Just as the legendary Rougarou prowls the murky bayous, The Riveted Fox Community descended upon
the swamps of Cajun Country, in the heart of Louisiana, October 2022 for another fun filled Campout!

Everyone enjoyed 4 nights of water front full hook-up camping at the legendary
Poche’s RV Park and Fishing-N-Camp, just outside the town of Breaux Bridge.
The park sits on 93 acres with about 90 campsites, 6 cabins and 5 fishing ponds!
It was the perfect spot to roundup a Rougarou!

There were exquisite sunsets, bird watching and fishing opportunities with friends!

~ Breaux Bridge ~

The quaint town of Breaux Bridge was about 5 miles from the campground. Chris and I had the pleasure of meeting
the Director of Tourism, Tina and her “Keep Me In Line” assistant, Marel from the Visitors Center.
These two ladies were amazing, super nice and very informative of the area.
We provided gift bags for R3 attendees with some of their suggestions, maps, trinkets and more.
Guess What?!? Tina is a Thibodeau! And she even shared a few jokes with us!!
_{For those who don’t know . . . Boudreaux and Thibodeaux (aka  Boudreau and Thibodeau) are two fictional but humorous characters from Southern Louisiana experiencing life’s trials and tribulations. Boudreaux has a wife named Marie and a dog named Phideaux, and Thibodeaux has a wife named Clotile.}

Breaux Bridge, LA declared in 1959 as the Crawfish Capital of the World!

~ The Fox Den ~

As always, we set up The Fox Den with lights, banner and music. Those who came to help were entertained by
Chris and his ability to climb up and down a ladder . . . time and time again! Finally, bets were made and
before long we thought we had a winner! The magic number was 6 more times, but Chris pulled
one over on us bypassing the ladder for a stool on his last trip up! He cheated!
Guess you had to be there, but for those who know Chris, he is ammusing to say the least!

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Let The Riveted Rougarou Roundup Begin!

Monday ~ First Night ~ Meet and Greet Happy Hour!

The first day of the Campout started with a meet and greet happy hour. After a proper “Welcome and Cheers”, we
introduced one of our favorite Louisiana locals, John and Laurie, to share their “Cajun, word of the day” with us,
talk about some of the history of the area and then surprised everyone with a Louisiana food called Hogs Head Cheese.
We passed around a plate with bite size pieces for those wanting a taste, as John explained what it was & where it came from.
_{In southern Louisiana, hog’s head cheese is a specialty that used to be a deli and butcher shop staple. A glistening block of quivering meat,
this “cheese” is dairy-free, but emphatically not vegan. Made of boiled scraps of pig, the fat from the cooked meat provides a gelatinous binding.
Check out these two references Cajun Grocer and Teet’s Food Stores for more info.}

Then, Chris and I made a few announcements, went over the schedule for the Campout, gave everyone
a gift bag full of area information & goodies and handed out The Riveted Rougarou Roundup official T-shirts & Stickers!

At the end of the Happy Hour, Marcia and Russ surprised Chris with a specially made Rougarou Staff!
Marcia personally made this for Chris, after discovering what costume he would be wearing to
The Riveted Rougarou Roundup Halloween Party!
Marcia is our Community Crafter and she can really come up with some cool ideas.
Check out the craft portion below to see what all we made at the Campout!
What do you think? Pretty cool, right!

Deep-fried fun topped with buttery goodness ~
~ Lawdamercy, It’s Game Time ~

The nightly sunsets were beautiful over the ponds with some amazing colors! After the dinner break, we met
back at The Fox Den for a little friendly game playing. Dana & John gifted us a game called “Just Like Mama Used to Say”
and it has all the Southern wisdom the world will ever need, wrapped up in one hilarious game.
It is appropriate for any age, but it helps if you can read. We played it tournament style and had a blast!

Can you believe a Northerner WON? That’s right! Lucy, who is from Illinois, won the game with
her best Southern drawl and spunky wit, she pulled out the win!
Congrats Lucy! Way to go!

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Tuesday ~ Fun Packed Day
Wake Up ~ Morning Coffee Chat

Good Morning! What a great way to start each day . . . Morning Coffee Chats with Friends!
We have to say, some of the most interesting conversations come up at these coffee chats,
everything from British History to Road Kill. One thing is for sure though, there’s always lots of laughs and
great friendships shared. One morning, John & Laurie brought hot Boudin (meat) for everyone to taste and
then Susie & Clay made a Boudin King Cake (yes, it had sweetness) for the coffee attendees to enjoy.
All in all, we suggest never missing a coffee chat, you never know what might happen!

Gone to the Dogs!

Infamous Pack-N-Play with Candy and the Dogs

Candy did it again! She coordinated her famous dog walk and pack-n-play, but this time the RV park offered
a fenced area for pets and this group took full advantage. Each DOG brought his/her owner out to the park
for a fun “Meet and Greet Yappy Hour” with some exercise and tasty treats sprinkled in!
It was a wonder-fur morning with all the dogs having a fetching good time!
Thank you Candy for taking the time and energy to offer this “Ruff”ians morning to the group’s dog owners, again!
You know, we think she should offer this at EVERY Campout! Don’t you?

5, 6, 7, 8 . . . Dance!

The Riveted Fox loves music and with music comes dancing! So we asked our Louisiana Zydeco Dancers to share some steps with us and they agreed! Award winning, toe tapping, hip swaying, John & Laurie taught us all how to Zydeco dance,
two step and waltz to some good ole cajun music. We went forward, backward, side to side and even did circles and
can you believe . . . we all stayed upright and off the floor! It was fun figuring out our left from our right and
which foot to move first, but before long everyone was dancing to the beat and even keeping up with partners!
Thanks John & Laurie for showing us how to Zydeco!
Now, who is still practicing?

Waiting on the Bus!

Where is it? When are we leaving? How long does it take to get there?
Did someone say sing? 99 bottles of beer on the wall . . . No? too much?
ARE WE THERE YET?

What a group!

~ Brewery Takeover ~

After dancing, we were ready for a B – double E -double R – U – N – Beer Run!
So our devoted leader of the Den, took one for the team and was our designated driver to
Bayou Teche and the Brewery Takeover! Chris drove everyone via a huge 15 passenger van, making several trips, but
we were all at the Brewery and settled in by 4:15pm. The gang ordered food from The Cajun Saucer, which also
serves deliciously tasty mix drinks, and/or brews from Bayou Teche Brewery.

It was fun chillin’ at the Brewery with all the cool kids & cool deco!

We went, we conquered and had a fun time!
Tina & Marel even came to meet the gang and say “Hi”! (Remember them from the Tourism office?)
Thank you Chris, for driving and taking such good care of us! Cheers!
So, how long do you think it took Chris to pour a drink when he got back to The Fox Den?

~ Late Night Fun! ~

You guessed it! Not long after arriving back to the campground, putting the van away and pouring a drink,
Chris relaxed and made up for being everyones DD. It turned cool, so we ended up in the
Clubhouse and a small group joined us for cards, drinks, laughs and a few shenanigans!
Not sure what Joni was doing . . . Do you know?
There was even a LIVE Band! We danced, we documented the craziness,
Laurenne attempted to make Pop Corn and we laughed way into the wee morning hours!

RV Life and Campouts with Friends ~ does it get any better than this?
All that was just in the first full day, wait til tomorrow!

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Wednesday ~ Hold On Tight!

The day started with a relaxing Coffee Chat, but then the day got CrAzY!

~ The Craftinator, Marcia! ~

Marcia is so talented and always has the most awesome supplies and ideas, so when we asked her to help at the R3,
she jumped right in! Maintaining the Riveted Fox, Rougarou and Halloween theme, Marcia and her handsome
assistant, Russ, brought to the crafting table the following three exciting and fun projects:

Thank you, Marcia & Russ, for bringing crafting to a whole new level.
They have to be two of the most patient people because they had all three projects going at the same time! They both
bounced around helping, answering questions, even doing some of the projects because face it . . . not everyone is crafty!
Marcia told us not to worry, there are no mistakes just embellishment opportunities!
Looks like the crafters did okay though. What do you think?

After crafts, we took a quick break to prepare for . . .

~ There’s a Party Happening in Louisiana ~

The Tables are Set

The Band is Here

The Cooking has Started

Louisiana at its best!
Everyone gathered to listen to live music with the John Wilson and the Zydeco House Rockers band,
while Big G and Pookie cooked jambalaya, white beans, slaw and rolls.
Some played games, some danced and some just sat and chatted
with friends, but everyone had an amazing time!

Talk about a Community Table . . . The Riveted Fox Community in Louisiana!
Yes, we caught them off guard and with mouths full, but hey, that’s what we do!

After dinner, the party continued on into the night with dancing, singing, stories told and laughter shared!
Hey, we even danced in the streets. (If anyone has a pic of this -please send it to us!) We had tons of fun!

The band was amazing and our feet were tired from dancing, so once they left, out . . . came the fire pits!
And Laurenne, yes she was cold! But the mask helped, don’t you think?

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Thursday ~ Another Fun Day Ahead

After coffee chat, everyone gathered at the Clubhouse for another fun event.
Tables were set, chef hats prepared and the next thing you know we were . . .

Cooking with Cajunville

John and Laurie taught us how to make a hot sauce dip. We mixed and mixed and before long we had a tasty dip to enjoy.
Look at all these Chefs measuring, stirring, adding a little of this, some of that and mixing up so much fun!

They held a drawing with all the “Chefs” names in the hat and Dee won the nice gift bag from Cajunville!
Congrats Dee!

Wait . . . there’s more!
Bourré Tournament

After lunch, it was time to learn a Louisiana card game known as Bourré.
Once we went over how to play and the tournament rules, it was time to . . .
Shuffle Up and Deal!

Now, it seems as though everyone had a good time playing, no weapons drawn! Oh wait, we did a pat down at the door! Almost forgot! Just kidding, although legend told is that fortunes were won & lost at playing Bourré back in the day.
By late afternoon, we had our final 5 players for the final table. It was time for dinner, so we broke to
eat and everyone got dressed for tonights big Halloween Party!
Stay Tuned . . .

*** The Final Table . . . Coming soon! ***

~~~ The Riveted Rougarou Roundup ~~~
Halloween Extravaganza

SPOOKY ~ Enter If You Dare!

Our Host, the infamous Fox Skellaboner, arrived just in time to escort the haunting group of Rougarous, Voodoo Princess’, Psycho Rabbits, British Royalty, Lost Nomads, Cajun Navy, Pirates, Hot Sauce Girl, Bee Keeper, Foxarous, Gypsys, Lucky Raining Men Lady, Zombies and many really scary others to the PARTY!
With the doors shut, there is no escape!

The Costumes were amazing and we thank everyone for dressing to impress!
We held a Costume Contest with 4 categories…grossest, scariest, funniest & most creative.
The Crowd of Horrors voted for their favorites and we also picked the overall contest winner!
Congrats to Russ & Marcia, or rather The Queen of England and Prince Phillip!

Bourré Tournament ~ Final Table

The entertainment continued with the final table of the Bourré Tournament being
played after the Halloween Costume Contest.

The final 5 players gathered around the table and began play. Before long we were down to the final 2 in a head-up show down! The game was called at exactly 9pm and the winner with the most chips, Brenda, won!
Congrats Brenda! Well played!

Late Night Party Continues . . .

As The Riveted Rougarou Roundup came to a close, some of us just were not ready for it to end.
You know, there is always the small group that likes to create chaos and get into some shenanigans!
Well, this is that group! Carl and Chris started it with . . . whatever they are doing!
From there, we danced, Joni ~ well, we still don’t know what she is doing (Do You?),
Laurenne and Chris made Popcorn, we played some cards,
we enjoyed some libations, Chris preformed for us, Candy loved the Popcorn and his singing
and . . . Well, honestly I can’t remember what all we did, except we had a fantastically good time!

The After Party Rules!

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Friday ~ Jacks Up ~ Surprise!

Our last Coffee chat before everyone pulls jacks up and heads in different directions!

So, we surprised the R3 Group with fresh made from the bakery, piping hot, sugar coated, yummy goodness . . .

Beignets To Go!

Good Morning Sunshine! We love you all, but it’s time to go.
As Rigs were ready to pull away the beignets were ready to grab and go!
Just a little send off treat from The Riveted Fox to say THANK YOU and We’ll See You Down The Road!

Ok, one last thing . . .
Before we could offer these scrumptious pastries to everyone, Chris and I had to taste test – just had to do it!

Thank you to the lovely ladies at the Cajun Market Donut Company for making the100 Beignets for us early in the morning
so we could serve them at 8 am. You Ladies Rock! They were perfect and everyone loved them!

Now, don’t you think that was a yummy way to send everyone on down the road this last morning?

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Hope EVERYONE had a great time at the R3 Campout!

Thank you for joining us in Louisiana and for continuing to support our Community here on The Riveted Fox!
We are honored to have each of you as Friends & Community Members!

Now, when is the next one?????

You’re Invited to Holidays in the Desert! Please RSVP and grab your ticket to join us this December 20th for 2 fun filled
and relaxing weeks with us, boondocking near Quartzite AZ. This will be a time to chill, get better acquainted, explore
and maybe a few surprises! Look forward to meeting you there!

Before we go, we would like to give a
Special Thanks to:

Thank you John & Laurie for sharing your Louisiana Culture with us and agreeing for us to turn it into a Campout for The Riveted Fox Community. Thank you for your recommendations and guidance of RV parks, Band and Food. We had a great time and are honored to have you both as friends! Hope we made you proud!

Thank you Marcia & Russ for your continued “Craftinator” skills and willingness to create fun events for The Riveted Fox Community! You always surprise us, but never cease to amaze us!

Thank you to Poche’s owner, Greg, for providing a fantastic RV Park and Space for us to camp and entertain. You and your staff were always accommodating and eager to assist and for that we shout out a big Thank you! Look forward to our paths crossing again.

Thank you Tina and Marel for helping us with the gift bags and for taking the time to join us at the Brewery Takeover! It was a pleasure meeting you both! Hope our group explored some of the many recommended places and enjoyed. We look forward to seeing you both again when we pass back through Breaux Bridge.

Many Thanks to the Band members and the Caterers for entertaining and feeding us . . . the Louisiana way!

Many thanks to the Brewery for good Beer and Pizza and to the Bakery for starting early in the morning to make some scrumptious Beignets for us!

Thank you to all those who came early and/or stayed late to help set-up or tear-down between events. Your support and help doesn’t go unseen! We thank you so much!

Thank you to all who attended the R3 Campout! Hope that you enjoyed yourselves, experienced some Louisiana culture, and connected with friends new & familiar.

Thanks for reading. Love to you all!
Cheers,
Gina