Cycle 31 Miles to Granny's Attic, Mandeville

Monday, April 12, we have the bikes packed up by 10:30. I check at the office for our mail but today's is not there yet. We hit the bike trail by 11:17 a.m. There is a north wind today and we find almost no one on the trail. We make good time to Mandeville. On the way we saw more wildlife today since the trail didn't have much human traffic. I little lizard ran right in front of my tire. Then a Pileated woodpecker swooped very low across the trail. I was just going to tell Bob how great it was that the trail was deserted today and we got to see so much wildlife when he yelled "Lookout, there's a snake!" Sure enough a four-foot black snake was coiled up in the middle of the trail hissing at us as we zoomed by. That got my adrenaline going. Later on I saw a rabbit hop it front of me and returned to my good feelings about the wildlife.

When we get to Mandeville we cruise by the special board outside Kickstand Cafe (actually they have their banner up and have officially changed their name to Old Mandeville Cafe.) We cycle on by to go to Samaritan Thrift shop a.k.a Granny's Attic before it closes at 2:00.

We leave our bikes in the rack out front with some kids bikes that the thrift shop is selling. We browse and find a 2009 Almanac for $1.50. And I find a colorful summer bracelet. When we pay the lady she asks "Are those your bikes in our racks out front? We've had several people want to buy them!"

We hop on before someone buys them and I stuff the Almanac in my panniers. We ride back to Old Mandeville Cafe for lunch; our last here probably. I have a heavenly Cream of Asparagus Soup and a garden salad. Bob has a Tuna Twist and we split a homemade Chinese Almond cookie. The gal heats it up for us. I couldn't come here all of these times without getting one of their homemade desserts.

Outside we take a break at the trail head after Bob gets his pedal caught on a curb by the Cafe. But he rights himself and we sit in the sun as it lulls us to sleep. At last we fill our water bottles and head back against the strongest wind yet. We're only going 31 miles today so it's not too bad. We make it back to the truck by 4:00.

Back home we put the bikes in the garage so I can just leave for my hair appointment tomorrow. The gal in the office catches me at the door and hands me our packet of mail. We crash with the A/C on to avoid the bugs. We eat Ham Hodge Podge Soup and watch House and Castle. It's 5:20 p.m. and 76 degrees with 35% humidity. The high was 78 and the low was 60. It was 87 degrees in the RV when we got back from cycling.

I called my brother Mike tonight to wish him a happy birthday. He says he started a new project at the Lake house on Lake Texoma, on the hill in the back yard, next to the peanut field. He planted a corn field; 40 ft. by 12 ft. Four rows of 50 seeds for a total of 200 stalks. How fun! It reminded me of watching our corn grow last summer in Bluffton, Iowa, behind our RV at Twin Lakes. He also said they are all going to a Beatles cover concert on Thursday. It will be my great nephew Ethan's first concert!