Bayou Segnette State Park for Biking and Camping Tonight

April 21, 2014 – Monday

We had another restful night at Walmart. Got gas in the same parking lot for $3.39 a gallon. Eat your heart out California.

Today was a short driving day to Bayou Segnette State Park.

They let us drive thru the park with a map to select empty sites that we liked. We found ten that would be good, then drove back to the registration/entrance to register and pay for one of them. This park has the biggest sites I think I’ve seen. There is a lot of grass and trees surrounding the sites.

After setting up our chairs and the dog beds outside, I made reservations for our first day in New Orleans tomorrow. We are staying at the French Quarter RV Resort the first night. It is suppose to be close enough to walk to the French Quarter touristy area. I also had them book us a bus/van tour of New Orleans. Once that was done, we unloaded our bikes and rode around the park.

Saw a man being pulled on his bike by his large dog. After the bike ride we had lunch the took a walk on the narrow boardwalks in the park that enter and exit off the park roads.

This boardwalk ended at the nice restroom/laundry/playground area.

Spent the rest of the night posting the last three days worth of posts! Tomorrow we finally get to New Orleans!

Vermilionville, Acadian Village, Avery Island and Jungle Gardens on Easter

April 20, 2014 – Easter Sunday

We wake up Easter morning after a good night sleep at Walmart. After morning routines, the dogs are put in their wire crate that they ride in when we travel. Luckily for us, they like their crate and don’t bark or try to get out when the RV is moving. They know when I turn the engine off, that it means they get to get out and explore something or potty. They get very anxious to get out every hour or so like I do.

First touristy stop today is Vermilionville in Lafayette. It’s a Living History Museum and Folklore Park of the Acadian, Native American and Creole cultures. The place includes historical homes, gardens, artifacts, costumed crafts people, boat tours, restaurant, gift shop and live music on the weekends. We get there and load the stroller dogs up, hoping we can take them with us. They aren’t open for another twenty minutes, so we stroll around the grounds in the “free area”. It’s pretty and next to a river with lots of green grass and trees. We take photos and wait for the gift shop/entrance to open.

When the gift shop opens we ask if the dogs can go in with the stroller. They say no, so we don’t get to pay admission and see behind the fence. Its starting to get warm and it looked like it would take a long time to see everything, so we didn’t want to leave the dogs in the RV. Oh well, we had a nice time walking around and I have other things to visit on my list today. Took a few more pictures on our way back to the RV.

Next stop is the LARC’s Acadian Village, also in Lafayette.

The parking lot is empty when we pull in but I see a few people inside the gate, so I walk up and ask if they are open. They hesitate and say just for an hour or so, because they had a tour bus full of German tourist coming and we could come in for awhile. I asked if the dogs could join us in the dog stroller and they said ok if they didn’t get out. Back to the RV just as the tour bus pulls in and lots of people get off the bus.

By the time we get back and pay our entrance fee, the tour has started. We catch up to them and listen to the guide explain things in German then translate to English. The tourist noticed the stroller dogs and started coming over and making a fuss over them. We didn’t understand a word they said. Then they started taking pictures of them.

The tour was in German and English, so it was taking a long time, so we went around them and walked the place on our own

Next touristy destination was Avery Island, the Tabasco Factory and Jungle Gardens. The Tabasco tour and factory were closed due to it being Easter, but the Jungle Gardens were open. We went in the gift shop and paid the admission for the three mile driving tour thru the Jungle.

The 200 acre Jungle Gardens are home to more than 20,000 egrets and other birds that nest on the platforms in a lake called Bird City.

After we left the Island, we headed back on I-90 east to Raceland where we stayed at a Walmart. Put the dogs in their customized dog carriers and did a bit of shopping. Dogs posed in front of the Easter candy, but I didn’t buy any for them or myself. 🙂

Spent the rest of the night working on photos and writing in my trip journal.

Very Long Day in Opelousas on a Holiday Weekend

April 18, 2014 – Saturday

After a week at one campground in Boyce, we were ready to hit the road. We left the campground at 9:00 am, heading south on I-49. My plan for today was to stop in the city of Opelousas, not too far north of the I-10. We kept seeing bodies of water off the freeway with things sticking up in the water and people in fishing boats. When we got gas, I asked what they were. Was told they were catching crawdads. Later, they drain the water and they are rice fields. Didn’t get any good pictures.

Got to Opelousas Visitor Center at 11:00 and it was closed. In the same location is the Le Vieux Village, a historical park, also closed this weekend. We walked arounds the grounds, but didn’t get to go in any of the buildings or museums. The Louisiana Orphan Train Museum is also here and closed. The Farmers Market on the other side of the parking lot was…also closed. I’m beginning to think traveling on a holiday weekend to visit things are a bad idea.

In the photos below you will see us carrying our dogs in DIY dog carriers I made from a Schwinn bike bags. They are meant to strap to the handle bars of a bicycle. When I saw them in the store, I thought they were the perfect size to carry the dogs in. You don’t really want to know how many different carriers I bought for the dogs, and none of them were perfect.

We are in the Zydeco capital of the world the sign and brochures all said.

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The city had a bunch of painted fiddles on display.

The steep stairs on the porches of old houses were how they got to the bedroom in the attic.
Across the street was the Myrtle Grove Cemetery from the mid 1800’s. I find these old tall grave stones interesting.

Across the other street was a popular looking BBQ place. Bill wanted to get some kind of cooked beans for his lunch, so we walked over there. This old building had a drive thru full of cars waiting. When we opened the door, we saw a big line of people waiting. Must have been good food, but we didn’t want to wait.

In the parking lot of the visitor center was a Mike’s Donut King. We saw beignets in the window, so I had to go in and get my first one on this trip. They are popular French donuts with powdered sugar in LA. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t worth the calories it cost me.

Next stop was to a flea market I read about called Spotted Cat Antiques & Flea Market. I was expecting a swap meet, but it was indoors. We put the dogs in their stroller and went in anyway. It was a large store, but we didn’t buy anything. Bill tried on a boa at a New Orleans booth.

We saw a grocery store next door, so went in for some fruit

Next we looked for another Flea Market. I put the address in the GPS and we ended up on some roads that made Bill nervous. I didn’t get too concerned till the GPS said to turn down a skinny, one lane road for another mile. No way. Bill got out and spotted me as I turned the RV around on the narrow road we had traveled down.

Next was to look for one of the two “famous” dance halls in Opelousas, called Millers Zydeco Hall of Fame, with dancing on the weekends. I was hoping we could go hear some zydeco music and get to practice what I learned on YouTube. When our GPS said we passed it, we turned around and went back. How could we have passed it? Turns out it was a ugly old building with just a small sign on it that we didn’t notice the first time. It was also in a rough looking neighborhood and not what I was expecting, so we didn’t even stop as it looked closed as well. There was one more dance place I read about called Slim’s Y-Ki-Ki, but by this time, I had seen enough of Opelousas and wanted to find our next campground.

We set the GPS for Lafayette and continued down I-49. There was one more flea market I read about in Lafayette and when we saw it right off the highway, we stopped. It was called Lafayette Jockey Lot Flea Market and this was more like what I wanted. Bill was too tired or had no interest, so he stayed in the RV while I tried to hurry thru it. Most of the people in stalls with no outside walls, but had roofs, sold new stuff. A few sold antiques or junk, along with your average Joe selling stuff outside around the flea market. The most amusing was the Worlds Largest Underpants on display with a waist size of 100″. There was a lady reading palms and selling psychic readings.

There was an interesting dog product called Anytime Collars. They are a harness and leash built in together. The idea sounded good, but they looked too big and bulky for small dogs I thought. I think they were $35.

So far, this is the only alligator we have seen on this trip. I buy Bill some beans from the food stand and a burger for me which I share with the dogs when I get back to the RV. Then we continue south, and pass the I-10 interchange, as the road is now Hwy 90, the more scenic road to New Orleans. Now that we are in a big city, we do a search for frozen yogurt on our iPhone and find Yogurtland and we are happy campers.

After our yogurts, I check for a Walmart that allows RV’s to spend the night. I look on Overnightrvparking.com a website that list all free places and places under $20. It gives reviews from people who stayed there and is updated frequently. We find a Walmart just a few blocks away. The neighborhood is nice, so we feel safe and stay. It was a LONG day and a LONG post on the blog!
Note: I’m still learning how to blog. The only way I can figure out how to add photos in the right place is to add them, then add text, add photos, text. I forgot to add a photo of the Jockey Lot flea market but it kept adding it to the bottom of the post.:-( oh well, I’m tired.