Here and There

Scott and Jackie's Travels – Thousand Trails Reviews, Campground Reviews, Fulltime RVing, European Travel

Tag: Texas

2019 – Green Caye RV Park, Dickinson, Texas

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We stayed at Green Caye in Dickinson, Texas before and decided to return for the winter of 2018-19. Honestly, the stay lasted longer than we originally planned, mostly due to our purchase of the motorhome and car to tow. Green Caye isn’t a typical RV park for us. Most of the residents here are long term; both retirees and working people. A neighbor told me that most of the people surrounding us have been stationary here many years. There are also long term people who are here for work, staying months to years. While the RV Park has its own area, there are also mobile homes, condos, and rent houses on the same property.

Again, this isn’t a typical RV park for us. There are no park activities and the only amenity is a new pool which is actually quite a distance from the campground. There is also a convenience store on the property.

A couple of major changes to the park since our last visit are the removal of WiFi from the campground and the closing of the adjacent par 3 golf course. The golf course is now fenced off for cattle. However, there is a nice walking path around the edge of the old golf course.

The office is now located at the old golf pro-shop. One nice feature is the ability to receive packages. When you receive mail, you get a text or email with a code in it. Using that code you can retrieve the package even when the office is closed.

The property as a whole is well cared for and most sites are pretty good. However, people are allowed to build decks, fences, etc. A few sites and RVs are rather unkempt. There is an active grounds crew that keeps the grass mowed, trash picked up, and any needed repairs done.

The sites are all concrete and the roads are good. We think the best spots are in the four cul-de-sacs but most of those sites are full most of the time. Our second favorite spots are those on the south side of the east-west park road.  These sites don’t back up to 20th St E. That road gets a lot of morning and afternoon traffic so it can be rather noisy. Being on the south side of the RV Park road makes a huge difference. There are also a lot of pull through sites. Those spots are long enough but are rather narrow, putting you quite close to the people on either side of you.

The big draw for us is that Green Caye is close to family and friends. It is also in a convenient location for shopping and doctors.  If not for that we would probably spend our winters either farther south in Texas where the winters are milder or in some of the other popular RV winter states.

We never know what the future holds, but I imagine we’ll be back at Green Caye again for a winter stay.

Other Green Caye Reviews are here.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Fall Stay at Lake Conroe Thousand Trails, Willis, TX

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No need to do yet another review of Lake Conroe Thousand Trails in Willis, TX as we’ve done several reviews through the years. We like it at this park and, most years, our Adventures either begin or end at Conroe (often both, as it was this year). I’ve added a few photos to the slide show – they mainly show the new “B” section campsites. No doubt, we’ll be back at Lake Conroe.

You can find all our reviews of this campground here.

2018 – Rocky Point CoE Campground – Queen City, TX

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When we lived in this area we drove past the road to this campground many times but it was only after we became fulltimers that we actually stayed at it. I wrote a review on the campground then and it is still pretty accurate.

A few campsites have been added since our last visit and we stayed in one of the new spots, enjoying a 50 amp/full hookup site. If we were coming in for a shorter stay we would head for one of the many terrific sites along the lake. However, none of them are FHU and we opted for convenience rather than view.

Once again, we give Rocky Point Campground on Lake Wright Patman a two thumbs up and will return when our journeys bring us to northeast Texas.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Sightseeing Wytheville, VA and area

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Our stay in the Wytheville, VA area was a brief one but we enjoyed looking around the area. We took a short drive to nearby Austinville, VA. This community has a strong Texas connection because it is the birthplace of Stephen F. Austin, the “Father of Texas.” There’s a small park there: the Stephen F. Austin Memorial Park. Austin led the group of families to Texas forming what is known as the “First 300” and he had a major role in Texas becoming a Republic.

Also near Austinville along I77 is Shot Tower Historical State Park. The park itself is small and tours are made by appointment only. According to records it was the first factory to mass produce shot on American soil. The tower is 75 feet tall with a shaft beneath it adding another 75 feet to the structure. Melted lead was pulled to the top of the tower using block and tackle. It was then poured through giant sieves. As it fell it cooled, forming musket “shot.” A tunnel at the bottom of the shaft connected to the nearby river and water from the river cushioned the newly formed lead balls as they fell into a large pot. The musket balls were retrieved by workmen from the bottom, dried and polished either on site or at a nearby town. It operated from 1807-1839.

This area is lush and green from all the rain this summer. We drove one of the many scenic byways, enjoying the forest and winding roads all the way up to the top of Big Walker Mountain, just north of Wytheville. There we looked around a long time tourist attraction, the BW Country Store. It is full of handcrafted items, tourist stuff, and tasty looking food items like jams, salsas, fudge, ice cream and more. On the weekends, the store hosts music performances. There’s a lookout tower but we chose to not go up this one. Really, tower or not, the views were spectacular: we could see for miles down the valleys on either side of the peak of the mountain. It was a great afternoon drive.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Lake Texoma Thousand Trails, Gordonville, TX

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We spent time here at Lake Texoma Thousand Trails near Gordonville, TX just a few months ago. In fact, this is our third stay at this Thousand Trails. There’s not a lot of sightseeing to do here, but since we have many friends in nearby Denison, it’s a good north Texas stop for us. Since I already have two longer reviews on this campground, I’ll just add a few photos here.

All Lake Texoma Thousand Trails reviews are here



2018 – Lake Whitney, TX Thousand Trails

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This is our second stay at Lake Whitney, TX Thousand Trails.  Our first stay was in the aftermath of the Mother’s Day, 2015 tornado.  We’ve been looking forward to visiting Lake Whitney under more normal circumstances.

This is a large campground with many camp sites.  There are a few 50 amp sites, but they are limited in number with many sold to annuals.  When we arrived on an April Monday there were still three 50 amp sites available to us so we picked the one we liked best and settled in.

There are three camping loops: A, B, and D (loop C isn’t open to the public).  Loop D is closest to the campground entrance.  While most of the campsites are full hookup, 30 amp sites you want to know that there are water-electric only sites scattered around the campground.  You’ll want to keep the campground map before you as you pick your site.

Loop A, which is the farthest in from the entrance (over a mile) has a row of pull through sites.  Again, keep an eye on your campground map as some don’t have a sewer hookup.

Anyway, we ended up in Loop A, a nice 50 amp back-in site.  While we weren’t alone, there were many vacant spots all around us, making for a quiet, enjoyable stay.  We were also an easy walking distance to the Adult Lodge.  (I’ll mention that the road by Loop A is bordered by a golf course and once we came within just a few feet of being hit by a golf ball.) Neither of the pools were open yet but we checked out the game room, workout room, and lodge.  A bit farther is the parking lot for those wanting to hike the trail taking them off the Thousand Trails property down to Lake Whitney.  Really, there’s not much reason to come to Lake Whitney Thousand Trails to enjoy Lake Whitney.

The only real negative to Lake Whitney Thousand Trails is the roads.  Honestly, they are really bad.  The mile in from the highway to Loop A gets worse the farther you get into the campground.   While we liked the campground and enjoyed the campsite we certainly didn’t like bringing our camper in over the pothole filled road.

If I were rating this campground based on campsites and amenities, I think I would give it an eight.  However, if you factor in the roads, especially if driving deeper into the campground, that rating drops down to maybe a six.



2018 – Midway Park COE – Waco, TX

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This Corps park is on Lake Waco, on the west side of the city of Waco. It is just a few minutes west of I35. We always like the CoE parks and Midway Park CoE is no exception. Most of the sites in this smaller park are back-in, 30 amp, water/electric sites. Several offer nice views of the lake. Most are shady, with covered picnic tables. There are a few “double-wide” sites in which two RVs share a spot that has two electric/water hookups. Also, a few have fairly steep ramps. I don’t think we would have drug the back bumper in these, but it would have been close. Most of these sites, though, are very long – long enough for any RV.

There is one row of pull-through, 50 amp, full hookup sites. All of these have covered picnic tables. The sites are a bit closer together but not unreasonably so. Honestly, these aren’t the best sites in the park. The reason is that they are located along the Highway 6 frontage road. This is a busy expressway with lots of traffic. The road noise is pretty much constant, 24 hours a day. Also, people with really big rigs might want to know that making the turn to drive into these pull-throughs is rather tight.

There’s a small, but nice playground and big boat ramp. The roads are excellent. There are many restaurants and stores within minutes of the campground. Our Verizon had a solid 4G signal and I had no problem getting my TV satellite signal. That might not be true in some of the more wooded sites.

I think we liked the nearby Airport COE campground just a little better than this one, but we would happily return here for a future stay.



See individual photos with notes here.

2018 – Sightseeing Waco, TX

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We had a fun morning in Waco, TX at Magnolia Market of HGTV “Fixer Upper” fame. After parking in a city free parking lot we rode the free trolley which let us out right at the front door and Bakery.  I enjoyed looking and shopping with all the other people. It was crowded but everyone was good natured. After making my purchase we walked over to the Feed and Seed Store where we enjoyed the beautiful flowers and gardens. Since the line into the Bakery was long we opted to not go there.  There were several food trucks as well.  People were enjoying the picnic tables and the kids were having a lot of fun romping in the large play area.

Later on, just for fun, we drove past Chip and Joanna’s restaurant, Magnolia Table.  They had a full house, with people lined up waiting to get in.

This is our second sightseeing review of Waco – the first is here.

 

After walking about three blocks we arrived at the Dr. Pepper Museum. The tour there is self guided.  The museum is housed in a three story building but there is an elevator if you don’t want to climb the stairs. We enjoyed seeing the old corner  drugstore with it’s beautiful woodwork and mirror. One room has early-day bottling equipment and a  video on how the old bottle washer worked. Of particular interest to me was the artesian well that originally provided water for making the first Dr. Peppers bottled here.  Sometime prior to World War II the well was closed and floored over.  The exact location was lost as the building was changed and used for other purposes across the years.  It took some archeology to find just where, under the brick floor, the well was.

Throughout the building there are old time delivery trucks on display along with lots of Dr Pepper memorabilia.  In the theater room you can enjoy Dr. Pepper commercials being played on a big screen.  We were surprised at how many of those commercials we remembered!  Scott wasn’t sure he liked watching them because he kept singing them to himself the rest of the day!  After finishing the three stories of the museum we went across the courtyard where there were several other displays, including a very nice model railroad and a 7-Up bottling display.  We also enjoyed Frosty’s Soda Shop and gift shop. We got a couple of sodas, made the old fashioned way, by a soda jerk.  Scott got, of course, a Dr Pepper and I opted for a root beer.  We thought both tasted better than what you would buy in a store or from a machine.



2018 – Lake Conroe Thousand Trails at Willis, TX

grscott

We’ve enjoyed another nice stay at Lake Conroe Thousand Trails at Willis, TX. Several of our Adventures have started and/or ended at this nice campground. During this stay I think the place has been the most full we have ever seen it. The new section is scheduled to be opened in a couple of weeks; perhaps that will alleviate some of the congestion. I’ve done several reviews of Lake Conroe through the years. You can find them here.

One highlight of this stay has been the opportunity to visit with several friends, both folks who happened to be at the campground and friends who live in the community.



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2017 – Lake Conroe Thousand Trails, Willis, TX

grscott

We have enjoyed many stays at Lake Conroe Thousand Trails in Willis, TX.  Since I have written several reviews of this, our sort of “home” campground, I think I’ll forgo writing yet another.  I will, though, mention that this campground continues to receive impressive upgrades.  As I understand it, the plan is to make one property in each state into a showplace.  Thousand Trails promises that other campgrounds are going to see improvements as time goes by, but for now, the focus is on just a few properties.

Another project that has been going on during our stay was leveling and resurfacing the pull through sites.  Those sites have been the worst in the place for a long time now.  The work that is being done will result in considerably better sites.  However, they are still back to back parking and, even though they are no longer rutted and rough sites, several are still downhill, either side to side or front to back (or both).  I think many people will be disappointed that leveling boards, etc. will still be needed in these pull through sites.

All in all, though, the improvements to the campground are really nice and will do nothing but make this already popular Thousand Trails even more popular.  Since we often begin and end our annual adventures here I’m glad for the work that has been, and continues to be, done.


See individual photos with captions here.