Feb 11, 2013 - Goodbye Joe, We gotta go

A gloomy morning after a night of thunder, lightning and rain so we decided to spend the day driving and scratched our plans to visit Houston. The tourist guide did not make Houston sound too great but we decided to head north towards Texas City and around the shipping area so if a star suddenly gleamed over Houston we could deke in. The only gleaming we saw was from gas plants burning off something (?) and mile after mile of industry and container ports - not a pretty place to call home. We did stop in at Kemah as Donna’s research had said...

Oct 28, 2012 - Betty's RV Park - Abbeville, LA 2012

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Betty's RV Park is a destination park for hospitality and camaraderie. If you like people, pot lucks, social hours and keeping busy with music, art and fun this is the place. Besides Champagne's Swamp Tour, we visited Rip Van Winkles Gardens. We went on this outing with our friends Suzanne & Brad (Brad's Blind Repair) and new friends, Karen & Michael. Karen & Michael have been full timing just 7 weeks! The house tour was great! Our docent was very well informed and had a great sense of humor. The gardens...

Nov 17, 2011 - Moved to Betty's RV Park

A cold front moved through during the night and the 85 degree weather we had yesterday was long gone. When we awoke this morning, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing and the temperatures were forecast to climb only into the low 60’s. Quite a difference! Bob & I drove our trucks to the nearest filling station and fueled up for our journey today. We left the park at 8:55 AM and drove the first 45 minutes in fairly heavy traffic, before it thinned out. I wish I could say that the roads were smooth today but they were pretty rough. It...

Oct 20, 2011 - Abbeville, Louisiana

We left Slidell on Wednesday morning around 9:30 and since we only had about 170 miles to drive to Abbeville, we had a nice, easy move. Our trusty GPS, "Fergie," guided us to Betty's RV Park with no problem and by 1:30 we were all backed in and set up, ready for some lunch and relaxation. Betty's RV Park is all we had anticipated and much more. The park itself is quite small and there isn't all that much room between rigs, but everyone is super friendly and Betty is simply awesome. At 4:30 every afternoon, Betty hosts Happy Hour on her...

Apr 22, 2011 - Abbeville, LA (Cajun Country!)

2011 April 22, Abbeville, LA The trip to Abbeville, LA, was a last minute diversion initiated by the discovery we had RV friends (from Virginia) camped not far off our route to New Orleans. Located just south of Lafayette, Abbeville would suit us nicely and affect our schedule not in the least. After all, hooking up with friends on the road is one of the best parts of RV’ing! We cruised into Abbeville RV Park early Friday afternoon and set up camp in an exceptionally pretty location. The entire park is surrounded by woods with a fine...

Mar 11, 2011 - in a strange land

Sometimes we’re not so sure we’re still in the US. We often don’t understand what is right in front of our eyes. After buying a ten pound bag of pecan rice from the local mill, a favorite after last year’s visit, we headed to a highly recommended local eatery. We had also been there last year and still almost drove by the place. This ramshackle building had no windows and a sign so sun faded you almost couldn’t read it. But once inside, we could hardly find a place to sit. The delicious crawfish basket reminded us why. These Cajans sure...

Mar 10, 2011 - in the bayou

A short drive from Betty's jam packed RV park is Palmetto Island State Park, a facility so new it is not on my map or the GPS. The campground there is the exact opposite of Betty's. The sites are spacious and widely spaced and hardly anyone was camped there. It would be a great place to have a tranquil encounter with nature from a canoe. Although most of the ground there looked solid, it was easy to spot standing water and cypress trees. These fascinating plants send "knees" up from their roots above the surface of the water, purportedly to...

Mar 9, 2011 - into the calm

The Mardi Gras rally was over, but we considered staying on one more day to decompress along with some of our fellow participants. But our site was taken and if you are going to pack up to move to another site, you might as well pack up and move. Strong winds and hard rain passed through the area, have delayed long enough for most Mardi Gras activities to be finished. There is something disconcerting about sitting next to a levee a few feet below sea level as the rain pours. As we waited for thunderstorms and winds to pass, we went to the...

Feb 4, 2011 - More LA and More Cajun

Like others before us we extended our stay at Betty's RV Park. We didn't realize just how much there is to see and do in the area. We thought a couple of extra days would do it...not. We have to go back again for another stay, there are more things to see and restaurants to try. A walking tour of Vermilion Ville came highly recommended and it was worth every minute. Vermilion Ville is a Cajun/Creole Heritage and Folk Life Park. It is situated on the Bayou Vermilion and is comprised of a dozen buildings; some are original buildings that have...

Jan 17, 2011 - Loving that Cajun Country

The newly retired and foot loose and fancy free Bennett's left Texas on the 14th of January in the company of our crazy Aussie friends, Paula & Norm. I should say the crazy Norm and the sane and sophisticated Paula! We met them at Escapade last year in Goshen and reconnected with them here at Rainbow's End. Our plan was to head west and their plan was to head east to Louisiana. After sharing what Rick knew about New Orleans and what they were wanting to see they invited us to travel along with them. Who could resist? We knew it would mean...

Nov 8, 2010 - Mixed Feelings Today

Many different thoughts wandered through my mind today. This date, November 8th, is my brother’s birthday. Bill would have been 69 years old. Sadly, he will be 63 forever. He called me when he was told that he had cancer. He admitted to me that he was scared and said that 63 was too young to die. I agreed and we shed a few tears together over the phone. Bill was determined to fight the illness. He fought the good fight for some time and lost the battle just a couple of weeks before we were to leave for a cruise to celebrate the anniversary...

Sep 30, 2010 - Final day at Betty's.

Wow time sure has flown here at Betty’s!! We leave here tomorrow. Being that we want to spend as much fun time (going and doing) with our friends when they arrive, we had to do all the dreaded housework and get caught up on the chores and errands these past couple of days, including taking all the bed linens and towels to the Laundromat, that sure doesn’t rate very high on our list of fun excursions ☺ After the Laundromat was the car wash and finally the post office – how many more boring chores do I have to squeeze into today??? After...