NOTE: Sharon pens today’s blog… and we are both glad that Window’s Live Writer works once again!
It is always hard to leave Betty and our friends in Abbeville but after hugs and goodbyes we made our way just 30 miles northeast to Pioneer Acadian Campground in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. The park is right off of highway10 so there is a bit of traffic noise but we have a large shaded sites as well as a nice clubhouse with laundry, showers, a TV room and a book swap library.
However, when we arrived to our site the previous occupants were only beginning to pack up to depart. I asked if they were indeed leaving and they said yes so we thought it surely wouldn’t take too long since we arrived 15 minutes prior to the noon checkout time. Wrong! They stayed way beyond checkout (an hour) so we had to sit in a turnaround area to wait, pretty inconsiderate folks! The park manager came by to hurry them along but they still moved incredibly slowly. To make things worse, they FINALLY left just as storms rolled in so we had to set up in the rain. Sigh…
The next morning we did our language lessons on a fun app John found called Duolingo. I am learning French and John is studying Spanish. After that, while I did my morning exercise routine, John planned our afternoon outing. After having lunch we drove to North Lafayette where John found us a hike at Acadiana Park Nature Station. This is a very nice park and campground with a small nature center housing some interesting exhibits. RV’s could stay here for $20 per night but would have to be on the smaller size. It was funny to see most of the pads all covered in moss…
The trails are a series of boardwalk and foot paths that take you along the bayou. We very much enjoyed our walk pausing to watch a couple of raccoons raiding the bird feeders by the nature center. Although it was a bright sunny day the footpaths were soggy from the soaking rains the day before. We sloshed through anyway determined to enjoy our opportunity to hike on such a pretty day. We hiked a little less than 2 miles and would have explored more of the park had we remembered insect repellent. The mosquitos were relentless…
After the hike we made our way across town to St John’s Cathedral. I read this was a beautiful church and grounds featuring one of the oldest and largest live oak trees in the U.S. The cathedral was spectacular and the landscaping was impeccable. We walked all the way around the cathedral to admire it from all sides. Some other tourists pointed out a side door that was open so that we could peek inside. The organist was practicing on a huge pipe organ so we had a very special experience inside admiring not only the beauty of the architecture, but the powerful music as well.
We strolled through the impressive St John’s Cemetery behind the church where we saw the grave of a Confederate General. It is definitely a beautiful place to rest in peace. The Cathedral Live Oak is located to the right side of the Cathedral protected by iron fencing and is indeed quite majestic. We walked all around it to admire the wide twisting trunk massive branches. There was a sign saying that tree specialists have estimated one such branch is 72 tons and the circumference was over 28 feet! So glad were we that we made this a stop.
While in Breaux Bridge we plan to take a downtown historical walk (thanks to a map given to us by the park owner), visit a large flea market (also recommended by the park owner), visit two breweries nearby and explore Opelousas. Somehow I need to fit in a haircut at the Aveda School but with sunshine in the forecast it will be hard to not be outside since we have seen so much rain the past two months. It looks like the rain events have finally calmed. Our thoughts are still with those back home in Texas dealing with the aftermath of the severe flooding…
Beautiful photos of a beautiful church with a bonus of organ music!!!
ReplyDeleteWe have only run into late leavers once in the last year. They acted as if we were in the wrong when we asked them if they were leaving an hour or so after check out time. If we get to a park early, as is often the case, we make sureour space is empty before approaching. We have cooled our tires in the parking lot a few times, but we do expect other campers to be out on time unless there is an emergency or they have requested a late departure.
ReplyDeleteCatherine has been using Duolingo for a while. She is working on Spanish.
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