Southeastern Texas

From Lake Tawakoni we traveled south following the sun and arrived at Thousand Trails Lake Conroe in Willis, Texas.  TT Lake Conroe is one of the jewels in the Thousand Trails system.  It’s roads still need a little work, but it is obvious that the park has had work recently and that ELS considers it one of the parks worth putting a few dollars into.  The park has both a cottage program and an annual site program, but they are both in their own areas and the regular areas are just as nice.  We had a nice level site with 50 amp (an extra $3 per night fee) and were very happy with the park.  This park still has a café on the weekends, activities for adults and children, and an entry gate that is functional.  It did rain while we were there, but the water ran off of the sites and dried within a few days.  The only negative we can report was the lack of water pressure.  We would give this campground a 9 out of 10 on the Moore scale and would not hesitate to return.  Here are a few pictures.

Our site at Lake Conroe

Getaway Cabins

Lake Conroe from Park

Tennis Courts

Swimming Pool

Lawn Area at TT Lake Conroe

Shower & Bathhouse

Of course we ate our way across Southeastern Texas.  Our first culinary stop was the Willis café, but don’t recommend it.  The Pizza Shack was quite good, although because of our g.p.s. we ended up eating at the one in Montgomery rather than Willis.  The “parrot” Mexican restaurant came highly recommended but was a bit mild for our taste.   The Cracker Barrel is just one exit south of the TT Lake Conroe exit and we ate there several times.  We like the Cracker Barrel for breakfast, but are not wild about it for lunch or dinner.  In Lake Conroe we ate at the Texas Roadhouse – ok but not outstanding.  We also hit the Outback steak house – they were good as usual … we recommend the big rib eye.  We also met our RVing friends Susan and Phil Daniels at Panera Bread in the Woodlands Mall.  Panera has some great soups, salads, and sandwiches … always very reliable!  It was great to meet up with Susan and Phil again and catch up on their adventures on the road.  We last saw them over a year ago in Forest City, Iowa. 

While in Southeastern Texas we ran over to Camper World west of Houston.  I needed an “O” ring for my water filter and thought I could find one there.  No luck.  When I asked at the counter, they acted as if I had grown a new head …  If their parts department is that bad I would never take my rig there for service.  It seems that these days Camper World is more interested in selling Travel Trailers then they are in providing one stop shopping for RVers.  Too bad, but I will no longer drive out of my way to find a Camping World.  Nevertheless we still purchased a new barbeque and some jack pads.  On a positive note we had Cody (our dog) groomed at “Bed, Bath, and Biscuit” outside of Willis.  The service was great and the people very friendly.  We would recommend them for grooming, and they also offer boarding with veterinary services located next door.

On the brighter side there is some great sight seeing in the area.  While in Huntsville we visited the Texas Prison Museum that was interesting, but grim.  I think I will stay on the straight and narrow!  We also visited the statue of Sam Houston.  The statue is very visible from interstate 45, but it is worth getting off the interstate and visiting the museum.  The docent was extremely knowledgeable and we got a great deal of history on Houston and the early Republic and state of Texas.  Here are some pictures.

Lynda with a lifesized Houston Head

Sam Houston Statue ... Note Lynda by feet

Sam Houston - First President - Republic of Texas

Since we were in the area we slipped over to Livingston, Texas to visit the headquarters of the Escapees RV Club.  The headquarters building is new and modern and all of the staff are as friendly as can be.  The park itself, however, was not what we expected.  The park is huge and is spread out across many acres.  There are no gates or security so access is unimpeded.  We can imagine that it began as an RV park in the traditional sense, grew to a park with deeded property where RVers built big “car ports” for their rigs and transformed into a neighborhood, with houses.  Today it is a mix of all three.  If we were the new managers of the Escapees, we would consider moving the national headquarters to a new modern location with the amenities that baby boomers are looking for, as the current park was definitely built for the “greatest generation” and is today a bit dated.  Here are some photos from the trip.

National Headquarters Building

Activities Building

RV Sites

Deeded Property with RV "Garage"

Deeded Property with RV "Garage"

House on Deeded Property within Park

House on Deeded Property within Park

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the George H. W. Bush library and museum in College Station on the campus of Texas A & M University.  A visiting exhibit on DNA was on display at the museum along with the very extensive collection from the life of the first President Bush.  The library has a lot to offer and is definitely worth the trip.  Here are some pics.

Entrance to Library & Museum

Kim at Entrance to Museum & Library

Oversized DNA

Bush for Congress Poster

Bush Car

Replica of Capital

George seems interested in what Kim has to say ... a very patient listener!

Mock White House

Bush's Oval Office

Bush's Limo

Lynda handling crisis in the Situation Room

 Until next time keep doing what you love!

Lake Tawakoni

-->

From Branson we headed south looking for a warmer climate.  We overnighted at Meadow Brook in Muskogee, OK right off of highway 69.  This is a really nice park for an overnight stay.  The site we were given was a nice pull through with 50 amp service .. very nice for $20 a night.  While the temperatures were still below freezing at night, our electric water hose provided continuous service for showers and dishes.

We left early the next day and continued our journey south to Texas.  Our destination was TT Lake Tawakoni.  We had heard very little about this park but assumed the weather would be nice, so we scheduled a three week stay.  On the way down, we stopped at a small picnic area in southern Oklahoma.  Across the street was this unusual tree.  Apparently the wind  blows something fierce here!

We arrived at Lake Tawakoni and checked in at the gate.  We were told that while the park was open, nothing else was really functional.  We could access the adult lodge if accompanied by a ranger … but why bother … the pool was closed, there were no activities scheduled and they even had the temerity to claim they were too far in the wilderness to provide a newspaper as per our contract (they offered $1.00 a day if I wanted to go into town and buy my own).  This made little sense as Dallas is within an hour drive and there are smaller towns and villages between the park and the city.  In addition, the park only has 30 amp service, although we understand that permanent (annual) sites do have 50 amp.  I must say, I am really tired of hearing the tired old story that when these parks were built 30 amp was sufficient.  That was then … this is now … update the park and bring it into this century!  It is obvious that no annual maintenance has been done on this park in quite a while and that lazy attitude is also apparent with the staff.  One day the water went out (apparently there was a break somewhere in the system) so we called the ranger station to inquire as to the status.  The ranger was not in the shack, so we left a message.  The water was restored later that day … but four days later we got a call from the ranger asking about the problem with our water … four days to pick up messages and return our call!  There are some nice sites along the river but don’t plan on camping in them … they are all occupied by annual campers … really they are more permanent than annual … they are building decks next to their units!  In addition, a good 25% of the sites available have the electrical boxes covered … the sites are unusable and not available.  In fact the first site that we tried triggered our surge protector and shut down our electric.  We had to move sites and wait for the surge to reset before setting up.  The sites that are available used to be lovely with asphalt-paved pads … but the pads are overgrown and broken down … as are the park’s roads.  In fact, the roads are so bad that the maintenance men used a blade to push around the broken asphalt creating more of a problem for later years.  In addition, the area around the sites is so uneven that water collects in small ponds after a rain storm making it hard to get in and out.  On the Moore scale of 1-10 we would give this park a 2.  Here are a few pictures.

Our Site on a dry day...  This is a Campground that used to be a jewel!!

Many Sites have bagged electrical posts.

Ponds after the rain

Had a snow storm while we were here.  This is the view from our window  ...We need to go further south!

Roads are in ill repair

Here is an annual site on the river .... nice!

While here we took several nice drives in the country and enjoyed both the towns of Emory and Quinlan and the Dallas suburb of Rockwall.  In Emory we ate at Sidekicks twice … loved lunch (go for the chicken fried steak special) but breakfast was barely average.  In Quinlan we recommend Jalepeno’s Tex Mex for Mexican fare and Soulmans for Barbeque.  In Rockwall we ate at Carino’s (half off on the family platters on Monday night will give you lots of leftovers), but there are loads of other dining options in Rockwall.  On one of our drives we came across these grazers.

A strange mustang?

New kind of longhorn?

From here it is on to TT Lake Conroe, which we understand is very nice … sure hope so as we are becoming more and more disappointed in the TT parks.

Looking for a White Christmas

-->

There is snow in California's Sierra Range and to a lesser extent the San Gabriel's of Southern California.  But that is not the Christmas Lynda and I were looking for (one with trees and lights and horse drawn sleighs).  So we decided to head east and then north in search of the perfect place to experience Christmas:  Branson, MO.

From Palm Springs it is 1413 miles to our designated resting place in Gordonville, Texas (Thousand Trails – Lake Texoma).  There are few Thousand Trails, Coast To Coast or other membership parks along the way, so we made this trip without too many extended stays.  Nevertheless, we tried, when possible to stick with our general rule of around 200 miles in a day of driving, a bit more if it is all freeways.

Our first stop was Colorado River Adventures’ Yuma Lakes RV Park.  This time of the year (late November), the park serves its famous meals and is a pleasant place to stop.  The people are friendly and we are familiar with the park (it still gets around a 7 out of 10 on our 10 point scale).  The park is not particularly convenient to Yuma, nor was it terribly quiet this time … the park is in a flight path for teaching touch and go’s … at all hours of the day and night.  We stayed two days here so we could visit Los Algodones, Mexico, where we stocked up on antibiotics and enjoy a margarita at Paraiso, an expat favorite.

We enjoy a margarita

A dancer entertains us

The tropical ambiance

From Yuma we ran over to Casa Grande and stayed at the Escapees co-op – Rover’s Roost.  This is a very nice park with exceptionally nice people.  It is a bit out of town, but is fairly quiet (railroad in the distance) and easy to get into and out of… It comes with a large site and 50-amp service.  (We give this park a solid 8).  It is very inexpensive for Escapee members ($16.15).  On the downside, you are staying in someone’s purchased site, so they don’t take reservations but will put you up if there is room available … they can usually tell if you call the day of your arrival …  of course, if they don’t have room they do have overflow parking for one night at $5 per night.

Casa Grande was a one-night stay and we were off to Benson.  We stayed at Valley Vista RV Park (Coast to Coast).  This is an Encore park and looks it … dated and run down with small sites.  We paid an extra $2 per night for 50-amp and a $3 per night “resort” fee.  This brought our total with the $10 C2C fee to $15 per night.  There was unrelenting train noise complete with whistles and horns.  While we were there we visited the Escapees Co-op park.  It is a really beautiful park and we wished we had stayed there (we didn’t because, like all of the Escapees, they don’t take reservations …  if any of you are Escapees, please encourage these parks to begin to take reservations … even if it is only a week in advance).  We stayed in Benson for two days so we could visit Tombstone, Az.

Tombstone is an unorganized historical town where tourist shops try to make a living by providing a look at life during the time of the Earp brothers and the “Shootout at the OK Corral.”  Of course the shootout wasn’t at the Ok Corral, the Earp boys were not great examples of virtue, honesty, or goodness, and the lesson learned was that before you shoot someone make sure you can quickly become a US Marshall.  Nevertheless, it was a nice day.  We took the stagecoach on a quick tour around town and ate at Big Nose Kates (pretty good hamburger and a nice draft beer).

Gunslinger and stage driver

The OK Corral

We took a stage coach ride ... very bumpy!

Figures represent the players in the shootout ... not at the OK Corral ... but close

Inside Big Nose Kates

Actual graves of those killed at OK Corral Shootout

Close-up of a couple of the graves.

From Benson the accommodations and attractions become thin indeed!  We stopped for a night at an Escapees Rainbow Park – Dream Catchers RV – in Deming , NM.  This park is extremely clean, has very friendly staff,  and excellent Wifi and TV reception.  The problem is … there is not much going on in Deming.  We have stayed in this park before and always enjoy our stay ($14 + electric).  We highly recommend the park and would rate it as an 8 or 9 (not many amenities, just a really clean nice park close to the highway).

Another single day trip brought us to Van Horn, Texas – Mountain View RV Park ($30 with the Good Sam Discount).  This is a very nice open park with new ownership.  We had a nice pull-through site.  It is close to the highway, so expect some highway noise (when trucks run too far to the side and go over the highway ribbing on the shoulder) but we would stay again.  Even the proprietor admitted that there wasn’t much to see or do in Van Horn … so we were off again the next morning.

We pulled into Big Spring, Texas around 3 p.m. in the afternoon.  When you get off the highway, the exit speed is 15 mph and is very short.  Slow down to at least that or less if possible … the exit ends in a deep curve that makes you feel like you will roll your rig … we didn’t … thankfully … but the heart definitely pumped a few extra times.  The Park we stayed in was The Whip In RV Park.  The people are very nice and friendly.  The park is a bit dated, but it is obvious that the new proprietor has worked hard to make improvements.  He led us to a nice pull-through with 50-amp service and recommended we eat at the Cowboy Steak House.  It turned out to be an excellent recommendation.  We had the sirloins and had plenty to take home.  Nothing fancy, just good old fashioned food for a decent price.  We had been having some problems with one of our jacks retracting each morning, so decided to get out early and retract, then reset, then retract again (recommended in our service book).  While the jack worked … we were so thrilled that we ran off without gathering up our jack pads (darn … another expense down the road).

One more day of driving brought us to beautiful downtown Mingus, Texas (Cactus Rose RV Park).  This is a very friendly park run by a family.  The park has maybe 10 sites, but we had a nice pull through right by the exit.  There is not much to do in Mingus so we turned in early.

A final day of driving brought us to Thousand Trails – Lake Texoma in Gordonville, Texas.  This north Texas park is off the beaten path, and is very quiet this time of year.  We lucked into a nice 50-amp site (the majority are 30-amp).  We had excellent satellitle reception and good Verizon Wifi.  We like this park, although the management is selling way too many annual sites.  This park is on the cusp.  With a continued policy of overselling annual sites, this park will soon lose its charm and become a really bad trailer park!

We caught our breath at Lake Texoma, staying for ten days before starting north in mid December and arrived in Grove, Oklahoma at Bears Den RV Park.  This is a really nice park, but was all but deserted by mid December.  The weather is beginning to get cold at night (high twenties and low thirties) so we bought an electric heated fresh water hose.  The hose works great and keeps itself at 45 degrees even in the most extreme temperatures ... of course the problem is that you are now obligated to wrap and keep the park's connection from freezing as well, if you don't want to constantly hook and unhook your hose.  We developed a big insulated sock that when placed over the park's faucet will keep it from freezing down to the mid teens.  Also purchased a ceramic heater for the compartments that will keep them around 45 degrees ...  hopefully we are ready for the jump to Branson.

One final hop takes us into Branson.   We drove over to Springfield and then down the thirty miles to Branson.  The weather is crisp, but dry ... it is December 20th.  On the way to Branson are a series of long up and down hills that are made to challenge your proficiency as a driver.  I crest one hill and am starting down another when the "Stop Engine!" warning light comes on.  I pull over to the side of the highway and before I can turn the engine off, the warning light goes out.  This happens several more times before finally arriving in Branson.  We post the problem on iRV2 and find out that on our 2007 Winnebago Tour that if the coolant level gets even slightly low the Stop Engine warning will come on.  Before leaving Branson we have Branson Motor Coach add coolant and tighten all the hose clamps that caused the coolant to leak.  They do a nice job for a reasonable price.

We are now ready to concentrate on Christmas.  We put a wreath and garland on the front of the coach and decorate our Christmas tree!  Lynda gets on line to make a few reservations for shows to get us in the Christmas spirit.  Our oldest son (spending Christmas in Saltzburg, Austria) sends us tickets to the Dixie Jamboree Christmas show which we thoroughly enjoy (Thanks Jen and Jason!).  We are surprised to find out that we need to see what we want before December 30.  On that day, Branson rolls up the sidewalks and closes until mid March (there are no shows in January!).  We manage to book a murder mystery theater on December 26th (we don't recommend this one) and the Red Neck Tenors on the 29th (these guys are really great ... all opera singers with excellent voices and a great sense of humor).  The highlight of our trip is a visit to Silver Dollar City.  They go all out for Christmas and we visit on the 23rd.  They have over a million lights, and everything is decorated beautifully.   Here are a few pictures.

Little Bears made by Kim's Mom sit at the Front of the Coach

The Coach in its Christmas Finery

Our Stockings hung with care!

St. Nicholas apparently was here!

Beautiful Belgium at Dixie Stampede

Jason & Jen went all out ... our event even included the boot cups

Wreath in the lobby of the Dixie Stampede ... pictures were not allowed inside

The costume looked magnificent under blacklight during show

One of the shops at Silver Dollar City

Reindeer and Sleigh

Silver Dollar City Parade

Some of the million lights at Silver Dollar City

All of these trees are lighted ... my flash washed out their lights.

On Christmas Eve it snows ... just like in the movies!  It is great.  Terrific lights at Silver Dollar City, and snow on Christmas Eve!.  Of course with a bit of snow also comes continued cold.  The day time temperatures hover in the low thirties and drops to as low as 14 degrees at night.  The  cold begins to dampen our spirits and by January 3 we are more than ready to head south.  We are lucky and leave on a day with dry roads.  We were originally planning on going south through Arkansas, but the weather there is much worse than in Branson (Little Rock got 14 inches of snow and the power was out in some places for as long as a week).  We head north to Springfield (stopping at Lamberts for lunch and some of their 'throwed rolls') and then down to Muskogee for the night before slipping back into Texas the following day.

Outside of our Coach

The car gets a nice dusting

We are looking forward to a great 2013 and wish you and yours a Happy New Year!

Until next time … keep doing what you love!