Stuck in Louisiana

Things certainly aren't going as planned. Yesterday, my destination was somewhere beyond Houston as I had seen there would be some serious weather in Dallas. Dropping down would allow me to miss it. Despite my prudent planning, the weather gods turned evil and threw me something else. The problem was very high winds. In fact, I can't ever remember riding in such winds before. While the sustained winds were strong, the gusts were amazing. The biggest problem was there was no way to predict them. They just hit randomly and when they did it was like being clocked with a load of bricks. Twice I was blown onto the shoulder and several times I fought just to stay on the road. It was an incredible amount of work and I finally gave up and decided to find a town and stop. I've never bagged a ride due to wind, but there was no point taking a risk so I pulled into Alexandria, LA and got a room.

Today has been more of the same so I'm holding over at the hotel. As I write I can hear the wind whipping through my hotel door. It's sunny at the moment, but there are all kinds of weather warnings and winds are sustained at over 30 mph and gusting up to almost 50 mph. Due to the delays I am again changing my course to head through Dallas, but the weather there is so bad, they've cancelled the flights in and out of the airport.

So much for making time. Ain't much to do in this here in this town to boot. My motorcycle does seem to be a source of interest for many at the hotel though. Already one person has asked me if I am actor. Another asked if I am a famous travel writer. Wow, a celebrity in my own mind.