A very long day!!

Yes!! my next section turned out to be a very long day. As I had passed Daphne, Alabama, I hooked into US 90 which was the old main road before the interstate was completed. It travels through small and large cities. There are times that I could cruise at 70 mph and others where it was stop and go traffic.
I left Bay St. Louis at 8:30 AM. Weather was in low 60's, nice for riding but I knew it would warm up to the low 80's as the ride progressed. I had a choice to get on the interstate or follow US 90. I chose US 90. I motored over many bridges after I entered Louisiana. I cruised down the coast and bayou's towards New Orleans. I had originally thought about staying north and skirt around Baton Rouge but this is an adventure so I opted so stay on US 90 and see what New Orleans was all about. Well, after entering New Orleans, it took me through the heart of the town. Nice old city with lots of stop and go. I continued to follow the US 90 signs and I came to a "Y" in the road with no specific direction.I went left. After about an hour of wandering around, I back tracked and had to get on the Interstate. Posted speed limit was 65 mph but I had to travel at 70 mph to prevent getting blown off the road. I wish that I could have stopped and taken pics of this part of the Interstate but the shoulders were very narrow. I-10, runs north of New Orleans. It is a series of long bridges over the swamp/bayou. Some of these bridges were miles long. NO STOPPING!!!. I did manage to stop at a fuel point and decided to get off I-10 and I found a route to get me on US 190 traveling west. This was a smaller highway but 75-80 mph was the norm for all others. Posted speed limit was 65 mph. I don't know why they even have speed limits down here. Even the police travel at 75 mph!! I finally crossed over into Texas and had to stop and tighten up the chain. By the way, the posted speed limit jumped to 70 mph. The new chain that was installed in Florida was really begin to stretch. I lubed the chain at every fuel stop and prayed the chain would last until I got to Aransas Pass, TX. US 190 travels through a lot of small towns. As the clock neared 5 PM, I started to look for a place to spend the night. I did see a few motels in Jasper, TX but I motored on hoping to find a nice place to stay a little further down the road. To my surprise, it started to rain and the sun was going down. Eventually, I stopped for fuel and some locals at a gas station alerted me that there were motels in Huntsville, TX. I motored on, in the rain, in the dark. There are many signs along this section alerting drivers not to stop and pick up any hitch hikers. AH!! Huntsville, TX prison.
I found a ECONO Lodge and secured a room for the night. 463 miles traveled today. So far, this is the longest I had spent on the mc. Eleven hours in the saddle but I could really sense that the trip was coming to an end and I was focused on riding.
Next post: This is the end!!