Dalhart City Park - Texas

Dalhart City Park was once a Texas State Park. The park surrounds Lake Rita Blanca. GPS can't find it, sends you to a dirt road on the opposite end of the lake. If you can get to the Rodeo Arena in town, you have arrived at the park. The RV sites are near the frisbee golf course.

Lake Rita Blanca - April 2017

I arrived early in the day and parked in the day use area.  I walked on the trails and waited to see if other RVs would be staying the night. 

There is a private RV park in town, but it was more expensive and probably crowded. I would go there if no other RVs showed up, I did not want to be the only RV staying overnight in the city park.

Although this is a large park, the camping area is small, 10 spaces on gravel with no camp host on duty.  $15 for a site with electric. RVParkReviews says full hookups, I only used the electric.

The surrounding park has several trails and a frisbee golf course. The rodeo arena is on the other end of the park. Curfew in the park is 10pm, it was a quiet night after the day traffic left.

View from RV site

There are a few trailheads and a path around the lake.

alltrails.com shows this as a 5.4 mile easy loop trail.

I would definitely stay here again, when traveling through Northern Texas. There are restaurants, a grocery store and gas stations nearby.


In May 2014, I stopped at the XIT Museum in Dalhart, check out that post on my blog here.

Red Fish Bay - Conn Brown Harbor

Redfish Bay is a triangular shaped area between Aransas Pass, Texas and Port Aransas, Texas. It is bordered on the north by Aransas Bay and on the south by the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. Rather than being a large open water area, Redfish Bay is actually a complex of islands, grass flats and channels with the only deep water being on its southern edge next to the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.

The 14,000 acres of fragile grass flats are a rich generator of nutrients for all of the area bay systems and has been designated by the Texas Parks & Wildlife as a State Scientific Area. It is the northern most extensive stands of seagrass on the Texas Coast and its protection is vital to our local fishery. On May 1, 2006, the area was designated as a no prop zone which makes it illegal to run a boat through the stands of seagrass in a way that would cause them to be uprooted.

A beautiful day for a bike ride. There is no beach in this area, so I had to be content riding around Conn Brown Harbor. 

Martin J. Dies, Jr. State Park

Catching up on missing posts from this summer.

Texarkana, August 1st
Jasper, Texas  August 2nd and 3rd

After leaving the state park on Saturday morning, I continued along I-30 until I reached Texarkana, TX.  I camped at a KOA near the highway, a place to do some laundry and sleep, nothing special except for the nice swing at my site.

Sunday morning was a nice drive south along Highway 59 through some small towns. I turned into Martin Dies State Park and remembered being there before.  It was very hot and humid and there were not very many campers.  I decided to use one of the coupons for 1/2 off a 2nd night and paid for 2 nights. My site had a view of the lake through the trees. 

It was too hot to do much, I did go for short walks and short bike rides in the early mornings or right before sunset. I did a little bit of sewing in the afternoon, setting up my sewing machine on the picnic table. Mostly this was a relaxing, lazy stop along the way.

Love the large sites that are standard at most state parks.

Rain, rain, go away.........

I've been trying to get to Chicago from San Antonio and have changed my route several times. Good thing I gave myself 2 weeks to get there.

Remind me to not travel in the Midwest in the spring. Oh ya, its is the 3rd time I've done this :). 

I attempted to leave San Antonio on Wed, May 13th, stopped for gas and groceries, then received an alert on my phone of a tornado watch before I reached the highway. 

Thursday morning I headed to the Escapees Rainbow Park in Livingston, just a few sprinkles and good travel, except for going through/around Houston. I stayed in the wooded area of the park for 2 nights. 

My original route was to stop at several state parks in TX, AR and IL. The parks in TX along the route had flooding or electrical problems due to storm damage. 

The state and national parks usually post "alerts" on their websites. This is a great help with planning. 

Next stop, Shreveport KOA (Tall Pines RV) - a port in the storm - pretty trees - but not my style of campground. I have a small RV and prefer an actual campground, I don't need easy pull through rows of sites.  

Weather reports indicated tornadoes, floods and storms on my north easterly route, so I needed to stay south and took I-20 East. 

                       Vicksburg, MS

Weather was pretty good, some sprinkles and wind and about 10 minutes of heavy rain east of Vicksburg. And a lightning strike very close to the RV while I was on I-20 between Vicksburg and Pelahatchie.  The right outside mirror and the windshield lit up with a purple glow and there was a chemical smell, that I later read was ozone. I thought I smelled propane and for a few seconds was concerned that the RV was actually hit by lightning. Later that day, I was not able to turn the valve for the propane tank, like it was soldered shut.  I am the one that opens and closes it, so it should have not been too tight.  

After that event, I landed at Jellystone on the Lake in Pelahatchie, MS. Its a beautiful campground and not crowded yet. I probably would not camp here in peak season when it is full, but it is quiet and peaceful this week. 

Two days later, on my way North, I stopped at Camping World near Memphis and the tech could not turn the propane valve, either.  He ended up using a wrench, then filled the tank and I had no other problems, so it is still a mystery of how close I was to the lightning.

Next up - North on I-55.  I would prefer to drive along the Natchez Trace Parkway but there are currently thunderstorm and flash flood warnings. I don't want to get stuck on a flooded country road. I'll have to come back to the parkway in the fall. 

Catching up

My last travel post was about the days leaving the North Rim in October.  I traveled through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to arrive in San Antonio the week of Halloween to help my daughter sew a costume for my granddaughter.  I stayed in San Antonio until January 2nd.

I hope to still post about my travels in October, but have writers block or something, just not interested in writing. I hope to have all my blogs printed (I have already printed the year 2011) and it would be nice to have all my travels recorded.

I have decided not to spend close to $100 a month for internet.  I do not stream movies or TV or watch a lot of videos. I do not need it for business purposes, so I am currently using my cellphone as a hotspot.  Most of the workamping jobs offer some type of internet connection and there are always libraries or McD, etc.

So, with slow connections and limited monthly data, I rarely open my laptop.  I can read blogs on my iPhone through Feedly and I have done a few short blog posts using the Blogger app - but I have decided not to make the internet a big part of my life.

With plans to go to the Chicago area in late May, I decided to work Income Tax Season instead of working a summer job. For most summer jobs, I would have to commit to working from Mid April until Labor Day or later. I may decide to work a shorter summer season, like the 2 month stint I did at the North Rim.

I am currently in Aransas Pass, TX working at a CPA office, my RV site is about a 10 minute walk from the office.  I work about 37 hours a week, Monday through Friday.  Much less stress than when I owned my own tax prep business.  I don't have to worry about software, employees, bills, vendors, phone and internet working, etc. I am enjoying preparing the returns and helping out the clients that always seem to be weary of taxes.

Although this is not considered a "beach" town, it is on the Gulf and there are a few parks and marinas. Walmart and HEB are within walking or biking distance, and the library is less than a mile away. I can ride my bike around on the weekends to enjoy the scenery.

Enterprise Rent-a-car is nearby and they offer a $9.99 a day weekend rate. Last weekend I drove to San Antonio to visit my daughter and her family. It was cheaper than fuel for the RV and paying for an RV site. 

I don't think I will give up totally on the blog and still enjoy reading and following along with everyone.

Deciding where to go next

I'm still on the Gulf Coast, moving around from park to park, trying to decide where I want to go next.  The weather has been rainy, cloudy and foggy.....but the temps are warm.

Can't decide if I want to stay around the coast or head up towards New Mexico and maybe Arizona before I head to Colorado.  I checked weather.com and the night time temps in southern New Mexico are pretty low, even though the daytime temps are in the 60's with sunshine.

I do not have to turn on the furnace or the electric heater where I am at now. If I decide to move north to New Mexico or Arizona, it will most likely be cold in the mornings when I go out for a walk.

Warm days/nights with possibility of rain/fog
        vs. 
    Sunshine and cold nights/mornings

I am still drawn to this area
 and am not in a hurry to head north.

My challenge is finding a park that feels like the country, but that is close to conveniences.  I want to be able to walk around town and check out the area. This is what I like about the Gulf Coast, many of the RV parks are close to the beaches and piers and I can spend hours walking around the area.

I am challenging myself to find places to visit where I don't need a car. I want to intentionally find places to walk and ride a bike.  When I owned my home, I would often walk to the grocery store, bank, library or post office. I am trying to fit that into my lifestyle now. Several years ago I did research on "walkable" communities. Now, I just have to find "walkable" communities that have nice RV parks.

The State Parks that have walking and biking trails are also good places to stay for more than a day or two. I can fill several hours a day trying out different trails in a state park.

I feel more comfortable walking along the shore (a more open, spacious feeling). When I am walking the trails in the wooded parks, it feels more closed in and secluded and I'm not comfortable walking alone.

*     *     *     *     *

From December 30th to February 14th, I stayed at Pioneer Beach Resort in Port Aransas, TX on Mustang Island.  I really liked the corner site that I had near the pond. If I had been in another site, I may not have stayed as long and probably would not have been as happy with the park.  Many of the sites are close together, but there are a few areas around the ponds in the park that have larger sites.

Pioneer Beach Resort          Right outside the RV door

Pioneer Beach Resort is almost 5 miles from the "downtown" area of Port Aransas and this is why I chose this park. It's on the quieter side of the island, closer to the state parks, and is the end of the line for the bus. The bus comes to the park once an hour from 10am to 5pm, 7 days a week. I used this bus to go to the grocery, post office, or to get to other areas of town to walk around and check out different areas.

The park has a nice boardwalk, wide enough to ride a golf cart on, that takes you over the dunes and to the beach. The beach on this end of Mustang Island is not very crowded.

Pioneer Beach Resort has all of the usual events for a "snowbird" park. Pot luck dinners, bingo, craft classes, seminars, entertainment, dances, etc.  I did not join in on any of these events. Some of the women I talked to have been coming back to this park, every winter, for over 12 years.

*     *     *     *     *

I had an appointment for an eye exam this week and wanted to find a park close to the doctors office.  The exam would include dilating my eyes and I did not want to drive the RV around after that. I ended up at Portobelo Village, an RV & Mobile Home Community in Aransas Pass. It was less than a mile walk to the eye doctors office, so it was a good place to stay for 2 days. The park was nice and clean, and less than 2 blocks to walk to stores and Subway for dinner. Everyone is friendly, but its not where I want to stay for a long time, so I am moving on.

*     *     *

Friday morning, I drove around 20 miles, I'm staying in another coastal town. I paid for a week, and then maybe I'll finally make a decision about which way I'm heading.

map from TexasCoastalBend,org

Lighthouse Beach RV Park and Bird Sanctuary

December 8 to December 14, 2011

Port Lavaca, TX - A city owned park with a long boardwalk around the bay. The site I was on, which was not considered waterfront, had a view of the Bay out my front window. There are 3 sections to this park, the area I was in had 8 long pull through sites at $116.00 week with a Good Sam discount. The regular daily rate without discounts is $30, so the weekly rate is a good deal. These 8 sites had a one week limit. There are other sites at the same price next to these sites, they were back-in, long term sites, with the sites backed up to each other, very close together. Camp hosts are on site.

The waterfront sites were closer to the beach, they are back in sites, wider lots and had a small covered picnic area next to each site - there is a drawback - if your rig doesn't have a back window you will be looking at a parking lot and the waterfront sites were more expensive, $131 a week with Good Sam discount. They also have monthly rates and senior rates.

Residents of the area have to buy an annual pass to use the area, many people come by in the evening to use the walking paths and to walk along the 2200' long boardwalk that takes you over the wetlands area. The park has a swimming pool, day use areas and pavilions.

There is a fishing pier that closes at 11pm, but the boat ramp is open 24 hours a day. One morning I saw a truck pulling a boat that had a bunch of "pots" tied to the back - mini versions of the crab pots seen on TV, maybe they were getting shrimp.

The park is right on the frontage road of the highway, I mention this because some are very sensitive to noises. It doesn't bother me, occasionally I would here the noise from a truck, but it was gone within seconds.

A restored lighthouse is now on a lot across the street from the RV park.

Halfmoon Reef Light Station

I liked this park, it was very clean and quiet. The laundry room had 2 washers and 2 dryers, and it was $1.00 for each machine and the dryers ran for almost an hour.  They were putting a new ceramic tile floor in the meeting room the week I was there.  There are a lot of city workers always doing something around the park, keeping it clean and updated.

Walmart is less than a mile away and a small shopping district (with touristy shops) in the "downtown" area is just a little over a mile away.  Walgreens, HEB, Radio Shack, Ace Hardware are all just down the road about a mile. The "Outpost" thrift shop is about 2 miles away. There are several restaurants along Highway 35.

Contact info:
 www.portlavaca.org  (some of the links on this website do not work)
 700 Lighthouse Beach Rd
 Port Lavaca, TX      361-552-5311

This park is part of Recreation USA - a discount park program
(www.campingandcampgrounds.com) member discount is $15 night/4 nights only

Discount RV Parks

I was looking for an overnight park near Shreveport, Louisiana.

There is an RV park near I-20, it was $12 more than a Passport America (50% discount) park.
I looked at the maps on Google and saw that the discount park was 20 miles north of the highway, and I would have to backtrack to the highway in the morning.

The cost savings for the discount park would be gone with 40 miles of extra driving, so I decided to stay at the park closer to the highway.

If I was going to stay for more than one night, I'm sure I would have considered the discount park.

I'm wondering if anyone does this type of cost comparison, what are your criteria for finding a place to stay for just one night? Or for longer stays?

*    *    *    *    *    *    *

Anyway, I just stayed overnight in Shreveport and moved on. Shreveport has a lot of casinos, I may have been able to stay cheaper at a casino, but they don't interest me.

Tall Pines RV Park was nice, I had a nice corner site, with a swing and paved patio with a table and chairs, and it was warm enough to be outside for awhile before sunset. I would have liked to go to the gardens of the American Rose Society, but they were closed for the winter.

I traveled through the Northwest corner of Louisiana and will get to southern LA sometime in the future.

Thursday morning on my way to the RV park in Texas, I stopped in Nacogdoches, TX (don't ask me to pronounce it). They advertise that they are the oldest town in Texas.  I walked around the small downtown area for awhile and stopped at the Dragonfly Garden Center and Gift Shop.  I was tempted to buy a small plant for the RV.  I didn't because I was afraid my cat would eat it and get sick. I was hoping to find a small dragonfly to put in the RV window, but they only had ones that were large, glass and too delicate for RV living.

Walking around the town was a good diversion from driving.  They have old-fashioned brick streets in town. I stopped in several resale and antique shops.  I purchased a few small gifts for the holidays.  I prefer shopping in small towns like this instead of the large malls.