Editors note: This article was written by Peter Batchelar for the U.S. Military Campgrounds and RV Parks website.

Several years ago, Linda and I decided that our first extended motor home trip would be to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Being new RVers, we thought that a Caravan might offer the best way to see the City and also the surrounding Cajun country….We had our choice of several companies offering caravans and finally settled on a Caravan run by S.M.A.R.T., an organization for active and retired military people. The fact that the SMART caravan was half the price made the choice simple for us. These non profit caravans are run by volunteers and with minimal overhead.

We arrived on the appointed day at City Park in New Orleans and were immediately made to feel at home by the other participants….things started out with a Gumbo party and progressed from there. We got to see the WWII Museum and the Mardi Gras Parades…we went on a swamp tour and had some great Cajun meals and entertainment….we visited a crawfish farm, a Cajun accordion builder and we attended a live Zydeco music Radio broadcast….We got to do many other things that we would not have known to do on our own and made some great new friends. It turned out to be a great experience, topped off by a check from SMART a few weeks later returning our share of the money that was not spent by the Wagonmaster!