We pulled into Bayou Segnette while it was still light. It was only a 30 minute drive over the huge bridge that connects New Orleans to the West Bank.
 |
| The drive over to the West Bank |
Bayou Segnette was such a wonderful park! There were so many activities that you could do such as rent a boat and go for a ride in the neighboring bayou, go to the water park that was located in the park, or have a picnic in their designated area. Not to mention the actual campground was just amazing! Each space came equipped with water and electric hook-ups and they were all really spaced out! Some of them even had little wood patios connected to them. For the first week, we stayed at a nice spot, but later we moved to the best spot in the whole campground. This one was the best because it was an end campsite and it was surrounded by tall trees….. in other words, total privacy! You could stay at the park for 14 days at time and they provided us with free wifi AND laundry machines!!! And the best part was that it was at a whopping price of 16 bucks a night!!!
 |
| Sunset at Bayou Segnette |
 |
| Our first campsite |
 |
| Nice sunny day |
This would be our first time staying in a state park since leaving California and we were definitely going to take advantage of it! Our previous experience in state parks are that most of them don’t have RV hook-ups and they will charge you an arm-and-leg to stay. When we camped at the Carlsbad State Park, it was 62 dollars a night for us to stay there. (I’m not that I’m saying it wasn’t worth it ! Jeff still claims that Carlsbad had the best view of all the parks we’ve stayed at!)
 |
| Cheeeese!! |
 |
The Festy is a chick cop magnet |
 |
| Another sunny outside day |
On our first night on the Westbank, we ran out of Jeff’s favorite beer, Sierra Nevada. Since the store was only a 5 minute drive, I volunteered to go so I could do some light grocery shopping and get the beer. Now keep in mind this is one of the first times that I felt confident enough to drive the (stick shift!!) Festiva all by my lonesome. When we had first decided to get a tow vehicle that was a manual transmission, Jeff asked me if I knew how to drive stick. I said yes, which was true because I had driven stick before, but I wasn’t driving stick regularly. I knew the very basics which is really what one needs to (initially) know before driving it. Anyway, after a couple of time driving the Festiva around, I was finally confident enough to drive on my own to the store ( I would have to learn sometime right!)
I made it to the store, Piggly Wiggly, but they didn’t have Jeff’s beer. So, being the nice lady I am, I drove across the street to the Walgreens because surely they MUST have Sierra Nevada. Nope. By this time, a tiny sprinkle had started so I decided to just get him whatever was closest (which turned out to be a six pack of Abita brew) and get back to the RV. After all I really didn’t want to be a novice stick shift driver in the rain. When I got out of Walgreens, it started to come down a little harder. I noticed I was extremely low on gas so I needed to hit the gas station across the street before heading back. When I got to the gas station, seriously, it was as if a hurricane had come through!!! I stepped outside to put the card in the machine and put the pump in the tank and was literally SOAKED to the bone all in a matter of 2-4 minutes!!!! It looked like I had jumped in a pool. Not to mention there were howling whipping winds that made the rain look like it was coming down at almost horizontal to the roads. Let’s just say I was a little scared at this point.
After a couple frantic calls to Jeff and a few bangs of the head on the steering wheel, I finally mustered up enough balls to go for it. I mean it was maybe a mile or two to the coach. Well…. I MADE IT home alive!! Lets just say that after that drive, I was no longer afraid to drive stick by myself. If I could have survived that storm, I would for sure be able to make mini drives to the store (sans rainstorms of course).
Louisiana weather is a real trip. One morning, I woke up to see frost covering the ground and the Festiva since temperatures had dipped below 30 in the night. Some days were sunny, crisp and chilly. Other days were rainy and gloomy. On occasion we had sunny days that were up to 70. Those were our favorite because warm temps always prompted us to play outdoors.
 |
| Frosty morning |
 |
| Sunny activities |
 |
| Papa teaching Cedo how to juggle |
 |
| Yoga moves |
 |
| Pretty Gia |
The night before we left Bayou Segnette, Larry’s lady Monique and I decided to do a haunted night tour of the French Quarter while the Jeff, Larry and Cedar had a guy’s night in the coach (a.k.a pizza and beer). Monique took us to her favorite restaurant on the West Bank called Nine Roses. It was a Vietnamese restaurant (always down for that!) and I ordered the Bun Xeo Thay or Vegetarian Crepe. I always make this at home for Jeff so I like to sample other restaurants Bun Xeos to get some tips on improving.
After dinner, we headed towards the French Quarter. It was a chilly foggy night (perfect for a haunted tour)! Before we started our tour, we went to grab a couple of beers at pub down the street. New Orleans is unique because unlike most cities in the United States, you can walk down the street with an open container. You could even take drinks with you in a “Go cup”, if you don’t finish them at dinner. One rule is that you can’t have glass on the street (Understandable… drunks + glass = no bueno).
 |
| Weird how there are sooo many orbs... spooky |
 |
| Our haunted guide |
The tour was really fun! We learned lots of interesting facts about the city. We also absorbed a lot of morbid facts as well. As stated before, New Orleans is one of the most haunted places in the world. Way back in the day when air conditioners and plumbing didn’t exist, people used to dump their waste in the street. Now this wasn’t a nicely paved road, but dirt roads that mazed through the French Quarter. During the summers (yes, even back then), it was excruciatingly hot and humid. For people where the circumstances aren’t the most hygienic and there is no escape from this gruesome heat, it was obviously that some people went mad.
 |
| A haunted hotel called the Jackson Hotel |
 |
| A haunted bar... it was hard to get good photos due to all these orbs catching the flash.. |
 |
| The Lalaurie Mansion |
A story that stands out from the tour is the story of Madame Lalaurie. This noble lady lived in the largest mansion in the French Quarter with her doctor husband and entourage of slaves. She was known for throwing the most lavish parties in all the Quarter. One night, her slave cook intentionally set a large kitchen fire that brought the Lalauries to the public’s attention. While firefighters and neighbors were trying to salvage valuables and slaves out of the house, they came across the Madame’s torture chamber, where she performed all sorts of sordid experiments on her slaves such as sex changes, breaking a slave girl’s legs and arms so that she resembled a human crab, sewing a slave’s mouth and eyes shut to name a few. Villagers were so disgusted that the Lalauries had to flee the city and their home and were rumored to have traveled and lived to end of their days in Paris. However no one really knows what happened to the family. After the Lalauries fled their mansion, there were reports of bloodcurdling screams heard when people walked by the house, but no residents were in the home! After being empty for years, the Lalaurie Mansion switched hands numerous times and was changed into many businesses. Each business was shut down after only a couple years due to intense hauntings. Years later, an investor would completely renovate the mansion and transform it into little apartments. This would take tearing up old floor boards and other demolitions. What the contractors found after pulling up the old floor boards were over a hundred bones of slaves that had been buried alive by the Madame!! The screams heard in the past were not the haunted cries of ghosts but the human screams of slaves! We also learned very recently this famed mansion was bought (and soon lost) by the actor Nic Cage.
After our haunted tour of the French Quarter, we decided to get a couple of beers before we headed home. (I mean after all I had a hall pass right?!)
The next day, we left Bayou Segnette and moved across Lake Pontchantrain to the Fountainbleau State Park. The bridge that serves as a gateway across the massive lake is the second longest in the world! It is a whopping 23.87 miles long!!
When you get across the bridge, the Northshore shows much more of a country vibe than it’s southern relative.
Fontainebleu State park is just as amazing than Bayou Segnette. The individual campsites aren’t as nice, but the park is known for it’s many attractions.
 |
| Massive trees at Fontainebleu State Park |
 |
| Cedar having fun |
 |
| A hike through the park.... |
 |
| Dead live oak with a family of owls living in it... |
 |
| Mama owl and her babies |
 |
| Can you see her checking us out? |
 |
| Trails |
 |
| Alligator sightings at this little dock |
 |
| Family photo |
 |
| Beautiful plains |
 |
| The lake in the far distance |
 |
| Sunset drive through the park |
There is a beach for tanning by the lake, a nature center, many different trails, alligator sighting areas, and their famed owls.
 |
| nature |
 |
| Another cool drive through the park |
 |
| A view from our campsite |
 |
| What is that?! (just kidding it's a deer) |
I thought it would be cool to display some random pictures of everyday life in the coach... :)
 |
| Most delicious sandwich bread you'll ever eat!!!!! |
 |
| Homemade peanut butter... our new company.. Stoney Roads nut butters |
 |
| I got an inkling for some homemade Tortilla soup... yum... |
 |
| "Mama.. don't bother me.... I'm on my Ipad" |
 |
| I love C's PJs... |
 |
| I had to put this in.. Natto... mmmmmmmmm... It took me forever to find!! But at last I have you once more!!! |
 |
| Homemade corn tortillas.. |
 |
| Cedars lunch |
 |
| Natto handroll and edamame shumai.... yeah this is my lunch |
 |
| Our new collection of LA hot sauces and beer... |
We still managed to make it back across to the city.
I was lucky enough to have Jeff watch Cedar while I did some yoga classes. I went to the Yoga Room for some awesome vinyasa/Ashtangha mixed yoga and Swan River Yoga for some Aerial Yoga which I’ve been dying to try.
 |
| The yoga room |
 |
| Yogis gathering... |
 |
| "Did you take the picture?!" |
 |
| Eka Pada Rajakapotasana..upside down |
 |
| The studio at Swan River Yoga |
Aerial yoga is a type of yoga that claims to give you a deeper stretch because you are mostly elevated off the ground. You are aided by the help of long soft silks that hang from the ceiling. Think Cirque du Soleil meets yoga. It’s pretty awesome! I LOVED it! Thinking of getting certified to teach one day!
Before we left for Florida, we (a.k.a. I) wanted to do a touristy drive to Abita Springs. Abita Springs is famous for its springs (duh!) and the brewery that creates Abita beer.
 |
| The drive to Abita Springs |
 |
| The town square... |
 |
| Abita pub where they brew Louisiana's famed Abita Beer |
 |
| Inside the pub...love the eclectic kitchenware |
 |
| Cedar... I want some forrrrrkk!! |
 |
| A well oiled machine... |
We went to the UCM museum that is famous in Abita Springs. U(you)C(see)M(em) Museum is a collection of weird nick nacks that is sort of worth the 8 bucks you pay to see them.
 |
| The $8-entry-fee Mystery house aka UCM museum |
 |
| Just a whole lotta stuff to see... |
 |
| Old skool video games.. |
 |
| Odd displays... |
 |
| more old video games... |
 |
| Cedar really like this popsicle contraption... |
 |
| The owners were really into this weird graphing.... |
 |
| The highlight of the tour... |
 |
| Hundreds of HOT SAUCES!!! yummm.. |
 |
| The owner claims to have caught this years ago...... what do you think? |
 |
| Now.. if you google Alligator Gar.. there is such a fish with the snout of an alligator.. but this one is massive.. I can't tell if it's real or not... |
Louisiana was an awesome experience and I can’t wait to go back! I was bummed because just as we were leaving, the Mardi Gras season was just starting to blossom. Since we’ve got the coach maybe next year, we would make the trip out to see Larry and Monique for the 2012 Mardi Gras season!!
 |
| Lake Pontchartrain |
 |
| Driving back to NOLA before the drive to Florida |
 |
| Meeting Larry at the Super Dome for our final goodbyes! |
 |
| Da boyz |
 |
| Da Fam |
 |
| Larry and Jeff Surfside |
 |
| Cedar being a cutie |
 |
| and last but not least... G!!! |
