Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

We have learned that the little town of Breaux Bridge, LA has a rich cajun history. It is known as the "la capitale Mondiale de l'ecrevisse" (Crawfish Capitol of the World)!

Back in 1771, Acadian pioneer Firmin Breaux began buying the land from which the present day city of Breaux Bridge would evolve. He purchased the land from Jean Francois Ledee, a wealthy New Orleans merchant who had acquired the land as a French land grant. By 1774, Breaux's branding iron was registered and by 1786 he was one of the largest property owners in Teche country.

In 1799 Breaux built a footbridge across our beautiful Bayou Teche to help ease the passage for his family and neighbors. This first bridge was a suspension footbridge, likely made of rope and small planks. It was stabilized by being tied to small pilings located at each end of the bridge, as well as to a pair of huge live oak tress on both sides of the bayou. When traveling directions were given, folks would say "go to Breaux's bridge...", which eventually was adopted as the city's name.

Breaux Bridge Webcam

We will do some area exploring and provisioning for needed supplies. Check back later to see what other Cajun adventures come our way!

Hey Mister. Your Biscuits are Burning!

So, we are motoring right along, just outside Baton Rouge when the nice Cajun folk driving past us began honking and waving at us. How nice. They must have seen our California license plate. The third car to go by was a nice lady who really seemed to like us a lot. She was jumping in her seat and seemed to be very excited to see us.

That's when I noticed the smoke coming from the left side of the trailer. Since the refrigerator is on that side, I naturally thought the trailer was on fire! (The refrigerator is on that side and it uses propane and a lit flame to stay cool)

Luckily the next exit was a huge visitor center/rest stop. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and went back to see if I could save the day. I discovered one of the wheels had completely burned up it's wheel bearings and it was still smoking. I didn't need the extinguisher for the wheel, but I nearly lost it and needed the extinguisher for myself!

We were 12 miles from our destination, it was 4:30PM and businesses were closing, and we were stuck. After some frantic phone calls, which did not help our situation, we decided to limp to our destination camp. Literally less than 1/2 mile away was a little gem of campground: The Frenchman's Wilderness Campground in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

We pulled in to find the office closed, but here is the weird thing. On the message board was a note that someone had a reservation in Site #9 for May 17, 2010 and his name was..... DALE ROBERTS!

The owner of the campground got us set up in a site, then called a buddy of his who does RV repair. A couple hours later, the guy shows up and springs into action. He gets the trailer jacked up and set on blocks, he finds the wheel was barely on and there were no wheel bearings left. Just a chewed up rear bearing race. He tells me the axle looks ok and it should only need new wheel bearings and races and new brake shoes. Those burned up too. I was very relieved to hear this news because I had fears of a total disaster and nothing but $$$ floating away.

The good feeling lasted only a moment, because I noticed the other wheel was loose. The repair guy agrees it shouldn't be that loose. My blood pressure rockets when I think back that these are the wheels I had serviced before we left California a couple of weeks ago! I can't wait to call the trailer service manager back home.

Well, as I sit and write this, I am glad that Jodie can calm me down with just a look, and that I should be thankful we didn't become a victim on the roadway like the roadkill beavers, turtles, and armadillos we saw. Tomorrow, the repair guy comes back and we hopefully only add a day to our trip; stranded here in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

The Mighty Mississippi River

As we crossed the bridge over the Mississippi River, Jodie got this shot of a paddle wheel riverboat.

Jack Kicks Back

Jack and Bridget are great travelers. Here, Jack gets comfortable while watching the penguin movie... this time in french!

Jodie, Do I Take This Exit?

Yet Another Geocache!

This one at the front gate entrance to the Stennis Space Center where they test space shuttle rocket engines. Got a Mississippi geocache!

Jodie, What Town Are We In?

Alabama Geocache

We needed an Alabama geocache find to ensure we get at least one in every state we go through. This one was in Grand Bay, at an old bank. The Grand Bay State Bank was located in this building from 1913 to 1929. It was used as the post office from 1933 to 1975. There used to be a dance studio in one of the upstairs rooms in the late 1970's. Gotta go... Jodie wants to make up some time!

Wow

We didn't get to stop here but I bet they sell nuclear weapons!

Tallahassee Lassie

As we say good-bye to Tallahassee, let's take another look at our Tallahassee Lassie!

I 10 East/West Travel Bug Hotel

A quick stop a few miles down the road from the KOA, we found this whopper of a geocache. We dropped a travel bug off and picked up a couple to move along our journey westward. Jodie is piloting, weather is sunny with "whispy low grade clouds" (I call it fog). Fog, in Florida???

Day 2 Westward Ho!

Chattahoochee, Florida to Lafayette, Louisiana. Forecast calls for 50 percent chance of rain along the way. Had rain off and on last night and one little thunder bumper. Breakfast of yogurt, banana bread and "trailer-made Starbucks" and we are good to go.
Ps. In 5 miles is a HUGE travel bug hotel cache! We got a mission! (Don't tell Jodie!)