphin Island, AL.  I'm pretty excited about that stop.  I would like to get there early so I can enjoy the island.  I'd like to see the Audubon Bird Sanctuary if I have time.  I'll start the following day off with a ride on the Mobile Bay Ferry.