Alligators and Cottonmouths and Wild Boars, Oh My!! it came to my attention today that the wildlife down here has changed radically from what i was used to at home.
Bo met me for breakfast and took me on a very interesting tour of the Lake Washington area. Bo is one of a dwindling number of private owners of farmland in this area. Much of the farmland has been bought up by large corporations that use very effective and efficient modern farm equipment and employ very few people. As a result, this area has become very sparsely populated.
Like most of the local farmers who remain in this area, Bo is a true outdoorsman whose passion is hunting. Just south of Lake Washington, the farmland gives way to deep, dense woods. Bo and his hunting buddies have bagged more than their fair share of deer and wild boar in those woods. In the wetlands and fields around Lake Washington, Bo and his friends hunt ducks, geese and pheasants. According to Bo, there are three types of religion in this area: hunting, the Baptist Church and SEC football.
Bo introduced me to many of his buddies while i was at Lake Washington. i really liked everyone i met. But they speak with a thick southern accent and i have to listen intently in order to understand what they are saying. For instance, what i am riding is known down here as a BA-sickle (with a strong accent on the first syllable).
The ride today took me through the most remote country i have come across since leaving the stretch south of Bemidji in northern Minnesota. i ran out of water about three hours into the ride. Since there were no homes in sight i flagged down a rare passing motorist to find out where i could get some water. He was obviously a hunter as he was dressed in camouflage hunting apparel and had his face painted. He told me i could get water at "the store," but that there was no store for 40 miles. So he gave me a bottle of water from his truck and went on his way.
The only town i went through today was Mayersville, which consisted of a small cluster of houses around one commercial establishment - a prison. Unlike the many other prisons i have passed on this trip, this prison was right up next to the road. Many of the prisoners were out in the recreation area and waved and shouted as i rode by. They were dressed in prison garb with broad black and white horizontal stripes. It looked like Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock.
i ended the ride today at a very remote hunting and fishing resort called Chotard Landing on beautiful Lake Chotard.
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