The Spring here in SE Texas has been wet and hot. I have been doing the normal stuff here; feeding the horses, mowing and brush-hogging, etc. Daily nude most of the time. No sailboat or beach trips, just taking care of the homestead. I have been doing a lot of car repairs in the driveway as well. Staying behind visual bariers when I can.
I did take a trip to New Orleans for the World Naked Bike Ride on June 8th. We stayed in Slidell at the Indian Hills Nudist Camp. All in all, an enjoyable and mostly nude trip. I met up with Chris (aka Mudwalkers
https://vimeo.com/mudwalkers) for the bike ride. We had communicated a bit on "X" and were looking forward to meeting one another. The ride was completed in approximately one hour, much shorter than other rides I had participated in. But, WOW! the ride was approaching sensory overload. My voice barely held up from all of the cheering and screaming. Oh, and it was very hot! We met at a public park to prepare. It was like most other rallying points for the WNBR, with people socializing nude, getting painted and pimping their rides.
The ride had to be moved forward an hour to allow the police time to shuffle over to escort The Pride Parade which was scheduled after our ride. Our route took us to Bourbon Street along the very same route followed by The Pride Parade. Hundreds of people were lining those streets ahead of The Pride Parade not knowing that they would get a preliminary group of naked bicycle riders. Yes, we got a lot of 'Go Pride' and other shouts from observers that had no idea that we were a separate event. I guesstimate there were approximately 300 riders with us, more males than females but not what I would call out of balance. People rode anything with wheels, more bicycles than anything else, but Pedicabs, skates, scooters, etc. There was a guy on a motorbike that joined us mid-ride. He was nude, but obviously wasn't clear on our purpose.
A couple of friends had left the WNBR at Bourbon Street to join other of their friends, for the parade. We caught up with them a bit later, in the middle of The Pride Parade.
Friends of Chris' that he knew from past NO-WNBR's were planning a post party that would involve visiting a few bars that had welcomed them previously. There was to be no reason to get dressed. Our first stop was 2 blocks from the park where the WNBR started and ended. That bar asked that we cover up when inside to order beverages, but could socialize on the sidewalk patio as nature intended. Not sure what transpired, but our welcome was deteriorating, so we moved on to the Hi-Ho pub several blocks away.
The ride had concluded by 5 pm and by now it was getting time to look for nourishment. My companion on this adventure (David, aka Senator) is vegetarian which isn't easy in the Big Easy. But our friends on Bourbon Street reported that they had purchased a vegi-pizza in the Quarter before the parade, so we headed that way. OMG! Image me, pushing my bicycle, clad in naked bike ride attire, through a packed Pride crowd! In New Orleans!
We found our friends, but the pizza was now consumed and no one was selling food during the parade. We could have stayed with the crowd and cheer on the parade. Lord knows I was getting plenty of beads! But I am not at all comfortable in that kind of a crowd. Nothing to do with LGBTQ+, just crowds in general.
The friends we had left at Hi-Ho's had given me the Google locator so we could catch up with them. They were headed to Eddie's apartment. He had offered to host the 'after party'. We had no idea where Eddie's was or what to expect when we caught up with them. What I was hoping for was some food options. The Google app was letting me know where to go, but it took awhile to realize that they were actually in route as well. David was trailing as I navigated the 'wonderful' streets of New Orleans in search of the moving target. We found success when we arrived at an apartment complex with a bunch of naked humans disembarking their bicycles.
The group of about 15 marched up 3 flights of stairs, passing other residents along the way, to Eddie's apt. Eddie welcomed us with refreshments, jambalaya and meatballs! I was in heaven, except for being chastised for wearing shoes (flip-flops) while walking on the genuine bear skin rug. By now it was around 9pm and David had not found anything suitable to his diet. So, after socializing for a minimum requisite of time, we departed on our bikes, back to the park, across town, where we had begun the WNBR 8 hours earlier. Again, I was lead and David trailing.
Back at the truck, bikes secured in the back, we headed back to Slidell. Since I was driving, David was navigating, but his phone was connecting. I handed him mine with the camp already loaded. Well, we headed off into some of the sketchiest parts of New Orleans. David was confident that we were on course while he was chatting with his wife on his own phone. I was less confident.
We ended up at a dead-end that fronted Lake Ponchartrain. The interstate was 50 ft above us. Obviously, we had been led astray. I grabbed my phone from the navigator and immediately recognized that it was in bicycle mode with a 3 hrs. 23 mins. estimate to our destination! What! Were we supposed to swim??!!
We were successful in switching to 'driving' mode and arrived 20 minutes at our camp where David had some vegi-lasagna that his wife had sent with him for just such an occasion. Some relaxation in the pool and hot tub, then off to the tent for well deserved slumber.
The park is wonderful, and being the only naturist park in Lousiana, can be a recommended layover for trips through the southern US. We had a primitive campsite next to the pond with geese and ducks to keep us company. The biggest issue on an adventure through Southern Louisiana is navigating Baton Rouge. Traffic there is notorious.
Anyway, enough for now.
~Safebare
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