It’s our first winter as fulltime RVers and we’re still learning as we go. We spent three months at a more residential park near family and friends and now we’re just finishing our first experience in a genuine Winter Texan resort here in Rockport, TX. The really big area for Winter Texans is still another 160 miles south of us, but this area, just north of Corpus Christi is probably the second most popular destination. Many of the people come south to escape the hard winters in the Midwestern states and central Canada. They come for the entire winter, staying from three to five months; and many have been making the trip for years, migrating south, landing in the same RV parks with the same neighbors year after year.

Obviously, being in a place like this is a new experience for us. We’ve been staying in campgrounds for a week or two and then moving on. Our stop here is for a month and we’re surrounded by people who are here for the entire winter. It’s a different experience for us and, while we’re looking forward to our next big adventure, I’d say it’s a positive one.

We picked this particular resort because of a combination of it having pretty good reviews on the internet and competitive prices. In general, we’ve been satisfied. Wilderness Oaks RV Resort has a nice community feel. There are plenty of activities: exercise classes, a ladies’ Bible study group, pot luck dinners, special events, music nights, and table games most every night. People are welcoming and friendly.

The campground itself is older and because of that the sites are smaller than we’d like. I was really challenged to get our 5th wheel situated in our site (although had our across-the-street neighbor been home and available to move his car from the front of his site it would have been much easier!). The back-in sites are shallow and the pull through sites are narrow. There are a couple of rows of pull throughs out by the highway and when they are full folks pay for the convenience of having a pull through by barely having room open their slide outs. Those sites wouldn’t be bad for overnight travelers but I’d hate to spend a month in one of them.

The campground has a heated pool and during the winter there’s an inflatable dome over it. Unfortunately for us, there was a problem with the dome that forced management to close the pool for most of our stay. There’s also a hot tub that we never tried out.

Probably the biggest negative here is the county airport that adjoins the property to the south. It’s not a busy airport but at times, especially when an area Navy base uses it to practice “touch and goes” the noise can get irritating. There’s also a helicopter service that makes a lot of racket when they fly. I will say that most of the noise is daytime only, and then, not all the time.

All in all, our feelings about this campground are much more positive than negative. The area is interesting, the facilities are acceptable, the people are friendly, there are lots of activities, and our campsite (although a bit cramped) is okay. As our future unfolds I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up spending more time here.