Love Louisiana!

We arrived in Louisiana after leaving the valley and spent our first night here in Breaux Bridge at Cajun Palms. This was actually our second time to visit this camp. It is a very nice camp and we enjoyed a seafood dinner at Crawfishtown, U.S.A. near our campground. I can't believe how much food they gave us. We should have gotten one meal and split it. We got the seafood platter and it came with a stuffed crab, a stuffed shrimp, oysters, a catfish filet, shrimp, french fries, coleslaw and hush puppies. We brought over half our meal home and then put them all in the freezer because we knew we wouldn't be eating any of it any time soon.

We left there on Wednesday morning and planned a relatively short day of driving to Amite, Louisiana. We wanted to visit cousin Gary and Jo and we normally stay in his yard, but they have had so much rain that Gary worries we may get our rig stuck in the yard and that would be no fun, so we stayed at a camp we have stayed at before when we visited them. It is 39 miles away and takes 55 minutes to travel, but it is a nice, clean camp and much larger lots and cheaper, albeit farther away, than the KOA over at Denham Springs. So we signed up for three nights.

We had the worst traffic we have every had coming out of Houston and across I-10 in Louisiana. There were times all the east-bound traffic stopped and there appeared to be no rhyme or reason why. No road construction, no wrecks, etc. There were even two times when road signs posted that the right lane was closing ahead, so we all dutifully got over into the left lane. The lane closure never materialized. Me thinks someone is playing head games with us! LOL When we got to Baton Rouge, the traffic stopped about five miles from the bridge. Then it was stop/go/creep all the way up to and over the bridge. I really didn't want to cross it. . . I don't like traffic stopped on bridges. I like it moving, but we stopped right at the apex. Fortunately it was a quick stop and then we proceeded on and made it over the bridge. Hope the traffic on eastbound tomorrow will be better. Should be since we have Houston, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans traffic out of the way. Another reason we decided to stay here is because we are about an hour east of Baton Rouge, so it will be a quicker and easier getaway.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Leaving the RGV, part Deaux

When we left Houston, we followed I-10 into Louisiana. That normally is a very rough ride, but it was not as bad as it has been other times. We often will run up to Zachary, north of Baton Rouge to spend some time with Terry's cousin Gary and wife Jo. We would have loved to do that, but there has been a lot of rain here and we didn't know if driving into his yard is a good thing at this point! Also, we planned to see some other fulltiming folks we normally don't take time to see. We just can't see everybody every year. I keep reminding everyone that the big four reasons we head to Florida twice a year is Brandon, Megan, and Brynlee and Jax. Since we only get to see the kids a couple times a year, they take precedence over everyone else.

We thought this year we would stay in some different places and see some other things we haven't seen before. For that reason, we stopped in for a couple nights at Cajun Palms RV Resort, Henderson, Louisiana. This really is a resort, but this is the off season yet, so their three pools, swim up to the bar pool, and miniature golf, etc., were not open. That was okay with us. . . we intended to explore the area instead. But this park is beautiful. Double wide paved sites, long enough for us to park unhooked if we wanted. Full hookups for $33 a night with the Good Sam discount. It is more expensive later in the year, and for holiday weekends they jack up the price to $55 a night. But it was a great stop for us.

After dinner, we drove into the town of Breaux Bridge, which is about five miles away. Breaux Bridge has. . . YOU GUESSED IT!!!!! A BRIDGE! In 1799, a man by the name of Breaux built a footbridge across the Bayou Teche for his family and neighbors. This first bridge was a suspension footbridge, likely made of rope and small planks. It was stabilized by being tied to small pilings located at each end of the bridge, as well as to a pair of huge live oak trees on both sides of the bayou. When traveling directions were given, residents would often instruct people to "go to Breaux's bridge...", which eventually was adopted as the city's name. Now the bridge is actually a lift bridge across the bayou. The town is in the heart of Cajun country and is known as the Crawfish Capitol of the World.

We also went to Lafayette and stopped at the welcome center. We planned to go to one of the two historical towns, but instead went to a little museum that told the history of the Acadian people. It was quite interesting because I had some misconceived ideas about where the Cajuns came from. Many of them came from Nova Scotia where they were deported for being "French" and they were scattered down the eastern seaboard and into Louisiana, as well as some being sent back to Europe. It is a tragic story really. They have a unique culture and their food and music are two exemplifications of that.

We passed by several cemeteries while in the area. They are so different from the cemeteries up north. They are quite fascinating, I think.

Till next time. . .

Dale