Merci Train UPDATE!!!

I do so enjoy discovering things.
While looking into the Merci Train we both had the feeling that they were familiar, but could not place where, or if we had seen one before, So I returned to the Merci Train website and checked more carefully the locations of the boxcars in all states we have passed through. Using Google maps, satellite views and Street view I could then cross reference the locations with our photos. I looked again at Jackson, we were so close to that one. The boxcar in Bristol, Tennessee was close to us, we may have driven past it, but the map shows that it's location cannot be seen from the road. Lastly I looked at Louisiana. The boxcar was displayed at the Old State Capitol, well we had visited the new State Capitol, but could not recall going to the old one. However as soon as I brought it up on Street View I recognized the building, so then checked on our blog archive - found it on 21st October 2012. We had heard about the Downtown Friday Concerts, a series of concert held in a public square, just by the Old State Capitol Building Friday evenings, this week was to be Zydeco! So we had driven into Baton rouge after lunch and parked the car nearby. As we arrived early we had toured the Old Capitol and then gone for a coffee. I re-read the blog. But while I have recorded our visit to the Old State Capitol, there was no mention of the Merci Boxcar and no photos of our visit. In fact I had been quite dismissive of the exhibits there, with the exception of the fine staircase.
So I then checked the Photo Albums on Picasa and lo and behold, there was and album showing our visit and a careful  search showed that in the background to a couple of the pics and one video is the Louisiana Boxcar!! More than that, I then searched through our photo archive and found it! We had actually had a look at it  and examined it close up, but I had not included the picture in the blog. So here are those pictures.
Oh I am so easily pleased!!! But I had tracked down that little niggle. Yes!

Wildlife on the Move

Well, I have been doing my video editing bit and come up with a couple of animal movies that woudl be good to record for posterity
'Nine Band Armadillo' is a short video of our sighting of armadillo.


"Raccoons" is a video about the very friendly raccon we met at Sam Houston Jones State Park, near Lake Charles, LA.

A Story Remembered

I must add a short addendum to our blog. Last night in talking round the campfire with our friends, I recalled an event and think that I should include it in our blog. Way back in October when we were staying in Chicot State Park, Sally decided that it was time to get her hair done, so on enquiring round she was given the name of a local hairdresser, about 10 minutes from the State Park. I dropped Sally off and having an hour and a half to amuse myself it went to a Flea Market (it called itself Antique, but it was a flea market) I had noticed on the way to the hairdresser. I had a lovely time there. It was an old barn completely full of junk, overflowing with junk in fact. The dear lady their invited me to dig around as I wanted and left me to it. There were old books, old record (even found an old Rolling Stones E.P.), cowboy hats, boots and shoes old video games (saw a really old ping pong game), however resisted the temptation for everything, except a nice ‘no parking’ sign, which I paid $2.00 for, mostly for the entertainment value of my time there.

As I was approaching the entrance to the shop a young man walked in, looked a bit of a scruff (but so do I) and was looking round - seemed a bit strange for someone his age to be in a flea market. So the three of us talked, he seemed quite pleasant, the woman kept offering items at silly prices, but it was a pleasant way to pass the time (I was still waiting for Sally) We sort of looked at some of the bits and pieces. As we were casting round the lad came across some sports equipment, a whole bag of soft balls and a variety of bats. So we looked at these, swinging the bats, to get the feel of them.

Then as the conversation proceeded.

I mentioned I was from the UK, he mentioned he was from round here.

I said I was retired, he said he was on parole!.

I said I was just looking to see if there was anything interesting. He said he was looking for a baseball bat. (Now at this point I could have got slightly alarmed).

That was because he was on parole he could not carry/own a gun.

“Right” I thought, checking where the exit was.

But no, there was no malice in his voice at all.

He was just your average local, country hoodlum making sure that he could defend himself. So we spent a good 10 minutes checking out every baseball bat, discussing the weight distribution, length and swing inertia, finally deciding on a fairly short bat, with a heavy end, which he paid $5.00 for. Having had a satisfactory conclusion to his shopping we went our separate ways, the best of friends. I went to pick Sally up and he went home feeling well defended.

Once again the phrase ‘Only In America’ rang loud in my mind.

National Wetlands Area

Since arriving in Lake Charles we had planned to tour the National Wetlands Area, which is to the south of the city, on the way to the coast. Well Today, Friday, was the day. We set off early and drove South. As we left the city behind we drove across a wide level plain, the cattle fields gave way to rice fields then marshes.

It was very, very flat and very,very big. We made several stops along the way, looking at the wetland birds, many heron and egret, lots of hawks and osprey.
Also we saw at least six alligators during our trip.
We headed south to the sea, then followed the sea shore for about 25 miles, crossing the Calcaseiu river by ferry, we watched dolphins doing somersaults out tf the water as we crossed. We stopped on the beach for lunch, it was deserted, you could see for about 10 miles in each direction and it was deserted. Just mile after mile of sand beach. This, we realised, was the first time we had been to the seaside on this trip!
By the way, we saw no oil on the beaches or in the salt marshes.
I get the feeling that the tales of pollution have been greatly exaggerated for the benefit of those claiming restitution. We actually drove the car on to the beach at Helen Beach, but were advised by notice that 'donuts, figure of eights and wheelies' were forbidden. The area was very desolate in places, in others there was all sorts of activity, shrimp boats, oil wells, several helicopter bases, to supply the oil rigs, dormitories. We then frove up the other side of the Calcaseiu River, which was really an estuary about 5 miles wide, through another wetland area. In all the wetlands here seem to be a coastal strip of land about 30 miles wide and following the coast for about 100 miles. it was a fascinating day, and surprisingly plenty to see. So we were quite weaqry by the time we got back to the trailer, so we built a nice campfire and had burgers for tea.

When The Wildlife Gets Friendly

Following our somewhat hectic 'Cajun Tour' we have slowed down a bit, taking more time to relax. Yesterday we went in search of a Cold Stone Ice Cream, but the shop was shut due to 'technical problems', so we settle for a Starbucks coffee and cup of Earl Grey Tea.
We are still seeing all sorts of wild life in the park. Last night we saw raccoons up close as they tried to empty our trash bin. I couldn't get a decent photo though, so we await a further visitation tonight. The park is just about empty now, although I am sure that more campers will arrive tonight and tomorrow for the weekend. I managed to take this picture of a pot bellied woodpecker

Sally went for a wander and took some good pics of a heron

and some turtles sunning themselves

Sally also took a good picture of the raccoon
.
As we are in relax mode we have had a campfire, while we sat round the fire, just watching the flames, who should come along but our friendly raccoon.

This time I managed to get some nice pics and some video.
It wandered up to us and sat around the campfire with us, then climbed a tree nearby and cleaned itself. Then came back down the tree and wandered off. Incidentally, in case you, like me, are wondering, a raccoon climbs down a tree forwards and makes it look easy.

Lake Charles

On Tuesday we took a ride into Lake Charles. After stopping at the Visitor Center, which was very nice, we took a self guided tour round the Charpentier Historical District. This is a district of houses which were built around the turn of the Twentieth Century. They glory in the the fact that they were not architect designed, but rather built from plans bought off the shelf, then modified by the carpenter builders of the time. There are lots of pretty houses, but nothing that you would want to have made a special journey for.
After this we were ready to eat, so we went to one of the recommended restaurants, called Shasha's. It was an OK meal, but I felt it was a little overpriced and undersized - are we getting use to the massive portions usually served do you think?
We finished off the day by getting the shopping in at a local Farmer's Basket, which is a big chain of supermarkets in this area.
In the evening we watched The Appalachians. This was the first of three programmes which we had bought when we visited The Carter Family Fold in April last year, when we were in Tennessee. Unfortunately it made us think thoughts about returning to the area, but it will probably not be for several years yet!

Lake Charles

Monday we left behind a nice State Park and a new friend. This week we have spent a bit of time with Camilla. We have done a bit of exploring together, shared some lovely meals, sat round a campfire together and even had a bit of a jam (she plays a pretty good violin). This left us a bit sad.
Now travelling West we made good time and found ourselves a nice spot at Sam Houston Jones State Park, right on the Western Border of Louisiana in time for lunch. We are now poised to travel into Texas. But first we want to explore a little bit around here.
The campground is split into two areas, we are in the smaller of the two. The sites are small and often very close together, however it is a pleasant enough campground, while it is empty. The facilities are good, with the newer style en suite arangement found at Chicot North Campsite. Four private rooms, each with a shower, toilet, basin and mirror.
Anyway we are now safely encamped in a nice little spot by a (now dry) swamp.
We have already had deer, squirrel and a pileated woodpecker come within 10 yards of the trailer. Sally has taken a number of really good pictures of some of them.

About Cajun Music

Having now firmly placed the Cajun Culture in our mental framework we moved on to ‘Mark Savoy’s (pronounced Savoy) Music Shop. Here he makes accordions for the Cajun musical elite. We had hoped to meet him, however he was away on business at the time, so we spoke to his wife.

Like many other colonising cultures, the Acadien’s brought their French music and dance with them. (it was cheap, didn’t need books and is an excellent way to help keep an extended family together and sane). Originally the instruments were home made and consisted of fiddle, iron triangle (le Tit Fer- you work it out), spoons and washboard. The accordione (I know nothing of the niceties of squeeze boxes) was introduced from Germany in the 1850’s (New Orleans was a big port). The standard German accordion was a small, diatonic (different note sucking and blowing), single row button accordion with 4 voices, with only two bass voices on the left hand. This provides music in a single key. C and G are the favourite, although many players will have several, often to suit their voice. I have seen/heard C# and D.

The characteristic Cajun Sound is created by an interplay of accordion rhythm and the rhythm provided by the rest of the band.

I classify Cajun music as being a music form which has come about to support dancing. Almost everywhere that Cajun Music is played you will find dancers. Most of the dancing seems to be couple based and much of it looks like it has come out of the huge explosion of dance forms that were created post world war I, with the advent of dance halls. Two step, waltz, lindy hop have all been taken, but modified to suit the driving rhythm of Cajun music.

What Cajuns Eat

Together with their own culture, history, food and habits, the Cajuns more or less disappeared into the swamplands of the Bayous,staying in the South and the Achafalaya areas of Louisiana, they are known as the Bayou Cajun. Many of them found their way through the swamp/bayou and settled the otherwise inaccessible prairie lands to the West of these swamps. They are know as Prairie Cajuns. They meet approximately at Lafayette. Although now good communications mean that they mix a lot more.

The clay soil meant that normal cereal crops would not grow, but would hold water, so rice became the main cereal crop.

So it is hardly surprising that most of the traditional dishes have rice in them. Jumbalaya is a rice dish (like risotto), Gumbo (a soup) has rice in it and Etouffe (thickened Roux sauce) is served on a bed of rice.

The Creole influence ensured the introduction of spicy flavours to all these specialities. The bayous and the rice paddies provided a place for crawfish to grow and then to be farmed (they ar a freshwater crustacaean), the Coastal Bayous provided giant shrimp.

The Cajuns on the bayou lived by trapping, fishing and hunting, so meat was often whatever they caught (possum, raccoon, deer,), along with their ‘annual hog’. The variety of meat, the ‘make do’ culture and spices ensured the popularity of meat by-products such as sausage (the local favourite is Boudin Sausage, pork or chicken (or ?), rice and spices). These spicy sausages also found their way into many of the local dishes, which often gives them their spicy flavour, such as Red Beans and Rice (the closest thing you will find to baked beans, without tomato), but also gumbo and jambalaya.

Where Cajuns Come From.

The Cultural Center hit it just right for us as it explained the origin and history of the Acadian – Acadjian- Cajun people. They actually arrived in Acadia from France in 1604, 16 years before the Pilgrim Fathers landed further south. In the 1750’s they were forcibly removed from the land, exiled and transported to other colonies by the British in a political move that looked very much like the clearing of the crofters in Scotland and similar actions in Ireland. The area was then renamed Novia Scotia (New Scotland) by the British. Several thousands fled, or otherwise made their way to the old French Colonies on the Gulf of Mexico and a community was set up in Louisiana, separate from the New Orleans French Colonialists. In 1790 the Slave revolt in Haitti meant that some 10,000 French/black refugees fled across the gulf to Louisiana and provided the Creole influence. So there were really three different French influences all jumbled in together in the bayou areas round the lower part of the Mississippi.

You Nice people of Eunice.

Thursday, the weather has returned to sunny skies, although the temperature has dropped to the sixties and thirties at night. It now feels like the crisp autumn days back home that tell us winter is around the corner. In this case high pressure build over The Rockies and forces a cold North wind to sweep down from Canada and the Great Lakes across the Mississippi plains, right down to the Gulf of Mexico (where we are).

As it was a nice sunny day we decided to return to Eunice to see the things missed on Saturday. As we drove down we took a couple of pictures of the extensive rice fields we drove through. Many of them were still flooded for the rice in them, others were dry and bare, but with the little levees between the fields.

In Eunice we visited the Jean Lafitte Acadian Plains Cultural Center, which is a National Park. It is one of six locations which make up the park, some of them are just buildings, like this one, others are land areas which reflect the geography. There is a big bayou park near Westwego, where we camped, outside of New Orleans. There is also a park at the site of the battle between the English and Americans, which is the story of the song made so famous by Lonnie Donnegan, (UK) and Mac Wiseman (USA), The Battle of New Orleans. This battle was fought as part of the little known war between the Americans and the British in 1812-1815, where the English 10,000 troops came second to General Andy (later to be President) Jacksons 1500 assortment army, mostly militia men. It also included the famous Pirate Jean Laffite, who is a big name round Louisiana, hence the name of the National Park.

We Visit Washington

Almost every state has a Washington, either town or county named after their first president.
Louisiana is no different. We had heard that it was a quaint old town which still had a number of old houses, so we decided to give it a visit. Camilla said she would like to come along as well.
Washington has the strange characteristic of being a port almost 100 miles from the sea and its bayou is quite narrow (it's too small to call a river). It is now a small town with only a single stoplight. However it has a small museum, some very nice houses and a plantation house (Magnolia Ridge). We toured the museum and spoke to a couple of very nice guides. They told us quite a bit about cotton and rice growing.
We then understood the significance of Washington. It is the only high ground that is reachable by river on the west side of the Achafalaya Swamp area, and although the bayou is quite small it meant that it was the only way that people on the West Prairies could get their cotton and rice out and goods in, So until the arrival of the train in 1830's if was a very important port. Steam paddle boats would come in during the winter, when the bayou was at it's highest, and take away the goods.

We then toured the little town, looking at all of the very old houses. Most interesting of all was the Magnolia Ridge Plantation. It was very well preserved and had beautiful grounds, although we could not go into the the house as it is still a private dwelling place. However as we walked round we met a very nice couple who are the caretakers. They were very friendly and we stood and talked to them for about an hour.
We ended up with them giving us a big bag of Pecan Nuts to take back to the trailer (this is big Pecan country, and this is the time to gather them). We then went and ate at the very posh Washington Steamboat Warehouse, which is a converted steamboat warehouse in Washington. We had a very nice, if slightly pricey, meal, Sally had Srimp Betsy (like a soup), I had Crawfish Etouffe and Camila had seafood Surprise (a pasta with a creamy seafood sauce).

Opelousas and the Great Yambilee Festival

We returned from Eunice too late on Saturday to catch any of the Halloween Fun (oh yes, don’t let the wrong night get in the way of a good Saturday night). On Sunday we had considered going to Opelousas because they were celebrating their most celebrated item – the Yam, not to be confused with the Sweet Potato (because I am). Yes it was The Yambalee Festival in Old Opelousas. It had been going since Wednesday, so today was the last day and the day of The Great Parade.

So we set out at about lunch time, found our way to Opelousas, got out the lawn chairs and joined the throng on Main Street, just in time for The Great Parade to come past.

The Great Parade was made up of the police, bikes and cars. Two high school marching bands, a couple of dance schools and then an assortment of company cars, a couple of floats and, and, for some reason I cannot explain…… The politicians who were running for Congress, The Senate, The State Governor and The Opelousas City Mayor. Why, because Tuesday is VOTIN’ DAY, not for the president, but for almost everyone else. And they was out in force. They all came past with their campaign slogans, and music and shaking hands with folk and kissing babies, and throwing out sweets and garlands and shaking hands with babies and kissing folk and asking for their vote.

Well, because I like to be loved, as they came past I told each one of them I thought they were the right man (though one of them was a woman) for the job and I would vote for them (then quietly to myself I had to say, well I would if I could, but I is British, so I can’t). Still it made for a great parade.

When the parade had gone past we picked up our lawn chairs jumped back in the van and went on down to the funfair and met Miss Yambilee 2010 and some crazy woman dressed in a Whoopie Cushion! (Only in America)

We then came home via Wal-Mart. We tried to find somewhere to eat out, but there was nowhere that was suitable, so we came home and I cooked Chicken and Rice with Gravy (which my friend Kathy had taught me to cook last week).

Just as a footnote, while at Chicot Park we have made friends with a full timer called Camilla, she comes from Oregon. She is very sweet and so we invited her to join us on our trip to The Great Yambilee Festival Parade and we all had fun together.

Saturday Night in Eunice

Saturday. Well after the excitement of Fred's Lounge this morning (we really pushed the boat out by going to Fred's Lounge) this afternoon we determined to go a bit further south and go to Eunice. ( Sally's mother was called Eunice , so it's a bit strange to find a town of that name!!) Eunice has a very nice Art Deco Historic District, consisting mostly of its Main Street. It has several stores and The Liberty Theater, which first opened in 1924. Now every Saturday it is used as the venue for a Cajun Music Concert, "Rendez-vous des Cajuns," which is broadcast live on a local radio station, Radio KVRS and is available on the Internet as a TV broadcast.

You have to turn up at 4.00 to buy your ticket ($5.00), though the show does not start until 6.00. Inside you will find a number of volunteers/audience old timers who will tell you almost anything about Eunice, The Liberty Theater, Cajun music, the local area. Using their expertise we asked for a good place to eat before the show. That would be 'Ronnies' - pile it high and sell it cheap. Sounded good to us. True to their description we had a great Cup of Gumbo followed by beef tips on rice, with Purple Hull Peas (like a red bean stew, no sausage though), corn or green beans and two drinks set us back $20.00. We couldn't eat it all!!

On returning to our seats the the Liberty Theater, we watched a great concert of two Cajun groups, both with young accordionists. Cameron Dupuy of The Cajun Troubadours is only thirteen years old.

The show was introduced by Barry Jean Anclet, in crazy 50/50 Cajun French/English. It sounds French, but has an awful lot of English words that get ejected from the Gallic flow of talk. All the vocals/song names were in French. As the bands played so couples got up and danced round the small space between the the very uncomfortable old cinema seating and the stage.

It was another great night of Americana. An event that is unique to Eunice, Louisiana and its Cajun Heritage. For us it had echoes of the Carter Family Fold. It was a gathering as much as a performance. An event that required the positive participation of everyone. It was a great evening which we enjoyed immensely.

Deep Down In Louisiana

"Deep down Louisiana close to New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode"
We are in Louisiana! What did we come for? We came for the Music!
What Music did we come for? C-A-J-U-N.
Well we are as deep in Louisiana as you can get. We been through the swamp and we been through the fields and now we hit the heartland, the capital of Cajun Music.
Its 10.30 on a Saturday morning, but the music has been playing since 9.00.
We are in a town called Mamou. We are in a bar called Fred's Lounge. Its been here since 1946 and it is a room, some chairs a bar and a band plus about 100 people who are having fun. They are here to listen to the band and talk and drink and DANCE.
Sally and I entered by the back door and were warmly greeted by a man in a check shirt - you would have thought we were old friends, or cousins. The only problem was we couldn't hear him because the roof was being lifted by the band (no I do not know what they are called). We squeezed past some dancers and I found Sally a chair and we sat for a bit tapping to the great rhythms. 3 or 4 people came up to us and started talking as they passed us. One woman was from Lafayette, who had moved to north of New Orleans and then come back. She was the daughter of the the original co-owner of the bar (not Fred, the other one).

Tante (aunty) Sue came round,wearing a pink Fred's Lounge T-shirt and talked. Now she owned the place, but insisted on swigging what I think was whisky from a small hip flask sized bottle, and offering it to everyone else around, She confided in me that she was 79. I later learned that she sells the stuff, but every bottle you buy she opens and takes a swig from (no I don't know why, apart from the obvious, that she likes to drink). But she was most generous and welcoming. Tante Sue later came tound offering pieces of free boudin to everyone. What is a boudin? - well, it's a fat sausage served hot which tastes like a cross between haggis and spicy (chilli hot) sausage. Very different. A couple of girls then told me that they lived about an hour away and came there quite often. A total stranger came along and left her camera with Sally to look after and then started chatting away. I told her she need not worry as I pointed to to at least four other cameras that had been put on the table as other people had gone on to the dance floor.

When I eventually made it to the bar, a tall woman just said 'Irish', to no one in particular. After that I found out that she had three kids, an ex husband, came from Mamou, moved up to Lake Erie and had now moved back down and was I ready to move on to the next bar. Being polite, I said I thought that was a great idea and pointed out that Sally was waiting for her drink. She wished me well and sent her regards to Sally. Meanwhile the music just kept beating out. Conversations only happened between numbers. During numbers people talking looked a bit like vampires (bit of an allusion to Halloween I suppose), as you had to get right up to the ear of the person you were talking to,and repeat it twice to be heard above the band. The room was probably about 20x30 ft. The drummer played loudly, the band was amplified to match the drums. Oh it was loud, but above all the Cajun rhythm just drove through everything, you couldn't help but bounce along to it. I couldn't resist buying a couple of T-Shirts, with their message from the management written on the back 'Please do not stand on the tables, chairs, booths, cigarette machines and the jukebox.' By about 1.30 we had had enough and left by the same back door, saying goodbyes to the people we had met. Well, actually it was 'au revoir' and 'excuse moi s'il vous plais', because all these pleasantries were conducted in French.
As we left a trolley arrived and a large number of people fell off the bus, some in bizarre and gaudy outfits, carrying glasses. What was this - a party? a wedding? No, merely a Boudin Tour. Yes I know I can hear your ask. OK, they were really part of a Mardi Gras Krewe from Lafayette! They thought it was about time they got started celebrating Mardi Gras (yes, next April). So they had set off with their Xanadu King and Xanadu Queen and a large number of their Krewe, who are and all girl Krewe, in order to ........ well I' not quite sure what! Just have a party on a bus and Fred's Lounge was on their agenda. So they went in (after a lot of fun on the grass outside) as we came out.
After this we returned to the sanity of our trailer. We are now having a rest, because tonight it is Cajun Music Part 2 '. We are off to the Liberty Theatre in Eunice hopefully to go to a live radio broadcast. We Will tell you more later.


.

Rain Dear

Wednesday, the weather took a turn for the worse this week, with showers, which dropped about 4 inches of rain in a couple of days. We have not ventured far, using the weather to enable us to build our energy reserves. However, in staying in the park we have been able to see a little more of the wild life. The deer seem to like to graze on the grass at the side of the park roads, so we are always seeing startled deer as we drive round the park.

Deep in the woods

Thursday - With Sally slowly improving, but not well enough to go out, we have been looking in more detail at the wild life around us.
So far it seems that there are a lot of amardillos, like this one.
I saw a small group of Cotton Tail deer from the car.
We had a visit from a couple of raccoons last night, they were busy investigating some petrol cans I had left out at the front of the trailer, we could hear them moving around in the dark.
Yesterday while we were having coffee our on our patio we were fortunate enough to see a Pileated Woodpecker close up. This is the largest woodpecker, apart from the very rare Ivory Billed Woodpecker, which is now only found in one part of Sout East Florida. It is also the one which modeled for the famous (amongst oldies) Woody Woodpecker. It has a very loud drum which really does sound like a pneumatic drill. It is between 12" and 15" long.

Chill Down

Wednesday, we are now well settled at Chicot State Park in Louisiana and it is very pleasant, it is 6500 acres of forest surrounding a huge lake.
The lake level is low at the moment, so lots of old cypress tree stumps are exposed. I took a walk down there this morning, dozens of large herons of all sorts, I heard an alligator belch somewhere, lots of mosquitos (but the good old 'Go Juice' took care of them).
I have a photo here of a large white heron, with an enormous, but dead, Cypress tree in the background, if you look very carefully there is a very large turtle sunning itself on a little saandbank. I have put in a close up of them.

It is very beautiful and very quiet and peaceful. One downside at the moment is that Sally is not feeling too well, so it is a good job we are taking a fairly long rest here.

Chicot State Park

Monday - We have moved 50 miles north to Ville Platte and the Chicot State Park. It is a large (270 sites) RV park on a lake, however the lake levels are very low at this time. We have a nice site in the middle of the forest and we can see one other site about 30 yards away. This site feels very secure, with State Park Rangers on the entrance to the park about a mile down the road, a camp host parked at the entrance to the RV site, locked gates at night (you get a combination number) and rangers patrolling. This site is costing us $20 p.n. (£14). So we have booked to stay a week as we think it is time for a holiday and this looks like a nice place for us to relax, do very little and recharge the batteries. (metaphorically)
This will give our mail a chance to catch up with us, which includes a part for the trailer and an extra cupboard (cabinet) door for our bedroom area. As our phone has blue tooth I have also bought some blue tooth stuff for the laptop, so that we can download pictures directly, and also be able to use the voice controls for our GPS. We will see if this all works or not.

Moving On - Lafayette

Sunday - Well we have had a good look at Baton Rouge and are ready to move on. We are going to travel about 50 miles along I10 to Lafayette. This is moving us closer to the centre of Cajun music. Unfortunately most campgrounds are more expensive here - from $35-45 (£24-30) per night, except for the local City Park which has a RV park in it. It is called Acadian City Park. However having arrived there, we are not happy with the area, which looks run down, or the state of the campground, which is run down and not clean (bottles, and trash lying around the campsites). Worst of all the security looks non existent with no locked gate at night or security staff, for the first time leaving us feeling quite unsafe. Admittedly it is only $13 p.n., but you expect to feel safe in a park at any price
We ventured out to a Golden Corral for an All You Can Eat buffet meal and decided that we would move up country to Chicot State Park, although 50 miles north it is actually closer to Mamou, which is claimed to be the birthplace and centre of Cajun music (we have yet to explore this theory, but we are on the case).
We will return to Lafayette for the Black Pot Festival this weekend and also to visit an accordian shop where they make accordians (or at least modify them to be used for Cajun Music) and you can tour their factory to find out more.