Bumpin' in the Bayou

"The Earth is the Inheritance of Man, and consequently any honest traveler has the right to walk as he chooses, all over that globe which is his." ~ Alexandra David-Neel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl9SMY04cCc

Crossing The Mississippi at last!

With this
The East is Truly behind me

Thanks to the folk at The Infiniti Lounge for helping me!
I just stopped to rest as the name spoke to me but I was pleased to find it was a good place with good people

 Another wounded Butterfly on the side of The Road
I named this one Wind

We have Officially entered The Bayou!

There is so much Death on The Road

Bayou derives from French and is really any slow moving body of water 'round here

Butterflies on The Road just gotta fly Higher than the Trucks
Otherwise they're just gonna get hit and be consumed by the Ants
If only they knew

Wind jumped off the back and Ended
I left Wind with Owl
Now their Souls have met and they can Be Together in Eternity

This is Not what We Need

 These Rooster-Ducks are Huge!

 I Love seeing animals I've never seen before!

Towns here are all built on Bayous

Big Turtles!

The thing about Bayous though...
Water is pretty still/slow
So you know what that means...

I Love these doggos <3

 Thanks to Roger giving me shelter and food and teaching me about Rifles!
I'll get my hands on an Ithaca Guns Rifle one day
I'm especially stoked for Texas as I hope to learn more about shooting and get practice in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWJUk65EnQM

This is a man-made River called the Intercoastal Waterway!
Wow!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intracoastal_Waterway

 I arrived at Victory Church just as the sun set and Just in Time for a service
Which I greatly appreciated
Outside the area was swarming with mosquitoes so I decided to do some bamboo work as I wouldn't be able to sleep well at all with such swarms buzzing in my face
I spent a few hours doing that and slaying probably hundreds of the little buggers
But just as I was finishing
A Great Wind picked up
And blew them all away
The Wind continued all night
And I slept Well

Another Beautiful Morning on The Road 

I was wondering for some time what these trucks whizzing right by me throughout the entire state were carrying

 

They spill little pieces everywhere too so it's been all over The Road

 One of my favorite things about Louisiana has been this odd sweet smell in the air
I hadn't really put two-and-two together
But one morning
The number of loaded trucks barreling by me was steadily increasing
As was that sweet sweet smell...

Sugar Cane!
It turns out Sugar Cane is a Staple crop of the area and it is Harvest Season!

 So all those trucks in the area were carrying all that Sugar Cane to this mill
Not sure how bad for the environment (or my lungs) that smoke is but it actually smells really good

 At your Service M'Lady

 Nice little town
But I was too excited for...

Lafayette!
Thanks to my friend Jag in Illinois for trying to link me up with a famous and skilled Boxer here!
That's the sole reason I went out of my way to visit

I Love City Art

 

 The library in Lafayette was Beautiful!

They even have a Patio and Cafe area!

Sacred Dark Night

Ambitions

 

 Imagine all the good a nice library does for the town/city it serves

They call them lumps not bumps around here!
HA!!!

The Hulk's my favorite superhero
Painting by Marc Isaac

This spoke to me too

Kept hearing about this "Po-Boy" throughout the state
I guess many years ago there was a strike going on and a generous man was giving these sandwiches for free to the men out of work
They started calling them "Poor Boys" and 'cause of the dialect that changed over the years to a Po-Boy!
Finally found a vegetarian one to try (:

Shout-out to my fellow traveler Micheal
Thanks for being my friend brother!

Off The Ground

There are beads in the trees in this city too!

More of a Lion but Tigers are dope too

Mason the Boxer was too busy for me but I didn't give up!
Came to Lafayette for a Boxing lesson so I asked around and found my way to Red's
This is the largest nicest workout facility I've ever been to!
There I found Mr. Mason's trainer
Thank you for the amazing instruction Chad Broussard!

 Martial Arts are a better exercise than even cycling all day!

Full Body and all that
I really fell in Love with them before leaving on the Journey initially

The point of martial arts is so that you never have to use the martial arts
Confidence and Focus go a long way in dispelling any potential predators attack
But I'll be Damned if I'm gonna Lose when it counts

The only way to apply yourself to this degree is to actually care about something

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QR93m8USug

Made a pipe for my buddy Colby's gf
Thanks Colby!
https://www.facebook.com/BambooEtcetera/

And thanks to the guys at the BeerGarden for letting me chill and work and for these gifts!

Great place in Lafayette!
Stop by and try a local beer if you're ever going that way!

Guided to this park

No mosquitoes and didn't get run off early in the morn
Better than couchsurfing!

Some Rural Louisiana 

There are just waterways everywhere in this state!
People can really live off the land thanks to the abundance of life in The Bayou
Y'know, if they wanna

They closed off a bridge with a big mound of dirt
Didn't stop Me muahahahaah!!!

Sunset is my favorite time to ride

As I passed by the Curve Lounge

Semi-illuminated by its few lights in the darkness

I thought, "I wonder what sort of place that is? I wonder what'll happen if I stop here."

So I went inside, and was welcomed warmly!
People were interested in my story and my self
A few offered to help in different ways
I had a warm dinner and a roof over my head that night
Thank You to Beautiful people who
In Loving Service to The Lord
Give and Help and Guide and Care about other People

Stopped over this bridge to watch the sunrise

Took some photos
Did some writing
At a market up the way a number of people said they'd seen me and I met more kind folk

I shared my photos with them too!

This is Louisiana.

Good Morning!

I Love You!!!

Different parts of the Bayou are all different

As I got closer to the coast there were more and more beautiful birds!

The toughest ride of Louisiana
I had to make it through The Bayou to The Coast
As The Beach would have a strong breeze that would keep the skeeters at bay
The Bayou is mostly still or very slow moving water
So basically there are swarms upon swarms upon swarms of MEGA mosquitoes everywhere
This legion did not disappoint...
But the sun set while I was still I-don't-even-remember how many miles from the coast
As long as I was moving 9mph or faster they couldn't get me...

Thanks for the pizza Cain!
You're a good man!

Another friend who joined me for one last flight

I'm no Hunter
Stopped eating meat at age 6 after reading Charlotte's Web

Stopped eating seafood at age 11 when I couldn't eat a lobster

This is how the people here live

Government regulations have had a huge impact on the natural way of life around here
At the same time—there is a huge Wild Hog problem that is destroying the environment
It has come to the point where Park Services are launching helicopters and they are sniping every wild hog they see and just leaving the carcasses to rot
Yet still the public is under some sort of strict code not allowing them to hunt hogs
(You'll have to do your own further research)
The public is literally not being allowed to defend their Land
Kind of ironic considering it's Southern Louisiana
I think the government should put a price on each hog head people can bring in
That'll incentivise people to hunt the problem themselves
And then they can feed their families too, make leather, etc.
win-win
But I wonder what the hold up in government is?
I guess they just like launching helicopters
(That's where your money is going)

Riding at Night is tough it's really easy to miss your turn
Luckily Officer Cecil drove down the road to check up on me and found me way off route
Just riding slowly into the dark
With no actual end in sight that night
Keeping a steady pace of at least 9mph
He brought me to the beach
Where the Wind protected me and I watched the many lightning storms rage off the coast
And was humbled and delighted in Awe by the many Shooting Stars shown to me

Rough Ride
Beautiful Sky

u jus keep on moovin' hooman

Love Blooms

These Mossy Oak trees are a really neat looking tree around here

This ferry crosses the water for Free!
Now here is a good place for taxes to go
Facilitating the public with their transportation

One family I spoke to who buys the shrimp locals catch
Prepares and sells them
Was telling me about different fees they have to pay in order to do so
One town charges $750 for a five year permit to sell in the town

Seems a little steep to me...
But as someone whose small business selling bagels was shut down after two days I'm maybe a little biased against government oversight and the extraordinaire fees they control the public with

Honestly
Having this experience of living freely on my bicycle
Difficult as it is
Makes it hard to go back to a way of life inundated with bills

Now here's a way to live!
Right on the beach in a little trailer
Simple livin'
Get a garden goin'
Find stuff in The Bayou to turn into art to Give and Trade
Probably a solar panel...
I'd Love to Live here!

Alternatively you could have a tiny house on stilts!
The trailer moves (though movement is costly)
The tiny house can't dodge storms
(though the people still can)

It felt like waking up at the edge of The World

Best Traveling Tip:
Listen to the locals
They usually know what's up
I was guided to the beach here and instructed to build camp fire
Which got me through the dusk mosquito rush
Another man even gave me some lighter fluid
Which I wouldn't have had a fire without due to all the wood being wet

Forgot to take a photo at night during The Fire
Second portion of My Personal Bamboo Pipe

My Name is Justin
It means Justice
That means I have to be that
I've heard that vengeance is for The Lord
I guess I have to wait for where vengeance and Justice meet
I'm working for Love and I'm working for my Dreams
And my Hand is Always Here.
It never went away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_8MMDBXh4k

I've wanted to go to Austin since I was a little kid
On account of the ustin
I want to make the city mine
As in, I want to make friends and experience what life in the city is really like
So I plan to get a place and a job there and stay a while
Probably even through the winter
(It'd be rough going in to Colorado on a bicycle in the winter
I mean I might survive but... Austin!)

Lone Star State
Here I am!