Small Home - Big Yard | The adventures of RV camping

Sites at Isla Blanca, South Padre Island

2 04 2016

During the check-in procedure at Isla Blanca we found that reservations may now be made for any week or longer period. Having occupied basically the same sites for the last 4 years, we decided it was time to look around a bit and see what else might be available. Of highest priority is some type of view of the ship channel. Ship traffic this year seem slow, but in past years the view of the massive cargo ships or tankers that look like they are nearly within arm’s reach is amazing.

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, (L-R) 403, 404, 405, 406

The best sites for a channel view are along the fence – in the area that we normally park in, sites C406 through C399. We initially were assigned site C404. But, after backing into this rather tight site with no patio or even grass, we opted for the more open site C361. C403 has perhaps the most space of any along here, and C401 has a great patio area both on the side and the rear – making 401 & 402 or 402 & 403 great companion sites. Of course, the absolute best channel view sites are S15 through S23 in the “premium” section.

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca 361/360 (and 363/362 on left)

Between the two areas are some other interesting sites. East of the standard rows, there are what appear to be compounds that allow 2, 3 or even 4 RV’s to share a large patio area. Site C469 combined with D17 or D19 would offer great space and views as long as companion sites were not occupied. Nearby, directly backed to the fence, are good sites C131A, C131, D20 & D21. Any of the sites at the row ends (C215, C173 & C154) would also offer lots of space a views.

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #D17-C131

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #D17

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #469 – site D21 & D20 (occupied) in background

During this year’s visit, the ant and sandbur populations seem to be at their peak making cement or brick patio sites seem very worthwhile. Some good “patio sites” include C201 & C202. Unique “pull-in” sites C184 & C185 with a nice garden and C238 with taller trees for a good wind block. Another interesting corner “pull-in” site would be C242.

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #184

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #185

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca sites 201

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, #201

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, Sites 201/202

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #238 (back-in)

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #242

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, Site #404

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca 361/360

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, Sites 201/202

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #201

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #185

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #184

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #238

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #210

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #242

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #469 – site D21 & D20 (occupied) in background

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #D17

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #D17-C131

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: isla blanca, south padre island, texas
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Tropic Winds, Harlingen, TX

31 03 2016

We’ve just spent 3 nights at Tropic Winds RV Resort, a large resort on the north side of Harlingen. This is always a good resupply stop since Harlingen has nearly every big box store imaginable along 3 uniquely Texas HEB grocery stores.

The HEB chain of stores based in San Antonio offers over 350 stores scattered through Texas and Mexico making HEB one of the top privately held grocery chains in the US.

South Padre Island

Tomorrow we’ll move out to South Padre Island to begin our 2 weeks “Living on Island Time”. More from SPI…

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: harlingen, heb, spi, texas, tropic winds
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Lake Corpus Christi State Park

30 03 2016

Lake Corpus Christi State Park #22

Good morning from the Gulf Coast (almost)

We’re a few miles south of I-37 at exit #34, so about 30 miles west of the Gulf of Mexico at Corpus Christi, TX. We’re finally feeling the warmth and humidity of the Gulf. This is our first visit to Lake Corpus Christi, however we’ve stayed at Choke Canyon State Park about 50 miles north west. The park is set in a wooded area surrounding the lake with boat launch facilities, swim beaches and lots of picnic areas. The camping areas include sites #1-#23 on the Opossum Bend Camping Loop with water and electricity. Campsites #24-#48 on the Javelina Camping loop with water, electric and sewer hookups. There are also two tent loops, one on this side of the lake and one opposite. All of the RV sites are pull-throughs with utility connections on the small island of grass between the loop and the main road. Each also has a picnic table and grill. Each site has a fairly level pad at the center of the pull-through with varying amounts of asphalt before and after the pad.

We’re parked in site #22, with our rear window looking directly at the fishing pier and across the lake to the west. Last night we were treated to a beautiful sunset and a very quiet night. Today we’re headed to the lower Rio Grande Valley – to Tropic Winds RV Resort in Harlingen. More from there…

Lake Corpus Christi State Park

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: corpus christi, lake corpus christi state park
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

The Texas Hill Country

26 03 2016

We’ve just spent 5 nights enjoying the company of great friends at Guadalupe River RV Resort in Kerrville. We’ve reviewed this park before, but overall things haven’t changed much in the last year except for new ownership. The park is now a Yogi Bear “Jellystone” park, part of a group of locally owned parks and a national franchise. We’re parked in site #154, right next to friends in #153 and just a few steps from one of the large assembly buildings and the River Rock Saloon. This is the first time we haven’t been in one of the Riverside sites – they were all full this year. And, it appears that this increased occupancy is starting to drive up the pricing here. Regular sites go for $42 per night and $50 on weekend nights (here they count Fri, Sat and Sun as weekend nights) and $55 on holidays. Premium sites – those with a bit more space on row ends are $45, $55 & $60. Riverside sites are $52, $63 & $70. Add to these fees $4 per day for Cable TV (there’s very little over-the-air here) and $3.50 for Wifi and nightly rates are approaching excruciating. Monthly rates are significantly better, running about $18.50/day including WiFi and TV.

There are many very nice sites here, plenty of large grassy space, some nice bushes and great shade trees. But, exploring a bit more you find significant deferred maintenance. In the Adult Spa/Pool area, the steam room has had an Out Of Order sign for several years. The hot tub is also not working. Of 4 washers in the laundry area, only 3 are operational. Hopefully the change of ownership will also introduce some cash to improve these types of items. So far, the majority of activity seems to be the addition of park models. New spaces are being built to accommodate these – right down the center of the resort and another row behind the saloon along the river. We’re hopeful for this park -but with their top-tier rates, it seems that they need to start showing improvement.

We’re headed to Lake Corpus Christi State Park for a quick overnight before headed to Harlingen, TX in the Rio Grande Valley.

Guadalupe River RV Resort

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Guadalupe River RV Resort, kerrville, texas
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Broke Mill RV Park, Del Rio, TX

22 03 2016

Broke Mill RV Park, Del Rio, TX

We’re back along the Rio Grande, about 340 miles up river from our eventually goal, South Padre Island. After the peacefulness of the Davis Mountains, we’re back to a more urban park for resupply, some minor fix-it items and of course the inevitable task of doing laundry. We’re at Broke Mill RV Park, just outside of Del Rio, the facilities are top-notch, making even the laundry task fairly easy and inexpensive. We’re parked in site #10, a nice end-of-row location with extra space right outside our door.

Since we were first here in 2013, this relatively new park has gained nice landscaping, an impressive tall bamboo “fence”, while being very well maintained. The WiFi, which in 2013 was adequate, is even better now – with good strong signals and bandwidth that easily supports video streaming. We’ve also scheduled an RV wash to finally clean the dust we’ve been carrying along since Yuma. Great facilities, accommodating, friendly staff, nice sites, great WiFi and over 100 cable channels of TV make Broke Mill RV Park a fantastic value at $32.50/night.

Broke Mill RV Park, Del Rio, TX

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: broke mill, del rio, tx
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Davis Mountains State Park

20 03 2016

Davis Mountains State Park, Site #51

Good Morning from the Davis Mountains in West Texas.

We’ve visited the area several times, even before we had the truck camper. We’ve stayed at Indian Lodge, but have never managed to get reservations at the Davis Mountains SP campground. It seems that we’re almost always through Ft. Davis during Spring Break, when all campsites are busy and the town is full. However, with better planning this year, we managed to reserve a campsite for 2 nights, apparently right at the end of Spring Break. One of our favorite spots in West Texas, the McDonald Observatory always has special spring break Twilight Programs and Star Parties. However, with the moon nearly full this Saturday evening, there’s little chance of seeing much through the telescopes. And with temperatures dipping below freezing overnight, we opt to forgo the evening programs.

A nice change from Van Horn, our first night in the campground is quiet, relaxing and peaceful. With all sites nearly full on Saturday when we arrive, we’re almost alone on Sunday after the spring breakers head home. The nearby Black Bear Restaurant at Indian Lodge offers a tasty lunch buffet on Sunday. In the afternoon we head out to the observatory for the daily Solar Program. It’s always interesting to watch the sun “live” (as opposed to real time, which isn’t possible since it takes 8.5 seconds for the sunlight to arrive on Earth). Watching the coronal flares and molten gases on the surface, we’re more inclined to slather on a bit more sunscreen and be better at wearing hats. We’re also reminded that the Star Party includes one of our favorite aspects, the constellation talk, followed by telescope viewing. At least the telescope viewing is best enjoyed outside of Spring Break and Easter weekends – and both are better on darker (new moon) skies. We may check schedules for our return trip.

Technology somehow still completely escapes Davis Mountain State Park. Hidden up a valley, there’s no cellular service or over the air TV. The park offers some WiFi, best used at the entry gate or the interpretive center. However, with just the right placement of a PC next to a window, we’re able to slowly download email. We’re parked in site #51, a nice creek side water/electric site nestled into the trees. There are two loops with full services including cable TV – the pull-throughs creek-side (#1-#8) are very nice. The “upper loop” (#28 – #28) are located on a fairly steep loop and will take a fair amount of front to rear leveling and have fewer trees. The rest of the sites are best left for tent campers, low trees and narrow roadways would make RV entry very difficult.

Tomorrow we’ll continue east, with a overnight stop in Del Rio, then on to one of our favorite spots, the Texas Hill Country west of San Antonio. More from there…

Davis Mountains SP, site #51

Black Bear Restaurant at Indian Lodge

Indian Lodge at Davis Mountains SP

Skyline Drive at Davis Mountains SP

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: davis mountains, ft. Davis, mcDonald observatory, tx, van horn
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Van Horn, Mountain View RV Park

17 03 2016

Mountain View RV, Van Horn, TX

After leaving New Mexico we’ve spent two nights at Mountain View RV Park in Van Horn, TX. We’ve stayed in Van Horn once before with the truck camper at what is now a former KOA. Mountain View is the park you see from I-10 – looks nice with lots of pine trees. But, after two nights we’re tired of the highway & train noise and dust. Mountain View has normal sized spaces, nearly each has a pine tree, the hookup including cable TV are in the right place, for $38.50 per night. Advertised as under new management, they operate under the “next space open” assignment technique, ensuring everyone is packed in as tightly as possible.

There are some east edge sites that would be a bit nicer, but apparently the electric doesn’t work in those. There’s a good laundry room and plenty of showers. Over 80% of the residents appear to be full-time residents – everyone mentions a pipe line that is being built in this part of Texas. Our only outing was to Chuy’s, a local Mexican food restaurant that appears to be using a 1987 visit of John Madden to gain new customers. It was very busy on this Friday night, so presumably one of the best places in town. We initially ordered a Margarita and a Shiner Bock (a very popular Texas beer). The response, “we’re out of both of those”. Not sure how that’s possible…but, welcome to Van Horn!

Mountain View RV, Van Horn, TX

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: mountain view rv park, tx, van horn
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Rockhound State Park, Deming, NM

15 03 2016

Rockhound State Park, site #21

What a jewel – and a welcome relief from the cramped noisy site in Tucson. Set on the slopes of the rugged Little Florida Mountains to the south east of Deming, the 23 electric & water sites run $14.00/night. With only 5 sites reservable, we weren’t sure if we could nab a walk-up site or not, but we hoped a Tuesday arrival might help us beat the weekend crowd. However, there were no sites available for a 2 night stay when we arrived. While talking with the host about the potential of “overflowing” into the group space, another camper walked by and mentioned he’d be leaving the next day. With a late cancellation in a reservation site, the host allowed us to spend the night there and move the next day. We started in site #21 and moved to site #20. Moving is always a bit of a pain, but well worth the hassle to get to spend another quiet evening here on the mountain side.

At about 5000 feet, Rockhound State Park enjoys a great view out over the lights of Deming along with beautiful sunsets. Dawn comes late because the campground is up against a high mountain to the east. But, once the sun comes over the ridge, the desert temperatures climbed quickly, with daytime highs in the upper 70’s and overnight lows in the 30’s and 40’s. There are also plenty of trails for hikers and a nice visitor center. T-mobile phones (voice and LTE data) worked best using the cellular booster. The Verizon 3G signal was good as were the 10 or so rebroadcast TV channels from Albuquerque. We didn’t use them, but many of the other campers said the bath and shower house here at Rockhound was the best of all New Mexico State Parks. This was a great place to spend two nights – we’ll be back!

Rockhound State Park

Bath/Shower House

Rockhound State Park, site #20

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: deming, I-10, new mexico, rockhound state park
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Desert Trails RV Park, Tucson

14 03 2016

Desert Trails RV Park, Tucson, AZ

We’ve arrived in Tucson, and perhaps one of the most disappointing RV sites we’ve been in since leaving Colorado. With good to excellent reviews, this park appears to be perfect for those who will spend a few winter months in Tucson, but not necessarily for those of us who are just passing through. Winding roads and small gardens abound, and make for a eclectic and somewhat disorganized look to the park. Trailers, coaches and even a few park models seem to be stuck in every nook and cranny. But, the very full park schedule, the 7 activity buildings, a large recreation hall, pool hall, nature trails into the adjoining Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park tell the real tale of this park. This is somewhere that active 40 and 50-somethings come to enjoy the warmth of Tucson during the winter months and to have activities besides shuffleboard and bridge.

For those that want to take advantage of a very full program, the $29/night, or $510/month is probably a great value. Unfortunately for us, it’s all about the convenience and appeal of the site. We’re in WE5 (I think that’s West End) crowded between a large motor coach and a long travel trailer. There’s just enough room for our slides to extend and provide a narrow walkway before bumping into the small fence that demark each site. The 30AMP electric socket doesn’t have a breaker, so you’re forced to plug in “hot”. The water is convenient enough, and the dump port is all the way to the rear of the site. None of this is terrible, we’ve been in small, cozy sites before. The problem is directly behind us, not 10 feet from the rear of the trailer is South San Joaquin Road and directly across the road, a few houses with loud, large barking dogs that obviously spent the night outside. And, the touted free Wi-Fi is like many parks, basically non-existent, at least in these out of the way sites. Noisy nights, and that cramped feeling will make it easy to move on from here after 2 nights. More from our next stop in New Mexico!

Pretty Tight at Desert Trails RV Park, Tuscon, AZ

Every Nook and Cranny used at Desert Trails RV Park, Tucson, AZ

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: arizona, desert trails, tucson
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

12 03 2016

Organ Pipe Cactus

The National Park Service has selected a beautiful patch of the Sonoran Desert about half way between Yuma and Tucson and all the way south at the Mexican border. This is the northern most reach of the famous cactus that is used for the park’s name. Early accounts tell of the magnificent rank of organ pipes rising from the desert floor, surrounded by the even taller Saquaro and gangly Ocotillo with it’s bright red blossoms. This part of the Sonoran is known as the green desert, and indeed at least at this time of year, the surrounding hillsides are a lush green hue.

We’re parked at the Twin Peaks Campground, a relatively large campground with over 200 sites with no hookups. But, potable water is readily available all around the campground, and two threaded taps for filling tanks are available near the dump station. Generator hours are limited to 8-10AM and 4-6PM. Without electric hookups, we didn’t bother trying for over-the-air TV, but it’s doubtful – only satellite TV is likely to provide signals. There are also several bath/shower houses scattered through the campground with flush toilets and solar showers. As a bonus, the Verizon data signal is full 3G and even the T-Mobile phones (which appear to be roaming to Mexico) work fairly well. We were assigned site #37. All of the RV sites provide a pull-through concrete pads between paved roads, a smaller concrete patio, a picnic table and grill. All are set among the natural vegetation, most with at least some minimal shade. The only “bad” sites would be those directly next to the bathroom buildings with their slamming doors and bright night lights.

Twin Peaks Campground from Google Earth

There are programs several times a day at the nearby Visitors Center, and a nightly program at the campground amphitheater. The daytime activities range from hikes to tours into the nearby mountains. On Friday we returned to Ajo (ah-ho) for quick visit to the local IGA which provided a good grocery selection as well as an in-store Ace Hardware. How convenient! On Saturday we decided to check out Lukeville, the small border town about 5 miles south of the Visitors Center. As we head toward the border, it becomes apparent that spring breakers from Tucson and other local Arizona schools are escaping to the Mexican resorts along the Sea of Cortez. The backup at the small border crossing was over an hour long. Rocky Point seems to be most discussed, perhaps we need to check it out next time we’re in this part of Arizona. http://playadeoro-rv.com/ In Lukeville, there’s nothing of interest – the former motel and RV park appears to be closed. It truly is a border crossing town, and only about 60 miles to the resorts along the Sea of Cortez.