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Davis Mountains State Park

19 03 2017

Davis Mountains State Park #7

The Davis Mountains of west Texas never disappoint. Our nicely wooded sites #7 and #10 PARK MAP along the (dry) creek bed provide plenty of privacy and shade as the temps climb into the 90’s. Unusual for this time of year, this heat wave has been with us since Phoenix and Tucson where they were breaking records and running 20+ degrees above normal.

Our weekend in Ft. Davis includes a McDonald Observatory Visitor Center tour, wandering through the old western downtown and a visit to the Ft. Davis Army Fort. On Saturday we make the short trip to Alpine to make reservations at the Lost Alaskan RV park where we’ll spend 2 nights on our way south to Big Bend. On Sunday we head down to famous Marfa with a good friend that has joined us from Las Cruces, NM. A bit of a disappointment, about the only thing we could find that looked open and inviting was the Planet Marfa beer garden. The folks were friendly, the beer was cold and the peanuts were free – what more could you ask for in a beer garden in the middle of West Texas?

After Ft. Davis we’ll make our way south toward Big Bend where we’re planning to stay next weekend. We’ll spend 2 nights at the Lost Alaskan and then 1 or 2 nights at Maverick Ranch in Lajitas. More from Big Bend country…

: Davis Mountains SP Site #7

: David Mountains State Park

: Davis Mountains SP Site #10

: Davis Mountains SP Site #11

: McDonald Observatory Visitor Center

: Downtown Marfa

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Tags: Davis Mountains State Park, ft. Davis, mcDonald observatory, tx
Categories : Spring Road Trip 2017

Van Horn and on to Davis Mountains State Park

17 03 2017

Van Horn RV Park

After leaving Las Cruces we’ve arrived in Van Horn – a popular stop in our west Texas travels. Last year we spent 2 nights at Mountain View RV Park and decided it was a bit too close to I-10 and the rail road tracks. This year we’re back at the former KOA, this year a little drier and dustier with the drought that is continuing in west Texas. We’re assigned site E7, a long back-in with full hookups. Site E8 would be somewhat better, an end site with a small patch of almost green grass and a cactus garden.

Van Horn RV Park

After a quick overnight in Van Horn, we’re bound for Davis Mountains State Park, one of our favorite Texas State Parks. Located just outside Ft. Davis, the park provides easy access to the historic fort and McDonald Observatory. We’ll spend the next 3 nights at Davis Mountains where we’ll catch up with our good friends from Montrose, CO – who are on their way back to Colorado after spending about 7 weeks in Texas RV parks. More from the Davis Mountains of west Texas…

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Tags: ft. Davis, tx, van horn
Categories : Spring Road Trip 2017

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

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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

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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

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Tags: mountain view rv park, tx, van horn
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Mission, Bentsen Palms Village RV Resort

28 03 2015

Bentsen Palm Village, Circle Pull-Throughs

We’ve arrived back in far south Texas at the Rio Grande River – just a few miles north at Bentsen Palms Village RV Resort. This is one of the nicest RV parks we’ve stayed in. Reportedly designed after Disney World’s Fort Wilderness, the park has 4 large circles of pull-through sites and an outer border of back-in sites. The 4 circles contain about 20 sites each with a unique park amenity in the center ranging from a club house to palapa covered pool tables creating social “neighborhoods”. All 250 sites are huge compared to other urban parks. We’re parked at site #235, about half way along the eastern edge. Out our back window is the community Organic Garden to the left and a Dog Agility Area to the right. All sites provide cement or asphalt pads, full services including 60 channel cable TV and a very nice patio area. Nearly every site has a palm tree at the front and some type of hedge next to the patio to improve the privacy. Ours has a few small bushes including a blooming rose that’s been well cared for. Along the western edge of the park are “super sites”, even larger than the site we’re at and each include a small casita. With both an rental or purchase option, some owners have customized these casitas as an addition bedroom, a huge outdoor kitchen and BBQ area or left them unfinished for storage of bikes and golf carts.

Bentsen Palms Village is just south of Mission next to the World Birding Center and Bentsen Rio Grande State Park. Complimentary passes to both recreation areas are available. There are also bicycles and kayaks available to borrow. The complimentary WiFi worked well. For $40/night, this is a very nice resort in a quiet location close to the amenities of Mission and McAllen, TX