Lessons Learned – Winter Camping Revisited

Lessons Learned – Winter Camping Revisited

Comments 5 comments

As I write this we are on the 8’th day of extreme winter weather in North East Texas. During this week, we’ve had temperatures below 0°F (-5°F at the nearby airport) and it has snowed multiple times resulting in about a foot of total snowfall. At 201 hours below freezing, we beat the prior record in this area which was set sometime in the late 1800’s. While I realize many people from the northern states will say, so what – we get that all the time – I have lived in Texas for most of my life and I can tell you this much snow and the low temperatures is very unusual for this part of the country. We just don’t have the infrastructure to deal with it as well as other states might.

So far this is the coldest temperature we have been in with our RV
…

Read More Read More

Rocking A RV Park, Vernon, TX

Rocking A RV Park, Vernon, TX

Comments 0 Comment

Park Review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐+ (For an overnight stop)
Site Quality: Gravel roads and grass pads. Even though they had received quite a bit of rain the day before we arrived the pads were mostly dry and no major mud. There were a few muddy spots on the internal roads.
Type: Commercial
Access: Right off Highway 287 at College Dr. in Vernon Texas west of Wichita Falls. When coming from the West it is a bit difficult to turn left and go under the highway to circle back to the park because there was no traffic light at the intersection.
Staff: There is a husband/wife team who manage the park and they were both friendly and helpful. She checked us in and he escorted us to our site.
Amenities: Propane available on site. There is a playground and dog park for those who need these facilities. There is also a small store on site. In the summer a pool is available.
Cellular/WiFi: Both AT&T and Verizon were acceptable – for Verizon the signal level was only 2 bars but both upload and download speeds were in excess of 22 Mbps. WiFi was available at the park but we did not use it.
Restaurants: We only had an opportunity to eat out on a Sunday and due to that and the fact that many restaurants seemed to have changed their hours due to COVID, we only had an opportunity to stop at Fred’s Corner Grill. This place looked like it had been a Dairy Queen at one point and it had a similar menu. We both had a burger and they were good basic burgers.
What we liked: Access to the park was right off Highway 287 so it was convenient to our route. There was also a Walmart right next door to the park which was convenient for supplies. There are some nearby activities including a museum as well as some things related to Roy Orbison who was born in Vernon.
What we didn’t like: The park roads were somewhat muddy and could be a real mess if there was a lot of rain. The same situation could occur with the pads although they seem to be packed gravel with grass (or weeds) and they did not appear to have much of a mud problem.
Nearby Parks: We did not look into any other parks in the area this time although we did stay once before at Lake Arrowhead State Park in Wichita Falls about 70 miles further east.
Verdict: We would definitely stay here again for a night or a few if we are travelling through the area again.

High Plains RV Resort, Oakley KS

High Plains RV Resort, Oakley KS

Comments 0 Comment

Park Review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for an overnight)
Site Quality: Gravel pads and roads. The site (115) was plenty long enough for our RV and truck.
Type: Commercial
Access: Right off of I-70 on US 83 north of Oakley Kansas. There is a convenient gas station / truck stop right across the street from the park where we could fill up on the way in so we didn’t have to unhook to go get fuel. It was a good thing as we were down to 50 miles of fuel left along with a low fuel warning.
Staff: Due to COVID and being a small park, we didn’t need to interact with staff. We just picked up our envelope at the front door.
Amenities: Onsite restaurant, splash pool, hot tub and public fire pit. There was also onsite laundry facilities and restrooms although we didn’t use either one.
Cellular/WiFi: Verizon and AT&T were both very strong. AT&T reached 12 Mbps while Verizon was about 19 Mbps.
Restaurants: One of the places mentioned on the park website was Cap’n Jack’s Pub which is onsite. We weren’t completely sure but Cap’n Jack and his wife may be the same ones who run the RV park. It was highly rated, particularly for seafood and steaks (although they have burgers and other things) which surprised us since this park is in the middle of nowhere. We decided we’d try it not expecting much but to our surprise it lived up to the hype. Anna got a steak that was one of the best we’d had in some time. I had crab cakes and they were equally awesome. It came with a price (each meal was about $26) but both were as good as you would find in a large city. As mentioned there are also less expensive options as well. If you stop at the park or are just driving by, you have to stop here!
What we liked: Easy access to both the park and fuel right off I-70. Cap’n Jack’s Pub.
What we didn’t like: There is a good bit of road noise from I-70. There are also numerous “Kansas” thorn bushes in the grass between and around the sites.
Nearby Parks: None
Verdict: We would absolutely stay here again when travelling through. This park although basic and gravel was much better than the places we stopped in 2019 in Hays and Limon.

Twin Fountains RV Park, Oklahoma City, OK

Twin Fountains RV Park, Oklahoma City, OK

Comments 0 Comment

Park Review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Site Quality: Concrete pads and asphalt roads. The site (P-67) was plenty long enough for our RV and truck but it was a bit interesting. The exit went out to the park entrance and was beyond the security gate. At night, we couldn’t back up to the trailer because the drive was very narrow and made a turn which would have been difficult to navigate in the dark. Getting out of the site was much easier than it looked like it would be. The nice thing about this site is that it was one of two that are right beside the pond and twin fountains.
Type: Commercial
Access: We followed the parks directions on arriving from the south on I35 and merged onto I44 then taking the first exit to loop back to the park. It seemed like we could have exited I35 to 63’rd directly. On leaving we exited to the east and back to I35 rather than following the directions given, mostly because we really couldn’t turn right out of the park from the entrance road.
Staff: We only interacted with the gate attendant who also guided us to the site. He was friendly and helpful.
Amenities: Onsite restaurant, pool, hot tub and splash pad, mini golf, playground, clubhouse, and convenience store.
Cellular/WiFi: Verizon and AT&T were both good.
Restaurants: We didn’t eat out while staying in the park.
What we liked: We didn’t spend much time at the park but it seemed really nice and had some nice amenities although due to COVID-19 and lack of time we didn’t explore them. Several museums are in the area.
What we didn’t like: Sleightly difficult to get to the park but overall not too bad. Awkward driveway on our site.
Nearby Parks: None
Verdict: We would stay here again when travelling through.

…

Read More Read More

Fun Town RV Park at WinStar, Thackerville, OK

Fun Town RV Park at WinStar, Thackerville, OK

Comments 0 Comment

Park Review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Site Quality: Concrete pads and asphalt roads throughout. Both 80′ pull-through and 50′ back-in sites are available all with 30 and 50A service and full hookups. Each site also has a charcoal grill. Sites are spacious with a nice large patio (two in fact as the long pull through sites can accommodate two smaller RV’s or one larger RV).
Type: Commercial
Access: Easy access from Interstate 35 at exit 1 on the southside of Oklahoma.
Staff: The staff was very friendly at check in but that was our only interaction with them.
Amenities: Shower facilities, Swimming pool and pool house, 1,400-square-foot indoor pavilion, 3,000-square-foot outdoor pavilion, Playground, Horseshoe pit and basketball court, Walking trail.
Cellular/WiFi: Verizon and AT&T were both good.
Restaurants: We ate at Kirby’s Steak House in the hotel at the casino for our 41’st anniversary. It was very good but also quite expensive.
What we liked: Nice clean park with paved sites and roads.
What we didn’t like: There isn’t a lot out there except for the casino. Due to COVID-19 we did not spend time there. This is probably not a good option for a long term stay.
Nearby Parks: There are some around but we didn’t explore any.
Verdict: We would stay here again, particularly for a night stay but we could also spend several days here.