Places We've Stayed -- Part II -- Day 62

It's been a little over a month and 1600 miles since I first posted a Top Ten list of our favorite places. When I made that list, we hadn't even stayed in 10 places yet! Oh how quickly things can change ...

I have learned so much in the last six weeks since that post that it boggles the mind. I attended the Escapees RV Boot Camp, which was an amazing daunting experience. We celebrated Thanksgiving with random strangers in Bay City, I had my birthday at a nudist resort down in Edcouch, and we got to see Star Wars during opening weekend back in Irving! Then there was the scary brake failure in Grand Prairie, and Christmas with my son. That's a LOT of adventure for such a short period of time!

There were 11 stops over the last six weeks, 3 of which were repeats (Hico, Lake Park, and our son's apartment.) Of the 8 new places, 4 were only for a single night and of those 4 only 1 made us wish we could stay longer. It's also interesting to see how priorities have changed with our experiences, and that influences the enjoyment of the stay. This Top Ten list will only be places that we stayed since the last list was made.

From worst to best (based on my enjoyment of the stay):

10. The corner of Skyline Rd and Center St -- Grand Prairie, TX. If you have read my other posts, this is where Fezzik came to rest after the brakes failed. I would be happy to never this intersection again for as long as I live.

9. Mustang Island -- Port Aransas, TX. As part of my birthday celebration, I wanted to hit the beach, see the ocean, stir up the spirit of my island heritage. This is not the place to do that. At least not in winter. It reminded me of the Oregon coast we used to visit when I was a child. Cold, windy, gray. No ocean view from the RV park, and no electricity in the first place that we were assigned. Nobody liked it here, and I don't see us coming back. 

8. Cedar Hill State Park -- Cedar HIll, Tx. Located just the other side of Lake Joe Pool from Loyd Park, which we loved, we were excited to try this park out. One of the top rated disc golf courses is just a few minutes away, and it's close enough to civilization to visit our loved ones. However, the roads were so bad I thought I was going to tip the rig over, and the camp sites were so uneven that we couldn't run our refrigerator! We ended up only staying one night, thanks to the brake issue, but we were not impressed.

7. Lake Park Campgrounds -- Lewisville, Tx. Still the least expensive option when staying in DFW. They even got their WiFi up, which was adequate. Internet access was limited though, so no YouTube or Netflix, and the disc golf course was closed because of the flooding. We'll still stay here for the cheap, but this was the least fun we've had here.

6. City of Hico's Bosque River RV Park -- Hico, Tx. Down from the former top spot, Hico was really put into perspective for us. Yes, the internet is still the best we've seen. Yes, it was cool that since we arrived late on Friday we didn't have to pay until we left on Monday. BUT the "Koffee Kup" restaurant that is one of their "famous" landmarks was terrible, and the disc golf course is not really that good. 

5. Mother Neff State Park -- Moody, Tx. Sleepy little town with a really well-kept state park. Great, level, concrete pads with crushed granite surroundings. Electric, water, and sewer for only $25? Plenty of trees for privacy, and even though the thunderstorms were violent, we felt safe and secure. Wished we could've stayed longer!

4 60 North RV Park -- Bay City, Tx. I'm not gonna lie, this is an ugly park. It's like a big parking lot, with only a few trees near the entrance. Having said that, we really had a great time here! We came during Thanksgiving week based on the online reviews stating fast internet. The internet was nothing compared to Hico, but the manager had her three kids with her the whole week. Zoe had playmates! The manager also invited any guests that didn't have plans to join her family for Thanksgiving dinner, which was really awesome. I doubt we'll come back here, unless we know the kids are out of school.

3. Lake Corpus Christi -- Mathis, Tx. Beautiful and serene, just the way we like it. Not very crowded, and plenty of wildlife to enjoy. We hiked and geocached, Zoe went fishing with some Brits she met. This was one of those magical places that we love to discover. We loved it so much that we opted to spend an extra day just relaxing in the peaceful atmosphere.

2. Randall and Jason's apartment -- Irving, Tx.  Our son Jason and his roommate Randall always let us crash at their place when we're in town. This time it was after the rescue of the brake failure. They were so gracious, and giving. It really makes a parent proud, ya know? Amenities included: hot showers, super fast internet, lots of video games, and pizza. Zoe would have loved to stay forever.

1. Nature's Resort -- Edcouch, Tx. To be fair, we haven't been staying in resorts, so the other places are at a serious disadvantage. Pool tables, darts, petanque, horseshoes, shuffleboard, pickle ball, two heated pools and a hot tub? Yeah, this was the best birthday present. We loved it so much, we talked about renting a spot for a YEAR (it was only $2300!) Calmer heads prevailed, as we realized that it's going to be hellishly hot in the summer months. But we're definitely planning to come back whenever we can.

The one place that I left off the list is our final stop, Independence Park in Gonzales, Tx. We just got here last night, so there isn't much to go on. I will say that although the park appears a bit older and the roads are pretty beat up, the campsite is one of the most level we've seen and it's quiet. There is a disc golf course 2 miles away that we're going to check out either later today or tomorrow, and THAT will determine where this spot lands on the next Top Ten list. Stay tuned!

The Force Awakens -- Day 52

People want to describe me as a huge Star Wars fan, but in deference to the true fans out there, I have to confess that I’m not. Just because I own two copies of the original trilogy (the original and the digitally remastered) as well as copies of the awful prequels (just to complete the set) all of which I’ve watched multiple times, does not make me a huge fan. I know people that have Star Wars tattoos, have watched the movies HUNDREDS of times, and named their children after characters. Those are the real fans, I’m just a casual fan.

However, I was super excited to see the newest movie opening weekend with my family. Excited enough to drive away from warm, sunny south Texas 600 miles so that we could all be together. It’s all about priorities.

We did have some stops along the way, since I don’t really like to drive more than 150 miles in a day. Lake Corpus Christi State Park was gorgeous, and actually enticed us to stay two days. We had also planned a stop at Blanco State Park, but they were completely full so we pushed on to Hico (our favorite small town in Texas.) We spent four days catching up on emails, youtube, Netflix and other internet needs (because they have the best WiFi of any park we've ever seen), before the final leg that put us back at the Lake Park Campground in Lewisville. We like this campground because it’s close enough to the people we love, it’s cheap, and it has WiFi and disc golf.

Well, it usually has disc golf. Apparently there is has been some flooding prompting construction in the park and the disc golf course is closed until February! Never being one to let the circumstances get us down, I discovered another gem of a course in The Colony a short drive away. Really nice course that more than satisfied my disc golf needs. I can’t wait to share Bill Allen Memorial Park with the rest of my golfing buddies.

Nothing could temper my excitement for this movie.

Finally, Friday morning arrived and we drove Fezzik to the Irving Mall for an 11:30 AM showing of The Force Awakens. It was everything that I wanted from a Star Wars movie, and my inner child was thrilled beyond expectations. Being able to share the moment with my wife and both of my children (all of whom really enjoyed the movie as well) was icing on the cake. I offer no review, no spoilers, and no commentary on the film itself, but I encourage you to go see it. It is a fantastic experience, even for a non-fan.

Hanging out with our friends and seeing the family this week has convinced us to stick around for a little while longer. We had originally planned to leave the day after Star Wars, but now we’re going to stay through Christmas. It just seemed appropriate for the season and all.

May the Force Be With You.

Lake Corpus Christi State Park -- Day 44

After the very stressful saga of replacing the sideview mirror, we needed some serenity. Checking my atlas, I found a state park within our 150 mile travel radius, and plotted our course. What’s that you say? Why am I using a printed atlas? Where’s my sextant? Hardy-har, you! Let me backtrack a bit …

So we were in Alamo, stranded with a busted mirror. The guy said that he would have it no later than 3 pm the next day, so we looked around for a place to hang out. Fortunately, there was a Walmart about six blocks away that allowed overnight parking. Now, you may remember that we hate overnight parking at Walmart, because we had issues with our generator last time, but this time we were confident that it would be different. We had been running the genny off and on all day already, so we thought this would be a great time to use the free WiFi, get some much needed groceries, and save the cost of a camping spot.

After lunch at Carl’s Jr, and a huge shopping trip in Walmart, we settled in for the night. Genny was running good, air conditioning was pumping, WiFi was sketchy -- but better than nothing -- and everybody was happy.  We even had neighbors a few spots away in an old rig that looked like they were doing the same thing. Out of courtesy, and to save fuel, we turned off our generator when we went to bed.

In the morning, the sun was shining, the people were happy, and it was already starting to get warm. Figuring a little AC to cool off the rig was in order, I went to turn on the generator. No joy. Spinning, whining, and then a sick winding down sound was all I got. With no generator, we can’t charge our phones, which we were using heavily last night because of the WiFi. No genny also means no AC and the morning temp was already 70 climbing toward a promised 85. We now have 7 hours to kill in the black-topped, heat radiating Walmart parking lot before our mirror is due to arrive, with nothing electronic to entertain ourselves! Fortunately, we do have books and games, and with the open windows it wasn’t too bad until about one o’clock when we decided that we had to get the air moving to cool off -- for the animals. Gotta keep the pets cool, too.

Our arrival at the repair shop happened to coincide with the parts delivery truck, so we were able to get our mirror and fix it in a jiffy. Then we broke out the atlas to figure out how far we could get before we needed to camp out for the night. I have a Rand McNally Road Atlas with an index card that has 150 miles marked off, and I know that I can make that drive in one day. I realize that 150 miles may not sound like much, but for us that is the perfect amount of travel for a day. Fortunately, Corpus Christi State Park fell within our radius.

This place is magical! Not quite as serene as Inks (see my post), but also much less popular; therefore, more private. We enjoyed two gorgeous sunsets, some hiking, and a little geocaching while we were here. They even have a little WiFi that is just enough to get some emails, and let people know that we’re still alive. We liked it so much that we opted to stay for another day, just to fully recharge our soul batteries (and hopefully the genny’s battery, too.) If you ever find yourself down in Mathis, Tx, I would highly recommend a stopover at this place.

We’re leaving today to head toward Livingston, but it’s going to be two days to get there. We’d like to stop somewhere this side of Houston, because if you don’t have to drive in rush hour, you shouldn’t. My atlas says Stephen F Austin state park, or Brazos Bend state park is within reach. Or we may splurge and get a place with actual wifi.

The beauty of the decision making process is that we get to make decisions. No pressure. Do what you like, and follow your heart. (And the WiFi.)