Busy Week of Celebration

We had another busy week at Betty's with the usual; friends, food, music and more. A few of us have been helping Betty with a project that I will write about in a later post.  The weather has been stuck in a pattern of high temps, wind and humidity with a chance of showers daily.  So far we have avoided any bad storms. As the weather becomes more summer like there are fewer rigs at the park but there have been many old friends and new people we have heard about from other friends stopping by for extended stays. On Sunday we went to Poppa's on Dat River to hear another band, Gravel Road, that includes Dave and Sybil who we often hear at the jam sessions. Last Monday Betty, her 91 year old aunt Edna, Nanc and I took advantage of a "free" room and meals we have earned at the Cypress Bayou Casino.  We all learned that there is no free lunch, but we had a fun time.  I failed to take pictures either day.   

Here are Merlene, Dan, Donnalynn, Jim and Betty at happy hour.  It is great to see Donnalynn and Jim again.  They often come to Betty's at the same time of year we do.  Jim had a birthday this week so we had another reason to celebrate. 

Another old friend who stopped for a couple of days was Rose who we met at Watersedge RV Park in 2008 and who we often see when we winter in Arizona.  Since her husband Mike passed away she spends more time at her home in Mesa but still loves to RV.

She now travels in this great little trailer.  It is self contained and has everything she needs.  It is also a good and easy way for her to travel and see the country.  It was great seeing her and we look forward to seeing her down the road.

Of course we had crawfish again this week and, as often happens, we got to watch a newbie enjoy mudbugs for the first time.  Reg went right at it and easily worked through five pounds.

We have been here so often we now have many local friends who often invite us to join them for different celebrations.  Friday evening we went to the Museum Cafe to celebrate Sandra's birthday.  Here is Sandra (right) with her mom and our good friend Ollie and her son David.  It was a great party and a fun, fun time.

David provided the evening's entertainment.  He played a great variety of music. 

Saturday was back to the Museum Cafe for the Cajun jam session.  Here are Sharon, John, Karen and Reg from Betty's at the museum.  Reg had a great day celebrating his birthday.

About once a month during the jam session the Acadian Museum in Erath honors a local resident as a Living Legend for their contribution to promoting Cajun culture.  This week's honoree was retired Lafayette Parish sheriff Don Breaux (left).  Betty was inducted as a Living Legend in 2012.  Here is a link to our blog post about that day.   

A couple of our friends at the Museum Cafe jam session, Ollie and Lloyd who also had a birthday this week. It sure is great having so many friends in the Abbeville area.

The jams are almost always only for local musicians, but on Saturday they invited Dan to join in on stage.  I guess now he is officially a California Cajun. 

We all had a fun day at the jam that ended with another Cajun tradition that we have never found anywhere else around the country.  A free to go dinner for everyone and in this case free really is free.  You gotta love this place.