New Orleans - Day 1

Back on the road again only much earlier for the second day of our trip, we headed out through Beaumont, TX, at 8:30 AM.  It wasn't long before we were into Louisiana and headed towards the Achafalaya Bayou.  To all the WomenRV members who live in this area, I wish I could have stopped to visit while passing through but it just wasn't possible this trip.  I was definitely thinking about you as I passed the sign to Butte LaRose.

This is really an interesting area as you drive for miles on a road suspended above water.  There is a great visitor's center which I definitely recommend as a quick stop or even a longer one to anyone passing through.  They have a parking area for RVs which is separate from the truck area.  You can also spend the night there if you choose although it is pretty hot this time of year unless you have a generator for your AC.  There is an interesting museum and they have free coffee as well.  This was not my planned stop for lunch but the seven year old had an urgent need for a pit stop so we had lunch here instead.......

The sign was rather out of date as you can tell by the pricing.  I was a little worried about whether Steve would see us pulled off the highway as he was a bit further behind us but he did see us before he got to the ramp.  He found a shaded parking place for the bike.  We were off to the side out of the way while we ate lunch and walked around for a while.  Then we were off again.

"Hilary" our faithful GPS only failed us once, or maybe it was really me failing as the driver, as there were two exits right next to each other in New Orleans, and I picked the first one.  Hilary quickly rerouted us and we were back on track to Ponchartrain Landing, our Passport America pick in New Orleans.  This RV park is advertised as the only one on the water.  You kind of wonder what you are getting into as you travel through an industrial area to get to the park.  The park may have started as a marina but some enterprising person realized that it would also make a good RV resort.  It is gated and secure, you are given the gate code when you check in.  They have planted palm trees, palmettos, and oleanders between all the sites.  It is an RV park not a campground but there is decent space between the RVs.  Some are back-ins, some along the water, and some are pull-throughs.  The roads and sites are gravel but are nice and level.  They have a pool with an adjoining covered outside bar area and a hot tub (which wasn't very hot).  The price was steeper than expected as the rates have gone up since last year ($35 Passport America) but it is only 5 miles from the French Quarter.  They do have a shuttle service although there is a charge for it. 

The sites are actually further apart than they look with full hookups.  They also came by, picked up our propane tanks, filled and returned them while we were enjoying the pool.

We cooled off in the pool, had a great dinner, and walked around to see the rest of the park.  I think you could rent jet skis and some of the RVers had boats tied up to the pier next to their RV.  They had a small play area, a good sized dog off leash area, a laundromat, and shower areas.  Although not while we were there, they have some planned events like movie night outside on a screen, etc.  The wifi was free and worked very well although my computer was in constant use (not by me) after the kids went to bed.