Into Cajun Country

Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Abbeville, LA

We departed from Gulf Shores RV Park a bit after 10am and hopped on I-10 less than a mile from the park. The route today had us on I-10 east to Jennings, then LA26 south at Jennings to Lake Arthur where we picked up LA14 east which runs us right into Abbeville. It’s about a 150 drive. We both love those less than 200 mile days.

I’ve heard horror stories about the condition of I-10 so we weren’t expecting a smooth ride today. We battened down every hatch and secured things we don’t normally worry about. Between Beaumont and the border the State of Texas is completely rebuilding the roadway and they were far enough along with the project so we ran on mostly new pavement. There was one small section of old road we had to use and it was evidence that those old rumors I’d heard were probably true. Even after crossing the state line we found better than expected road conditions and quite a few miles of new asphalt roadway — a real treat for any driver. The state roads, on the other hand, were terrible, especially the section of LA14 from Lake Arthur to Kaplan which might have been better if they’d just left it a dirt road.

When we reached the little town of Gueydan (pronounced gay-dan’) we stopped on Main Street for lunch. It was an attractive little town that had been laid out by some forward-thinking people. Main Street was a very wide divided street with a parkway in the middle and still enough room for angle parking on both sides of the street in the commercial district. This one small feature makes the town look good in addition to being functional. I wonder why more towns around the USA didn’t do this. Hmmm?

Abbeville is a larger town than I’d expected. It’s located right in the heart of Cajun Country and that’s the main reason we chose it as our destination. But we’ve also heard from others that Betty’s RV Park is the place to stay which is another reason we’re here. When we pulled into Betty’s small gravel parking area she was right there to greet us with her big smile. Within the next hour, as we signed in and took on fresh water, we met nearly everyone else in the park. What a friendly group. This is a popular place and since we didn’t make a reservation until just a few days ago we’re drycamping in a little space she made available for us. That’s just fine with us as we need to exercise our drycamping muscles anyway.

Over the next few days there’s a bunch of stuff we want to see and explore… maybe a swamp tour in an airboat… Avery Island, the home to Tabasco Sauce… Cajun Cuisine… local history… local music. The day tomorrow, Wednesday, will be our planning day and re-stocking day. I’ve also got to scrape some bugs and dirt off the front-end of the Bus-House and clean the solar panels so we get maximum sun-power.