La Tour de Abbeville

Another trip planned by Betty was a walking tour of Abbeville that traces its founding back to Pere Antoine Desire Megret who purchased land here in 1843 to build a church.

A statue of Megret in Place Magdalen Sud, a town square that was part of the original land purchase.
Our two tour guides were also named Betty. They were very knowledgeable about their community and happy to show it off. They only had two tours last summer, but there were three the day we took ours.

The Cultural & Historical alliance has many displays on Abbeville events, like the annual omelet festival held at the beginning of November. There was an exhibit of student art from the local schools and, of course, a large section on the expulsion from Acadia-Nova Scotia.

Steen's is a local company that makes pure cane syrup from the sugar cane grown in the area.

The cemetery behind the church dates to its first burial in 1852. Many of the headstones are in French and all the signs are in French and English. We often hear people speaking French both out in public and on the radio.

The present Saint Mary Magdalen is the fourth church built on the property. This one dates back to the early nineteen hundreds and has just gone through a major renovation to repair exterior and interior damage caused by the many hurricanes that have happened here.

The newly painted, cleaned and repaired interior was beautiful with its statues and stained glass windows.

Sam Guarino's blacksmith shop that dates back to 1913 has just been restored and opened for tours. Sam's daughter was there the day we toured and she offered a lot of insight into the operation of the shop.

The shop was a "modern" facility with an electric motor turning the belts that turned the various machines. The plan is to have a blacksmith working in the shop in the future.The last stop was the old Abbeville railroad depot that is now part museum and part gift shop. There were several displays about the town and a caboose parked at the platform.

The tour was very interesting and offered a glimpse into this little corner of Acadiana.

The Wood Guy

Betty took us on a road trip to New Iberia to see the wood guy, Gerald Judice. Gerald is a native Cajun who farmed his family land until about twenty years ago when he decided to quit farming and pursue his real love, woodworking. He gets almost all of his wood out of the swamp from the old stumps left behind when the cypress were cut a hundred years ago. Some of the wood he works with is several hundred years old. Gerald was splitting firewood to sell when we arrived. He stopped what he was doing and spent over two hours, including a trip to his house to see the finished work, to share his love of his trade with us. This is just another example of the friendliness of the Cajun people.

This is just a small portion of the wood he has at his shop. He stacks it to air dry and has wood everywhere. This is Celine and MaryBeth looking for pieces to use for crafts.
Nanc found a small piece of cypress that Gerald planed so she could make a sign for the rig.

Gerald demonstrated how he turns the wood on the lathe to make bowls.

This is the finished product beside the round blank he starts with.

This is some of his work he was selling at the craft festival. The finished products are beautiful with the grain and knots adding to the look. He also makes benches, cutting boards, swings and many other interesting pieces. Betty collects the wood and with some assistance from Laurie, a camper at the park, she turns the wood into folk art to decorate the pavilion. Because the beauty of folk art is in the eye of the beholder we decided that if you don't like it fo_k you!!!!

EAUX the Music

One of our greatest joys on past visits to Acadiana has been the music and this visit has not disappointed. During our first week we heard four different groups ranging from local bands to an international recording artist. As part of the Carousel of Arts 2010 Arts in the Park we heard local bands, Leon Chavis & Zydeco Flames and Blayne Mayard & Just Passin Through. We attended a Zachary Richard & Friends concert and the French jam session at Touchet's, one of our favorite bars in the area. On Saturday morning the local NPR station has a show of Cajun music in both French and English. Cajun culture is alive and well in Southern Louisiana.

The Friday evening concert by Zachary Richard & Friends was at Magdalen Place. The concert was sponsored by the Acadiana Center for the Arts's Louisiana Crossroads program. Zachary is a Louisiana native who records in both French and English. Jean Paul and Celine are very familiar with his music and have not only purchased several of his cd's, but have enjoyed many of his concerts in Quebec. Most of his music was with the guitar, but he also played the Cajun accordion, piano and harmonica. The accordion music brought the crowd to its feet. The top video below is a short taste of his music.

Touchet's is one of two local bars that have French jam sessions every other Saturday afternoon. We have been here before and the owner recognized and welcomed us back. The people in Acadiana are the friendliest we have met while on the road.

The musicians at Touchet's are just local people who are working hard to keep their Cajun heritage alive. We love this music even though much of the time we cannot understand the words, as they are in French. The young man playing the accordion is just learning the music and is a great example of their efforts to pass on the culture. The bottom video below is a short example of this music.

As if to reinforce the friendliness of the people, after the jam sessions they feed everyone in the place from a big pot containing some tasty Cajun dish.

Blayne Mayard & Just Passin Through

Loen Chavis & Zydeco Flames

Food and Friends at Betty's

People ask what we do for a month in Acadiana and, if the first week is any indication, we will not be getting to do much of the work we had planned on doing during our stay. Of course, every day at 4:30 is happy (for more than an) hour where we get together with new and old friends to share stories of the day and plan future events under Betty's direction. This place seems to be a magnet for Escapees, as about half the rigs are sporting the logo. These are a few of the folks we met this week. Celine & Jean Paul Dugas from Gaspe', Quebec are return visitors who discovered they may be related to Marvin Broussard, a native, whom we met on our last visit. Marvin's family was among those Cajuns expelled from Nova Scotia.
On the left are Charley & Sherry Dilworth who have only been on the road for nine weeks and wanted to make Betty's one of their first stops. Betty (center) has hosted many famous people and above are Brenda Lee & Rick who have been coming here for six years.

All these people are first time visitors. Tony & MaryBeth Linn (top left) are fulltimers who extended their stay after realizing they needed to spend more time here to enjoy the culture and people. Carol Clyde (center top left) is a solo who is a friend of Bobbie and Jim Chapman, our 07 mates whom we saw in Quartzite. Don & Stella Pippin are Canadian snowbirds who realized they wanted more time here and, like many others, have vowed to return.

Left are two other famous visitors, Ken & Barbie Sallee, who have a blog on Hitchitch that I have followed from time to time. Right are Eric & Karla Trippe who once contacted us about adding a map to their blog, but whom we had never met. Others we have met but are not pictured are Dave & Veronica, who only stayed one night and who also have a travel web site. Bill & Geisle, whom we met here two years ago, are here with friends in five different rigs and we have not yet had a chance to talk with them much. All of this has happened in only seven days so we are sure the list will get much longer by the time we have to depart.

Another joy of Acadiana is the food and we have only eaten in one night this week. The seafood and Cajun dishes are to die for and the number of great eating places in this little town is phenomenal.

One day for lunch while taking a walking tour of Abbeville (another post) we ate at CC's Comeaux's Cafe. Another really unique lunch stop is Suire's, a little Cajun grocery store that serves lunch to a standing room only crowd everyday. The Riverfront Louisiana Grill is a very nice restaurant with a great variety of Cajun meals.

For mudbugs Cajun Claws is a must. They are the best and as you can see this is a place we both love and where visitors from Betty's are regulars. There were sixteen the night we went and another group of twelve went another day. This place is not to be missed.Victor's Cafeteria in nearby New Iberia is famous for one of its frequent guests, author James Burke, who winters here and summers in Montana. We have read and enjoyed several of his books. The sign on the wall, Dave Robicheaux EATS HERE, refers to a character in Burke's novels.

We have gotten in our walks most days so we should not put on too much weight while we are here. Other stories to follow are about the music, the wood guy, Mr. Charlie and the tour of Abbeville. If we would stop right now and just write about these thing we would be plenty busy, but there are many more things on the agenda.

Back in LA

Our first time staying in a Walmart.
Arriving at Betty's RV Park.
Happy hour in the newly enlarged pavilion.

Betty (center) at happy hour.

We left Aransas Pass Saturday morning with the idea of getting to the other side of Houston on a slow traffic day. WRONG!! Getting through the city was bumper to bumper which is not really a bad thing since at 20mph we had plenty of time to be in the correct lane at each interchange. We made it unscathed and pressed on searching for our first overnight stay at a Walmart. Our first choice in East Texas was hard to get to because of highway construction so we travelled to Sulphur, LA for a total of 337 miles. We found a store about a mile off I-10 away from traffic noise that had plenty of parking spots and several other Rvers with the same plan. We had supper in the rig then did a little shopping to stock up on needed supplies. A flat, free, safe, convenient place to get a good night's sleep, why have we waited so long to do this.

On Sunday we only had to travel 90 miles to be at Betty's RV Park in Abbeville, our absolute most favorite spot. This is our third time here and each time we have stayed longer than the time before. We are staying a month this time. We were greeted with a hug from Betty and told that "CONTENT L'HEURE" was still at 4:30. It is a good thing all RV parks aren't like this because people would be taking the wheels off their rigs. At happy hour we met old friends and made new ones. This place is all about the people.

Back to Coastal Texas

Nanc rolling in the dough.

This is a great birding area.

A foggy beach walk and ferry ride.

Norah & Howie, Bob & Molly

Mark & Renita

Lunch with 07 mates at Moondogs overlooking Fulton harbor.

When we left the Rockport area on January 25, 09 it took 82 days with 12 stops and 2074 miles to get to Apache Junction while our return trip was only 1179 miles with five stops in five days. There are really not a lot of places in West Texas that require a return visit, so the sprint was the way to go. It was great seeing the land turn green as we left the arid desert and drove into Eastern Texas. The humidity went up but we love being where there are trees. We stayed at the Southern Oaks "Luxury" RV Park in Aransas Pass, a new park that is very nice but at this point none of the luxury amenities (golf course, pool, laundry) are in place. That does not matter to us since we usually don't use these things anyway and the Passport America rate was very good. Nanc took advantage of a laid back week to bake bread and used some of the sour dough for a great pizza. Who said retirees can't be rolling in the dough:)

The weather was much better than when we were last here, but there was still that darn wind and the humid morning fog several days did not burn off until late in the afternoon. That said, we had a grand time visiting friends and some of our favorites places in the area. The day we arrived we drove to Lamar to see the whooping cranes that have moved off the islands to the mainland this year in search of food. Last year we needed to take a boat tour to see these magnificent rare creatures. We could see them in the fields but could not get close enough for a good picture. On our last day we found a huge heron rookery right in the middle of town in Rockport. These are Nanc's favorites so we spent some time watching as they gathered sticks for their nests. Their mating plumage was beautiful.

Another day we took the ferry to Port Aransas to walk on the beach and enjoy the sights of the wildlife including a few early spring breakers. It was a little foggy that day also but it was wonderful to stroll along the water listening to the waves and smelling the salt air. We did love our winter in the desert but we have always loved being near the water.

Of course, the main reason we came back to this area was to see friends. One afternoon we went to happy hour at Watersedge and got to see many of the people who were there on our last visit. We have kept in touch with Mark and Renita Brackin, 07 mates that we met there, and had them over for dinner so we could catchup on our travels. We stopped at Rustic Cove RV Park to see 07 mates Howie and Norah Glover who are in a new to them rig. At Last Resort we stopped to visit Bob and Molly Pinner who are also in a new rig after selling theirs to the Glovers. On Friday we all got together for lunch and an afternoon of swapping travel tales. Since the beginning of our third year on the road in July of 2009 we have met friends and family in 14 of the 26 places we have stayed. These visits continue to be one of the great highlight of this lifestyle.

The Sprint

Jorge at Forrest Tire mounting the new tires.

This shows what they mean when they say there will be s__w down to 6000 feet. We were very glad the white stuff stayed in the higher elevations.

Nanc at the wheel.

What you see along most of route 90 in West Texas. We did see antelope, deer, longhorn steers, javelins, Brahma bulls and many other animals along the way.

Mike and Loretta sharing stories at happy hour.

Our plan was to purchase four new rear tires (we had to replace the front tires 18 months ago because of an alignment problem) in Phoenix and then "sprint" 1200 miles to Rockport in four days. As with all fulltiming plans, these were written in sand which can blow away in the desert and are subject to change. Upon arrival at Copperstate Tire we were greeted with the news that the tires would not be delivered until 2PM. Oh well, no problem, we will just spend the time reading and relaxing. Uh, at 2 PM the salesman appears and tells us the tires aren't coming and asks what direction we are heading so they could call ahead and find four tires somewhere along (the) I-10. None were found in Tucson, but they were available 435 miles away in El Paso. We left Phoenix late in the afternoon with the plan of spending the night at the SKP park in Casa Grande. But when we called, there was no room in the inn so we decided we could make it to the Saguaro SKP Park, where they had sites, 160 miles away in Benson before nightfall. This change in the plan gave us the chance to visit with Rick and Terry Traver, class of 07 mates, and Bob and Ginnie Huntley, who were our neighbors at the Rose Parade HOP. This chance change in plans turned into a great evening of conversation and visiting.

Day two of the changing plans was to get as close to the west side of El Paso as possible so we could be at Forrest Tires for our appointment early Wednesday morning. Since we were only going about 250 miles we did not need to depart too early because we had decided on a first for us, to stay overnight at the rest area in Anthony, TX. The drive out of Arizona and across New Mexico was easy and enjoyable as we watched the land change along the way. We arrived in Anthony early enough to get fueled up at the nearby Flying J and then take a little walk and stretch out our tired butt muscles. We were the only RV there but there were several over the road truckers and a security guard who patrolled at least until we fell asleep. This stay took me back to 1966 when my grandparents came to visit me at Fort Sam Houston and we drove to the Astrodome (then a wonder of the world) to see a baseball game. On the way back to San Antonio we pulled off along the road and they bedded down in their VW microbus and I slept on the picnic table. Shortly after falling asleep, two cars pulled in, one the local sheriff and the other the town drunk whom the sheriff was leaving there to sleep it off. The sheriff assured us everything would be alright but it did not look like we were going to sleep very soundly. Not to worry. As soon as the sheriff left, "Otis" fired up his car and sped off down the highway. Minutes later the spotlight from the police car scanned the place and our new friends were gone amid a blaze of flashing red lights. Our stay in Anthony was much more uneventful but we realized that, since we had traveled less than 500 miles in two days and had to get tires in the morning, we were not going to make Rockport in four days.

Day three started with a new personal record as we were on the road (without coffee or breakfast) by 7 AM to drive the 25 miles to Forrest Tire. When we arrived we were happy to see four fresh tires waiting to be installed. Freshness is a big deal for RVers since we rarely wear out tires but usually change them between five to seven years from their born on date. Ours were just over six years old and we did not want to push it any longer. (In some countries tires have expiration dates.) Jorge, our tire guy ,had the first two removed and remounted before I was done with my first cup of Joe. The whole thing only took about an hour and a half and we were once again on the road, but with much lighter wallets. Even a little lighter then we had planned on since we paid about $50 a tire more in El Paso then we were expecting to pay in Phoenix. I think this is what they call supply and demand. With new tires but still no breakfast and a plan subject to change, we decided to stop at at the Flying J east of El Paso for a personal fuel up. Nothing like a truckers meal to make the miles fly by. It was now near noon and we wanted to get to Alpine, TX on Route 90 for the night. Route 90 is a two lane road but in West Texas one can sprint on any road as there are few people, few towns and almost no traffic. This was a good opportunity for Nanc to log a some miles and before we knew it we were approaching our planned destination Alpine and thinking it was to early to stop. What's a plan for if you can't change it so we drove on to the Marathon Motel and RV Park where we had stayed last spring. This is a neat little place with a beautiful adobe courtyard and fireplace where travelers can gather and swap tales around the fire. Sharing stories is not unusual for RVers but in most motels guest just go to their rooms and never meet anyone.

Day four of the sprint plan was to stay at the SKP park in Hondo, TX which would leave an easy, less then 200 mile, drive to Rockport. Still not bad for us as it would be about 1200 miles in five days. Just before leaving Marathon we got mail from Mike and Loretta Kniseley, friends from last winters stay in Rockport, that they were staying in Uvalde, TX forty miles this side of Hondo. While Rockport was the goal we did not have a reservation so the plan changed again and we called Quail Springs RV Park and got a spot near them for two days so we could catch up with what they have been up to. We then prepared to leave but found the auxiliary brake on the toad was not working. We decided to go without it as I don't really think the CRV will push hard enough to cause the Dutch Star any problems and the brake is not a legal requirement in Texas. When we arrived in Uvalde Mike and Loretta were there to greet us and shortly after our arrival we got together for our own little happy hour so we could share stories of our last year of travel. One thing they shared with us was info about a new park near Rockport and when we called we got a spot for a lot less then we were planning on spending. Isn't life grand!! As to the brake issue it turns out that we had run down the battery in the car because we had only run the engine when we disconnected to get the tires and four days with this little bit of charge was not nearly enough. Mike came to the rescue with a charger and and I learned something new about RVing if you are going to sprint. The lesson is you always need a plan but you don't always need to follow it.