Heading West

March-We continued our trip west by heading to Lafayette, La. We decided to bypass New Orleans since we had been there before and we knew it would be a lot of traffic etc. On the road we are trying to avoid interstates and high traffic areas-so far we have done pretty well. However, we did take I -10 into Lafayette over the Pontchartrain Bridge over miles of bayous-I am sure there were lots of alligators and snakes out there. Arrived in Lafayette late afternoon and found a city campsite downtown Lafayette with lots of trees, hiking/bike paths. Next day headed to Avery Island-home of the famous McIlhenny tabasco sauce. We toured the factory-very interesting salt mines on the island and same family still owns production and the island. We sampled jalapeno ice cream and tabasco coke. Ed McIlhenny developed a bird sanctuary and a huge garden on the island. You can either walk or drive through the sanctuary and gardens. We walked and it took us about 3-4 hours to see everything-beautiful live oaks (one 300 years old), camellias, azaleas, holly, and the biggest tea olives I have ever seen-a must to visit. Of course , we had to buy some cajun food for dinner. Found a cajun market which had been in business for 30 years. Boudin and cracklin were their speciality-it was delicious. Next morning decided it was time to head to Texas!! On the way to Beaumont, Texas while still in La. we passed through Rayne-frog capitol of the world, Crowley-rice capital of the US. When we entered Texas we stopped at welcome center. Our first impression of Texas was not a great one.Sandy and I had decided we probably would not spend too much time in this state. Boy, how things can change!
Chelsea-I really loved going to Avery Island because I got to walk the entire gardens with Carolyn and Sandy and also got to swim a little in the waterway. However, the only scary time was when we were walking around a pond and I almost stepped on a 6 ft alligator. I was disappointed that I was not allowed to chase all those birds in the sanctuary-that would have been a blast. Also, I have to admit-I did get pretty tired of all that walking. It is a good thing I got a treat and dinner when I got back to the  rv or I would not have been "a happy camper".