Georgetown – Keep Up With The Joneses

Eclipse 2024

Jerry — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 00:46:48 +0000

Before the 2024 eclipse, I thought I had seen one before but I think I had only seen partial eclipses. This was a magical event with constant fear we’d miss it all because of clouds. Throughout it all we had short breaks and at totality the clouds just moved out of the way. Later that night I went and cleaned up the pictures I had taken and thought, oh well they weren’t that great but then I looked for better ones on the internet. There may be better ones now but at least right after, mine were as good as most others I could find.

All of the non-totality pictures were taken with my cell phone with only a filter on the lens. The totality ones were taken with our “good” camera on a tripod and no other special equipment. Imagine what you could take with several $1000’s of dollars of equipment!

Just beginning

We were afraid the clouds were going to get in the way

Just before totality there was a break in the clouds!

Totality!

Closer look at solar flares

Flares continued to be visible throughout totality

Another closeup of the flares

The sun just coming out of the moon’s shadow. Within seconds we went from total darkness to bright again.

On the back side, sun starting to uncover

Stone Oak Ranch RV Resort, Georgetown, TX

Jerry — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 14:13:58 +0000

Typical street in the park

Site 410 – Connection Side

Park Review – Stone Oak Ranch RV Resort

Rating:
Site Quality / Amenities: Asphalt roads and concrete pads. There is a decent amount of space between sites but they are not huge. Standard pull-thru sites are 80′ long so plenty big for us. There are rest rooms with showers, laundry rooms, a fitness center and a business center. There is also a heated pool, a picnic area and a playscape. There are two dog parks and a pickleball court.
Type: Commercial Park
Access: Off Ronald Reagan Blvd. (Parmer Lane) west of Georgetown and north of Cedar Park.
Staff: The staff were very friendly at check-in but we didn’t really see them after that.
Cellular/Wi-Fi: Verizon was fast at 44 Mbps and AT&T was a bit slower. Both suffered from intermittent latency issues and occasional drop outs.
Restaurants: There are numerous restaurants nearby in Georgetown, Cedar Park and Liberty Hill.
Nearby parks: We didn’t check out any other parks in the area.
What we liked: Concrete roads and pads. Our site had a good amount of room on the outdoor side.
What we didn’t like: The paved porch is too far forward for Fifth Wheels, putting it beside the tow vehicle. Regular sites did not have picnic tables or chairs. Camp fires are not allowed.
Verdict: Good place for longer stays in the area.

Jim Hogg Park, Georgetown, TX

Jerry — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 15:45:54 +0000

Site 42

Park Review -Jim Hogg Park

Rating:
Location: Georgetown, Texas
Site Quality / Amenities: Asphalt roads and pads. Each site has a covered picnic table, grill and fire ring. Water and Electric only, bath house and restrooms in each loop. The southern loop (nearest the lake) has 50A power while the northern loop is 30A only.
Type: COE Park
Access: Access via Jim Hogg road from Williams Dr. (2338). Lakeway Dr. is good to get to Williams from the north on I35 as is 970 to Andice from 183.
Staff: We had little interaction with staff at the park but they were always friendly.
Cellular/Wi-Fi: Verizon and AT&T were fast at about 21 Mbps.
Restaurants: We have numerous favorites in the area since we lived here.
Nearby parks: Cedar Breaks on the south side of the lake.
What we liked: Nice well kept park with less cedar trees than Cedar Breaks (important since the cedars drop sap) and also with less rocks so the ground was easier and more stable to walk across.
What we didn’t like: No sewer hookups. The dump station is on the way out of the park which is a bit far for a tote tank although it works. The real issue is that if there is a line you may not be able to exit the park as the line blocks the road out.
Verdict: A nice alternative to Cedar Breaks if not just a bit farther to Round Rock where our doctors and friends are. Might be a good choice for the April/May visit as we could probably get a site that isn’t below cedar trees that drop sap. Good sites for us: Lower loop (50A sites) – 12, 14, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 34, 35, 37, 42, 43, 46, 47, 55; also sites 66 and 76 might be ok. Upper loop (30A sites) – 88, 89, 94, 97, 106, 116, 118, 126, and 142. Sites 105, 127 and 129 also might be ok. The upper loop sites should only be selected as a last resort.

Cedar Breaks COE

Jerry — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 03:52:48 +0000

Rating:
Location: Georgetown, Texas
Site Quality: Asphalt roads and pads. Each site has a covered picnic table, grill and fire ring.
Type: COE
Access:  From Interstate 35 in Georgetown take either Highway 29 or Williams Dr. West to DB Woods Rd. Go South from Williams Dr. or North from Highway 29 to Cedar Breaks Rd. then go West into the park.
Staff:  We had good experience with the park attendants which was a relief since there was an encounter with a park attendant that went viral on Youtube just after we booked the reservation. The person involved is no longer associated with the park.
Amenities: Water and Electric only, bath house and restrooms.
Cellular/WiFi:  AT&T and Verizon 4 bars even without amplification. We got about 8 Mbps on AT&T and 8.5 Mbps Mbps on Verizon.
What we liked: Pretty, well kept park surrounded by lots of cedar trees, with lots of space between most sites which helped with privacy.
What we didn’t like: No sewer hookups. Cedar trees drop sap in the spring but unlike pine sap cedar sap can be washed off.
Nearby Parks: Jim Hogg COE – A nice alternative to Cedar Breaks if not just a bit farther to Round Rock where our doctors and friends are. Might be a good choice for the April/May visit as we could probably get a site that isn’t below cedar trees that drop sap. Good sites for us: Lower loop (50A sites) – 2, 4, 6, 12, 17, 22, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 47; also sites 66 and 76 might be ok. Upper loop (30A sites) – 88, 89, 94, 97, 106, 116, 118, 126, and 142. Sites 105, 127 and 129 also might be ok. The top loop sites should only be selected as a last resort.

We spent two weeks here in October 2018 mostly to take care of doctor appointments and to see friends. As we had lived here for about 25 years prior to taking off on our RV adventure we didn’t do anything touristy. We did spend time at some of our favorite restaurants and stores. Our truck also spent a week in the shop getting a problem fixed with it’s DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) system.

Update 4/28/2019: We stayed here again in April 2019 on a lakefront spot which was nice but a bit less private than the previous site we were on. Sites 10, 23, 27, 38, 40, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56 and 58 look good for our rig. 38 was our lake front site and we were able to get satellite there in spite of a tree being in the way. Previously we were on site 56 and it also allowed for satellite reception. For some reason we were only able to get locals from Killeen and not Austin.

Update 5/2021: Site 10 is good and we have stayed on it twice and have gotten satellite both times even though the dish is pointed at a tree. Site 7 might be a better alternative to 10 as it is long and is away from the restrooms. It appears that we ought to be able to get satellite there as well.