The Texoma Travelers 2025 Spring Rally lived up to its theme of Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler, or as we say in Louisiana’s Cajun Country, “let the good times roll”.
The rally, held at Camp Margaritaville in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, from April 3 – 7, was well attended by 118 folks in 62 LTVs.
On Wednesday, we kicked off the rally with an all-Louisiana catered “meet and greet” complete with delicacies such as fried alligator, cracklins, boudin, cajun meat pies, fried catfish, and more. It was an excellent opportunity to say hi to old friends and meet the 34 new attendees.
Thursday morning, we exercised self-restraint from touring and, instead, attended three great classes including a lesson on convection cooking in your RV by Hakan Riggestad, an LTV Owners’ Roundtable discussion of upgrades, repairs, antidotal stories and more, and finally a presentation by Josh McBryde listing and discussing those things about which LTV owners’ contact him. The fourth lesson of the day required anything but self-restraint as we learned to move our hearts and feet in the style of Cajun dance, including the Mamou Two Step and the Cajun Waltz. Jambalaya Cajun Band provided the unique sound of the fiddle, accordion, and an old washboard. Passe un bon temps–a good time was had by all!
Despite all that good food and frolic, the dog walkers managed to get out early each morning for an hour’s walk around the huge campground. There’s always an early morning coffee group, and this rally was no exception. What was the exception, however, were these amazing sweet and savory biscuits from a Lafayette bakery that agreed to cater breakfast despite the long line of customers who wrap around their bakery each morning!
Specialty catering and a Cajun band? How does a little rally pull this off? In south Louisiana, family connections run long and deep. Our LTV Texoma Travelers Club Treasurer’s family ties run as thick as gumbo in this southern Louisiana tradition of sharing resources. Thank you, Carol Hunt, for sharing these pieces of Cajun culture with your LTV family!
This Spring Rally provided an opportunity to tour and experience two vastly different but equally unique wonders of Louisiana. The first was a swamp boat tour of the Lake Martin Cypress-Island Preserve Swamp. Unlike other tourist swamp tours, this tour emphasizes the natural history, geology, and wildlife of this cypress-studded water body where you are sure to see alligators–both big and small–in their own habitat and without the use of chicken as bait. The swamp also contains a bird rookery of Roseate Spoonbill, brown pelicans, great white egret, and the yellow-crowned night heron, better known by its Cajun French name, the “gros becs”.
The second optional tour was to the famous Avery Island, home of McIlhenny’s Tabasco Sauce. This tour has two parts: a self-guided tour of the Tabasco Brand Museum, pepper greenhouse, barrel warehouse, Tabasco Country Store, and the Tabasco Restaurant 1868. The other part of the tour takes you to the 170-acre botanical jungle garden and bird sanctuary cultivated and nurtured by the second son of the inventor of Tabasco, who in 1895 raised and released eight egrets previously held in captivity on the island. The following spring, the egrets returned with other egrets, and today, thousands of egrets inhabit the island from early spring to late summer.
Back from all the tours, the more agile rally participants picked up their pickleball paddles and braved almost hurricane-force winds to learn a thing or two about this game that is taking over our parks. We had several experienced players who jumped right into a game. The neophytes learned Pickleball rules and terminology like the “kitchen”, dinking, and scoring, then started hitting practice balls that flew wild in the wind. The only thing louder than the wind was the laughter and shrieks of the players as they immersed themselves in this number one growing sport.
Of course, there must be a club meeting at every rally, but how do you entice over 100 folks back to a meeting room after all this food, fun, and frolic? A Louisiana dessert bar, complete with king cake, homemade pralines, sweet potato pie, New Orleans’ Hubig’s hand pies dating back over 100 years to 1921 and if that tradition is not old enough, there were heavenly hash, Pecan, and gold brick eggs from Elmers, a Louisiana candy company dating back to 1855. No South Louisiana child ever went without finding an Elmer’s treat in their Easter basket. For lagniappe, or a little something extra, there were popular door prizes including LTV tumblers, socks, plates, and a gift basket from Camp Margaritaville.
The rally wrapped up with dinner at Crawfish Town USA, and then it was back to the campground to listen to and dance to the best five-piece tribute band in Louisiana.
See you in San Antonio this fall!
Written by: Tim Hunt
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