13 Amelia Halfway the bridge over this Avoca Island I saw a sign
telling us we were nearby the exit of a town named Amelia. During my
memorable visit with Stephan to the French Quarter, Amelia had told me that there
was a town with her name not far from New Orleans. What she didn’t tell me was that I would pass
this town on the 90
to Franklin. When I looked at the exit sign, my nerves exploded,
and I stopped immediately. Exit number 181,
there is number 19 again (1 and 8+1) and for the second time in connection with
Amelia. Was Stephan wrong; is this the place where my journey would
dramatically end? I nervously
looked back, as if a truck could smash me at any moment! No cars! I sighed with relief and jumped on Coco and started
to cycle like I had never cycled before. Every few
seconds I looked back and after a few minutes, I saw a truck coming, still far
away, but approaching at great speed. I looked in
front of me; there was no way to escape from a truck when it was going to do something
unexpected. The excitement and my imagination changed this
probably harmless truck into a killing machine. At that time,
my imagination became the reality for me. Bare ground was
no more than a hundred meters away from Coco and me. From that point, there was
plenty of space to escape the truck. However, would I be there in time! I increased my speed and forced Coco off the
road right into the bushes a few seconds before the truck passed me. The truck didn’t
cross the line that separated the road and the emergency lane so this whole crazy
act of me was stupid and ridiculous. Around
12 noon12:00 I
entered Morgan City and passed a restaurant. When I peeped inside, I saw a sociable hassle.
I spontaneously
decided to treat myself to a lunch. Why
not! It was also a
little bit of thanksgiving for me, especially after arriving safely at Morgan
City! I turned and crossed the road and placed Coco
in front of the restaurant. Our arrival drew the attention of people in
the restaurant. Coco reacted
a little arrogant. I told her not to act like a superstar. “You’re just a regular bike with a weak wheel
and not the Rolls-Royce under the bicycles and certainly not a celebrity.” When I
left her to go into the restaurant, her pedal ‘accidentally’ tripped
me. The restaurant was crowded with families and young
people, in general, all nice cheery people. I
placed my order and with the result of my order, I went to one of the few free
tables. On the
tray, I carried a salad with tomato’s and cucumber, a basket of crackers and cheese,
a vegetarian hamburger, milk and chips. From where I was sitting, I could see Coco standing
outside, and I felt guilty. It did not withhold
me to take my time to enjoy my meal and to look around observing the other visitors
of this restaurant. A number of them were also observing me. They were looking at a weird tall object called
cyclist. An Outlander with tight red sweatpants and a
strange jacket, a little wet from the morning rain. I probably also
had ‘the Amelia
horror’ still
in my eyes. I gave them
plenty of reasons to stare at me! A little boy escaped from a family who constantly
switched their attention between Coco and me. He ran in my direction while his
parents tried to call him back. “I’m Jeffrey, and what’s that” as he pointed
toward Coco. “I’m a traveler and her name is Coco. She is my
traveling companion and girlfriend.” “Where are you heading to?” “I come from the east and going to the west,”
I answered. “Mum, dad,
that’s his girlfriend Coco!” he shouted at his parents and to all other people
in the restaurant. Without any
further words to me, he ran back to his parents. I finished
lunch and paid my bill, and the girl behind the counter looked at me with a mix
of curiosity and anxiety. “Do you know
it just started to rain?” the girl told me. I looked
over her shoulder outside. She was right. “Shit,…. Sorry,” was my reaction. “I watched the
local weather forecast for you, and it does not look good, it will rain for the
rest of the day.” “Wauw,” was my Dutch expression of my appreciation. “It’s really,
really nice you did this for me. I’m overwhelmed. But, you know. I cannot stay here the rest of
the day. I already had some rainy days during my cycling. Dutch people are good
swimmers!” She smiled briefly, but was immediately
serious again. “Do you know that just outside Morgan City you have to cross the
Atchafalaya River and Atchafalaya hate passers and love to make it as difficult
as possible.” She had a nameplate
on her shirt, showing me her name. “Ashley, I’m really moved by your concern, but
I have to make miles today. If I stop for
every rainy day, I will never reach the West Coast. Today I want to
finish in Franklin.” “This is
madness. It’s even dangerous. There is nothing
between Morgan City and Franklin. It is twenty-two miles35km cycling in rain, wind and
nowhere to hide! You can get hypothermia”
the girl insisted. She paused a few seconds before she went on: “It’s a very tempting offer and not only because
of the rain, but it would be cheating because my goal is cycling coast to coast,
and I mean every mile. Please don’t worry about me, Coco’s wheels
conquered every mile between Miami and Morgan City and those wheels also crossed
around eighteen bridges and the last one was the Mississippi Bridge. I know. It’s stupid
to say “no” to a beautiful lady but I have to be honest towards myself.” I thanked her
again and she looked worried, a girl with a big heart! Outside I asked Coco for forgiveness. That was
the second time in two days. When we came
in, I placed her in front of the restaurant where rain could not reach. It was
a perfect spot because despite of the rain not one drop had reached her. Coco and
I walked from the restaurant to the 90 and I started to cycle, but already after ten meters, Ashley came
running from the restaurant towards me. For a moment,
I thought she called me because I did not pay my bill, but it was even more stupid
than that. I completely forgot that Coco’s nose pointed
in the direction of Amelia and not Franklin, and I automatically started to move
in the direction I came from. Ashley oversaw
the whole situation, from behind her cash desk. She knew in which
direction I arrived because from her desk, she had a view of at least two miles3km off-road, both-sides. She came especially to warn me! It was raining
hard so she had an umbrella with her. When she was standing in front of me she told me,
with a big smile, that this was a rather strange attempt to reach the West Coast.
Looking left
and right, I suddenly started to laugh, realizing what had happened. Along with my
laughter came a little emotion because I realized that number 19 had prepared
another trap, getting me back to Amelia. This emotion
overwhelmed me with warm feelings for Ashley, who’d just saved me from that trap.
Spontaneously, I wanted to embrace her,
forgetting the risk of impolite acts. She shied
away, and I was afraid she would slap me in the face. When she saw
my mixed emotions, her alarm was gone completely, and she embarrassed me and gave
me a light kiss. “Life
is boring here in Morgan City and you made my day.” She whispered at me. Suddenly, she waved good-bye and ran back to the
restaurant calling that when I arrived in Franklin to take the first motel left.
Be in your room at around 6:00pm18:00 and do
not cook. She smiled lovingly. At the door into
the restaurant, she looked at me one more time and winked. In the restaurant,
a few customers were standing in front of the window observing us without hiding
it, as if they were watching at a romantic play. |