Today was an amazing day. We suited up one last time, and biked the remaining 8 miles down to the Gulf waters! There were so many options of waterfronts, because technically all of these lakes and the river are all part of the Gulf of Mexico. Before we left on the trip, our plan was to bike all the way down to a tiny town called Empire. We wanted to get to the real end of the Mississippi. But with all the flooding we had along the way, we just realized that the further south we go, the more swamp land we would have. There were even river roads in New Orleans that were blocked off. So we decided not to take the risk of forging a new trail down to Empire. The maps we have been following all along, created by Adventure Cycling, end this tour in the French Quarter district of NOLA. A lot of the surrounding waters can't be accessed actually because of the levy system and long slabs of cement. But we found this perfect little spot where we could bring our bikes down to dip our tires in! That was the goal since we started that way at the headwaters in 2013.
We were SO excited to finally reach the gulf and so happy that Mom could be with us!!! She has been our #1 cheerleader all throughout so it was very fitting.