Louisiana - Cajun Country

From Galverston we really had no idea where we were headed just in an easterly direction. As it so happened whilst talking to Faye and David at Port Aransas they mentioned a park friends of theirs had stayed at, it was nothing fancy they said but by all accounts it was a great park. It was situated in southern Louisana in Cajun country in a town called Abbeville south of Interstate 10. Rose did some research and it sounded like just the place for us. 

When Rose reseaches a park we often laugh at some comments people put up, for example; the restrooms were dirty and not up to standard - every RV we have seen has its own bathroom, shower etc so why would you not use that?  Bettys has no restrooms, no laundry but full hookup and free Wi Fi and a very reasonable rate.  This is also an adults only park which suited us just fine - we were told to bring a good sense of humour and if your not a social person then this park might not be for you. 

We pulled up and parked in a small vacant area out front of the office. Signs directed us to buzzer so we pushed it for service. A young bloke opens the door and says "Betty won't be a minute she is just peeling shrimp". Seconds later Betty greets us with a great Cajun smile and welcome to Louisiana and Cajun country. Having paid for our site we got the rundown from Betty and it went something like this, "We have happy hour at 4-30,  feel free to come along, bring your own drinks and people usually bring a plate to share".  I checked the clock it was 3-30 so plenty of time to set up, get the ice maker going before happy hour began.  Betty went on and said, "Tomorrow I am cooking Seafood Gumbo for dinner for everyone at the park - just bring a plate of food to contribute.  Thursday is thanksgiving and I (Betty) am cooking a turkey you can bring something to add to that and on Sunday my son is cooking Crawfish etofee - once again bring a plate to share".  Wow this sounds too good to be true!  The way this was going I wouldnt have to get the weber out at all this week.  Betty then guided us into our site.

We were caught in "Betty's" web

The entrance to the front office

4-30 on the dot we grabbed out drinks and headed off to the happy hour. Now we all know what its like to enter a room full of people and they just stop talking and look? Well this was no different but within seconds people stepped up and introduced themselves - heck how was I going to remember all these names?   We had a great first happy hour and come out with plenty of extra information on what to see and where to go in the area.  The majority of people staying here have been coming to Bettys regularly for years - we felt like we were adopted into their family.  Needless to say Happy Hour was factored into every day's activities!  

We don't always visit the tourist attractions in an area but couldn't resist a visit to the Tabasco factory.  Tabasco sauce has a special spot in my life, I always carried a bottle in my webbing when in the Army, it boosted the flavour of our rations when out bush.  The factory is located in a place called Avery Island south of Abbeville.   Avery Island sits upon a giant salt dome and during the civil war it produced some 22 million pounds of salt for the Confederacy. The salt plays an important part in the manufacturing of Tabasco . The pepper "mash" is put into used bourbon barrels and the barrel is covered in salt to seal the top - as the mash ferments it seeps out into the salt which goes hard. The barrels are stored for several years before use. Tabasco is only manufactured at Avery Island and exports to the whole world producing up to 700,000 bottles a day.

And  yes you get free samples

Entry to the Tabasco factory costs $1 which is taken at a booth at the gate.  The booth is on the right hand side ( remembering that it is left hand driving in the USA) and a fair distance from the car window so the gate keeper pushed a long stick, with a peg on the end through our window to attach our dollar bill.  No dollar bill - no problems - there was also a circular hole to put four quarters in - technology is great!  

Rose has a new camera this trip so decided to go for a walk through the historical township of Abbeville to test her photographic skills out.  As we were walking down a small street we saw an elderly lady sitting on her veranda. We said hi and gave a wave and then stopped to have a chat.  She then invited us to "come sit with her" and even offered us a drink.  She spoke about her life in Abbeville and shared some of the towns history with us.  She had been born in the very house we were sitting at and her son was in the process of renovating it.  This was one of our highlights of our journey - after about 20 minutes we said our goodbyes and headed home to our trailer, this is the USA we love. 

She was great to talk to

Our next adventure was a swamp tour, not on an airboat but in a flat bottomed "tinney" through the swamps of Louisiana. At just  $20 each  it was great value. Obviously the highlight of the trip would be to see some alligators. The guide explained the differance between a "swamp" and a "bayou" as he manouvered the boat through the swamp oaks. The swamp was not much more than 1-2 feet deep and fallen trees were everywhere - with great skill the tour guide made his way around and over many logs lifting the motor at just the right time.  We were also able to go through the bird sanctuary as it was not breeding season. Again it was very shallow and more than once we had to take a run up over a mound of weeds, with the propeller nearly out of the water, spewing mud etc into the air. I wondered how many motors they go through in a year.

One of the rules on the boat is not to  stand up or point at the alligators.   As usual there is always someone who thinks the rules don't apply to them - this guy, with the biggest telephoto lense possible did both resulting in him startling one of the bigger alligators meaning everyone lost that photo opportunity!  Fortunately  the guide knew where the best "sunning" spots for the alligators were so we had plently of time to take photos.

Heading into the swamp

In  the bayou

The  biggest one we saw

 This is a duck blind, just run your boat in and let rip!

When we first arrived at Betty's we were given some information about a "jam" session that happens every other Saturday in the nearby town of  Erath at the Museum Cafe. So we grabbed a lift with a couple of our new friends, Jim and Nancy. We  walked in and immediatley a voice from the stage says "welcome Ron and Rose from Australia" NO hidding in this bar, everyone looked, we waved and ducked for a quieter spot. Obviously the RVers from the park had worded up the band. Both Rose and I were a tad slow that day due to the extended happy hour the night before at which we celebrated Nancy and Jim's birthdays with far too many shots of "Bunderburg Rum, Jack Daniels and Lemon Moonshine".  Never to be deterred however  I ordered three beers, one for me and two for our friends, ' that will $6 thanks' -  $2 for a can of beer, just wish I could drink more of it! 

The jam session comprises of a group of locals who come together each week at the cafe/bar.  The music was great - they played for 4 hours with only a short break.  One of the guitar players was 85 - there was no stopping him.  

The Museum Cafe

And the band played...

The bloke with the accodian had one beer for every song he played

The bar

And in addition to the free entertainment and $2 beers, they also provided everyone there with a free meal at the end of the session.  Amazing!  

Betty's is certainly one of those places that you could just lose yourself in for a long time (as a number of others do every year)  but we had to keep moving so with heavy hearts we said our goodbyes to "Betty's" RV park and headed further east to our next destination. As we left we were farewelled by our new friends, by far this was one of the most friendly parks we had stayed at.

Good bye our good friends - Betty - we certainly did get caught in your web.

Texas the Six Flag State

So we headed south on our way to Dallas TX with a stopover for one night at Little Rock, Arkansas. With a little research by my trusty navigator and co pilot, Rose, we were off to  a Passport America park just 5 miles off the interstate, full hookup for $10.50 a night - got to be happy with that. The park looked out over the river and the bridge which was beautifully lit up by LED's. We arrived just on dusk so it was really just time to hook up, prepare dinner, catch a bit of TV and bed. 

The next morning we set off for Bobby and Libbys place just north of Dallas. One thing we did notice was the price of diesel was getting cheaper - down to $3.33 a gallon or 87 cents a litre.   It's almost a pleasure to pull in and fill the truck up at that price. They say the USA is now totally self sufficient for oil so OPEC is dropping the world price, bet thats not working back in Australia?

We finally arrived at Bobbys and simply parked the trailer on the street out front of their house and plugged the power in.  This is what you do in TX, well in the town of Josephine anyway. So with no further ado we made our presence known.

Just park in the street and plug in.

It was great catching up with Bobby and Libbby again, the last time we saw them was the day before we left from Dallas at the end of our last trip. Needless to say that first night we spent hours talking and having a wine or two. One topic that came up was the "Polar Vortex" that was hitting the northern states of the USA and which was predicted to affect the southern states -  right down to the Gulf.  This meant Dallas was going to get cold too. Well for four days the daytime temp didn't get much over 4-5c and even down to minus 4 at night. So the girls went shopping at girl places and Bobby and I went our seperate way. First stop was the car yards to check out trucks -  damn they do them well here in the  USA!   I did however resist the temptation to go for a test drive - for now anyway!!!  

Our next stop was Costco, never having been to one before it was an experience - loved that fact that all the "bloke" stuff is situated at the front of the store - large screen TV's and electronics and then the beer and wine.   Great product placement - certainly gets the men past the front door. We checked out all the good stuff including a Yamaha sound bar -  mmm a want not a need so left that alone. Next were some LED lights.  Those that know me are very well aware I have a thing for LED lights so I resigned myself to the fact that I was not going to walk out of there empty handed - homeward bound with an18 foot length of  colour changing, fancy pattern, remote controllled lights - and at a cost of only $35!!  I was in LED heaven!! 

Bobby and I arrived back to an empty house so it was off to the "theatre" room to watch a bloke movie or two - something we did more than once because it really was just too cold to do much else outdoors..... those winds blowing across the plains of Texas kept us whimpy Aussies inside in the beautifully heated house.  Never let it be said that I am the only gadget nut in our house -  Rose and Libby arrived home carrying in the Yamaha sound bar that I had mentioned seeing earlier in the day.  Next morning it was installed  - oh yeah - now we're rocking!!!

At nights we passed the time playing games, Rose and I learnt to play domino's - as a kid i just joined the dots or stood them on their end and watched them drop, but Bobby and LIbby taught us how the game is played like an adult!

After several days of game playing, shopping, talking etc it was time to hit the road. I backed the trailer down the street and off we went.  Thanks Bobby and Libby for a wonderful time.  

Our next official stop was Port Aransas near Corpus Christie however decided to break the trip up and stopped at the town of New Braunfels. Again Passport America came to the rescue with another half price RV park - the Lazy L & L Campgound.  We picked this park because it was not on the interstate or near a train line so we were happy to drive the extra 12 miles west to the park. As we drove we looked at one another hoping that we had made the right decision  - the road was pretty winding and quite narrow. 

We finally arrived at the park and all our doubts were gone, it was a truly beautiful park  - so beautiful in fact that we wished we could have stayed more than the one night to explore the area -  next trip!  

With the last hours of daylight we walked the park and took some photo's.

In Summer rafting is big in this park and the river bording it.

It was cold but that obviously doesn't stop serious fishermen (and their sons!)

Definately not enough time in this park.

Next morning it was onwards to Port Aransas,  arriving mid afternoon at Gulf Waters RV Resort to a huge greeting from Kathy and Jay.  It was great to see them again.   As we were setting up this bloke from the site beside us introduces himself saying,  "Hi I'm Dave - I am sure Kathy has warned you about me but unfortunately you're stuck with me for the next week!" Rose and I looked at each other wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.  Hoowever that afternoon's happy hour drinks was the just the beginning of a fun, laughter filled week - Dave certainly kept us all entertained with his quick and witty one liners and stories.   Dave and his lovely wife Faye had stayed at Gulf Waters last year and loved it so much they bought the site, a new truck and 5th wheeler and are now full timers staying down there for six months of the year.  Another great friendship formed and we will no doubt catch up with this crew again.

Happy Hour at Jay and Kathy's place

A cold Gulf morning and the sun is trying to peek through

The run of bad weather continued to follow us - we did however manage to hit the beach a couple of mornings for a much needed walk. 

Weeks end and it was time to move on to our next destination -  Galverston Tx. Our journey started with a five minute, free ferry trip to Aransas Pass. 

Needless to say we took up two lanes on the ferry

We often decide not to follow the major interstates, taking some of the less truck populated secondary roads.   We did this on this leg of our journey and came across a nuclear power plant - high razor wire and security cameras surrounding it.  A quick flick open of the ipad and we were learning all about this, and other similar plants throughout the world.  Very interesting!

We arrived in Galverston and after driving through and getting stopped at about 20 sets of traffic lights we pulled into the Sandpiper RV Resort.  This campground sits alongside the beach front and once again were forced inside due to the gusty and cold winds.  Luckily we had a really good view from our back window. 

The view from our back window

We have been to Galveston before and even then were impressed with the beautiful old homes in the downtown area so we parked the truck down one of the side streets and hit the pavement with our cameras in hand.   Photo taking can build up quite a thirst so we stopped at a local liquor store to purchase a few liquid refreshments.  

A well kept house on the corner

Rose testing our her new camera and photo skills

He was happy to pose for me, yep thats the liquior store and his pushbike

We had one final thing that we wanted to do while in the area and that was travel  the 70 miles up to Houston Tx to visit a couple we met at the Harley Davidson 110th anniversary at Milwaulki last year. Daniel runs and owns his own business, Cut Throat Customs  (motor bike building) in Houston.   Before heading up the interstate we stopped to top the tank up with fuel at what must have been the slowest fuel pump in all of Texas.  It took 25 minutes to pump 25 gallons - yep - one gallon per minute!!

We arrived at Daniels workshop where he and his lovely wife Heather were rewiring a bike harness. We had a few hours catching up with them and talking about the bike show in Las Vegas where they caught up with fellow Aussie's Shaun and Sheree - also bike builders. 

Daniel and Heather in the "front" office

So many bikes to work on!

Now thats a bike Rose

Great catching up

Catch ups all done it was time to leave Texas - the Lone Star State and also known as the Six Flag State which refers to the number of flags or Governments that have controlled Texas:

Under Spain: 1519-1685 and 1690-1821

Under France; 1685-1690

Under Mexico; 1821-1836

Texas as a Republic; 1836-1845

Under the Confederacy; 1861-1865

Under the Union; 1865- present

Thank you Texas - it has been fun!

Finger Lakes and Beyond

So it was with much excitement, nervousnous and anxiety that we drove out the driveway towing our trailer for the first time in over 12 months. Having already pulled our trailer in excess of 20,000 miles on our last trip you would think it would come second nature by now. It really only took a few miles and we were back in the groove with the most important thing to remember is the height and length when turning. Of course having an RV GPS which knows our height etc helps, the theory is it wont leave you embarrased as you take the top off your trailer at a low bridge. Driving through small towns and keeping and eye on low hanging branches is a must, I tend to just use the middle lane.

The drive up was just a nice steady cruise sitting on 55 mph on interstate 90 from Fredonia to Geneva NY.  The toll was $25 but based on the alternative route which would take us an extra hour it was worth it. 

We arrived at our RV park on lake Cayuga.  This park was due to close the next weekend so as usual we were the only people camping at that time of year. A couple of permanents were at the other end of the park but that was it. There were a couple of reasons why we headed up to Finger Lakes, one being it was a nice easy drive for us to build our confidence back up, secondly on our last trip we met a young bloke named Robert at one of the wineries. We struck up a conversation with him and he said he was heading to Australia on a working holiday - we gave him our details and told him to look us up if he got to Brisbane. He did and Robert visited and stayed with us on a couple of occasions during his travels. Our hospitality was returned as we were invited to his parents place for dinner whilst in Geneva. We had a fantastic night and laughed so much it hurt.

Looking over Lake Cayuga from the top of our RV park

The View from our loungeroom window

One of the local attractions Taughannock Falls

We also did a few 'must do' things like visit a local winery, of which there are plenty, and also visited a state park which is noted for its waterfall with a drop of some 215 feet. 'Shake down' trip done it was time to head back to Fredonia for one night and then our journey was to begin. Heading home we stopped at a small town of Irving NY which is an Indian reservation. Here they sell fuel tax free so a saving of some 70 cents a gallon is worth the stop.

We arrived at Ceil and Chucks place and they had their "camper" out as they were getting ready to  escape the winter -  now that's a camper! We always laugh when they say 'the camper' - this is a "rockstars"" motorhome.

The "camper"

A quick overnight stop at Ceils and Chucks at Fredonia and we were on the road again heading south to warmer temperatrues - well that's the plan.

We arrived at Rose's brothers place met by the dogs, so many in fact, 11 at this visit. Setting up comes naturally now so 20 minutes later we were done, including hooking up our new "heated" hose. Yep thats exactly what is, a heated hose. It  plugs into the 110v  and a thermostate turns it on in cold temperatures so your hose does not freeze. We were expecting temperaturs of minus 4c and a chance of snow. It did snow just lightly and yes it was very cool. 

Dinner at our place

Apart from seeing John and Monica again the highlight was our trip to Cincinatti to see my NFL team the Bengals play. John arranged the tickets and on Sunday we set off for the 90 min journey to Cincinatti for the game. Security is pretty tight at the game as we found out. As we walked from the carpark an attendant informed Rose that she couldn't take her handbag into the game unless it was a clear plastic one! All this because of those "scumbags" who think harming inocent people is a way to promote their cause. Next dump water bottles, get scanned by metal detector and then we get to present our ticket to gain entry.

John had done well on the tickets, just nine rows from the field close to the touchdown line. Plenty of beer vendors walking by with bins of "iced" beer which were a bit expensive by American standards but what the heck we were at the football. We didn't need to worry about our beer getting warm, top temp was about 5c, just above fridge temp. We knew it was going to be cold so we had thermals on and rugged up nice and warm. They don't put up with trouble makers either, plenty of signs saying if you have a problem, TEXT JERK to XXXX with your section and seat number and security will turn up - what a great idea.  We had a great day expecially as the Bengals won.

Rugged up and ready for the game

Let the game begin

After four nights it was time to hit the road and head further south. Our destination was Nashville, TN about 285 miles soutH on I65. It was a good days drive and we managed to get into a Passport America campground. PA membership would have to be one of the best discount camping programs available -  you get 50% off in select sites subject to availability. We got four nights at $22 a night. The main reason we were in Nashville was to catch up with some friends we met last time. Those of you that have read my previous blogs will know we did an Alaskan cruise and on that cruise we met some great people. Grace and Henry were two of those people. 

Grace and Henry

We arrived in Nashville mid afternoon and imediately rang Grace inviting them over for dinner - chicken and veg cooked in the Weber. We spent the night sitting around our new gas fire pit catching up on the happenings of the last 12 months. For the next 3 nights we were chaperouned around Nashville by Grace and Henry. We went for dinner every night including their favourite Korean restaurant. They treated us to a "locals" tour of their beautiful city which was simply the best. We talked and talked and laughed the nights away.

On our first night they took us to the Grand Opray Hotel, a 2000 room hotel nearby.  It's main feature is the atrium covered by the largest glass done i have ever seen housing thousands of plants and lights with a walkway meandering through it.  For anyone visiting Nashville a visit to this hotel is a must. We had dinner at an Italian resturant surrounded by a lush indoor garden. 

All under one roof!

Christmas lights were hanging from every available rafter

Beautiful orchids were growing everywhere

After dinner we went to one of Grace's favourite bars - the Wild Horse Saloon where Grace got into a bit of line dancing - we were inpressed she was good - knew all the moves!  We got a "bucket" of beer -  five stubbies for $16.  Last of the big tippers Ron gave the girl $20 and told her to keep the change. As we left we noticed lots of Police and roads blocked in the main streets of Nashville - we later learned the Country Music Awards we being held in town that night.  Proves we aren't big country music fans! 

Whats with the "long" face you have two girls under your arms?

Grace and Henry shared their stories about coming to America.  Henry from Nicagura and Grace from the Philipines - they have both worked very hard to and to see how successful they both are makes us very proud and honoured to know them.

The RV park we were staying at holds an annual Christmas lights event and as luck would have it its first night was on the last night of our stay. The fact we were staying at the park gave us free entry a bonus for us. Its a drive through event with thousands upon thousands of LED lights flashing to the sound of Christmas carols played on a local FM radio station.  We were so impressed we did it twice.

A great light show

Sadly our visit to Nashville had to come to and end and it was with great sadness we again said goodbye to another couple of wonderful American friends. This trip is really cementing the friendships we made on our previous trips.  Next stop is Dallas - some 660 miles down the road. 

Again thank you Grace and Henry for your hospitality - we enjoyed it so much.