We stayed at Corpus Christi KOA Journey in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A high-service waterfront RV park.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-12-18
• Check out: 2023-01-02
• 16 nights

Weather:

• Mostly cloudy
• High temps ranging between 36-72°F, lows around 25-62°F
• Some strong winds, up to 47 MPH gusts

Noise:

• No road or train noise, occasional plane noise
• Some neighbor noise (especially a frequently screaming kid)

Site:

• #48, back-in, concrete
• Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
• Mostly level
• Medium site: about 65 feet long by about 30 feet wide
• Concrete patio, picnic table, grill, adirondack chairs, fire pit

Utilities:

• 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
• 40 PSI water, conveniently located (we boosted with our water tank and pump)
• Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
• We filled the water tank and put away the water pipes, filters, and softener for a few nights where the temperatures dipped below freezing

Internet (in usage priority order):

• T-Mobile: 40-75 Mbps down, 5-9 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
• AT&T: 44 Mbps down, 21 Mbps up, 37 ms ping
• Verizon: 20 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
• Starlink: not used
• Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

• Garbage dumpster (near entrance)
• Garbage pickup from site
• Package delivery to office
• Heated swimming pool
• Private beach
• Kayak etc rentals
• Weekly propane fill on site

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A prime spot right on the water

We have a motorhome, but very occasionally, I wish we had a toy hauler. This place would have been absolutely perfect for that as we were backed right up to the Laguna Madre with views towards North Padre island. The first few days, we didn’t have a neighbor on the passenger side, so we had unobstructed views, and it was amazing. And then we got neighbors (with the world’s most obnoxious screaming children, which was not as relaxing…so ignore the label at the top of this page that says “no minors”), and the weather turned to freezing and windy, and we both got sick…so we didn’t get to enjoy the campground or the area as much as we would’ve liked. But before all that happened, I couldn’t believe this campground was only a “Journey” when we’ve stayed at KOA Holidays that had fewer services and amenities. The staff are all amazing and friendly, even going so far as to allow us to ship a new mattress there and help us get it loaded into our rig. It may be one of the pricier places we’ve stayed, but it was well worth it. We camped at Corpus Christi KOA in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park:

The campground map:

Our site had a waterfront view — from the side and back, which isn’t as ideal as a front-in site, but the sites were angled enough to have a decent side view:

The patio site had everything including a propane grill (with tools), though it was too cold to want to actually use it:

Utilities:

It was time to regenerate the water softener, which involves adding two containers of salt, then flushing it out for a while:

A nice view out or window, at least when there wasn’t an RV in that site:

Views from behind the site:

A pelican on the water:

Working outside:

Afternoon view:

Sunset view:

Info:

Rentals:

A well stocked KOA store:

Playground and private beach:

A heated pool; a few brave people did use it (too cold air for us to want to swim, though):

Pelicans and gulls:

A deck; the map says that they want to add a fishing pier off here eventually:

A shore bird of some kind:

Grackle:

Grackles checking out garbage awaiting collection:

Paladin watching a grackle on our roof:

The staff does a really good job of cleaning sites between occupants:

Other RVs:

An empty patio site, and houses beyond:

A nice-looking newer Tiffin Allegro Bus (a 45FP floorplan); we don’t want a 45-foot coach, but I would like that rear exit door:

Nice paint job:

This KOA only has one cabin (plus a rental house next door):

Weekly propane delivery to sites; we took advantage of that to refill our 20 lb tank. They asked if we wanted to fill the coach propane, but we don’t have propane onboard — it’s an all-electric coach:

A van selling tamales also came around (the office sent text messages to announce these visits):

We tried the tamales, corn chips, and salsa:

As seems to be traditional in our holiday stays, I got sick, with a 100°F fever for a few days, and other fun symptoms. Of course, I did an at-home COVID test, which was definitively negative:

It’s just a cold, but not the most fun way to spend the holidays. On the other hand, it’s a good time to have it, if I must, since we were here for a couple of weeks, and didn’t have any excursions planned.

Oh, just as I was starting to feel better from my cold, Jenn had her turn with it. It’s so romantic how we share everything.

The weather wasn’t great; we had several very windy and cold days, with several fun alerts:

Hard freeze weather alert:

Since we were here over the holidays, we added some festive lights:

And a mini tree:

A nice RV park… probably not worth paying extra for a patio site we didn’t really use, but if the weather were nicer (and we weren’t sick), we would have enjoyed it more.

We stayed at Loma Paloma RV Park in Presidio, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our first stop in Texas, a quiet, no-frills RV park just north of Mexico.

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-11-13
• Check out: 2022-11-27
• 14 nights

Weather:

• Mostly sunny, a little drizzle one day
• High temps ranging between 52-71°F, lows around 32-42°F
• Afternoon and evening wind most days, up to 28 MPH gusts

Noise:

• Negligible road noise, no train noise
• No neighbor noise, other than occasional yippy dogs

Site:

• #72, pull-through, gravelly sand
• Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
• Very level
• Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 38 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power, conveniently located
• 45 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
• Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (1.5 10-foot pipes needed)
• Picnic table

Internet (in usage priority order):

• T-Mobile: 86 Mbps down, 25 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
• AT&T: 20-30 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
• Verizon: 10-13 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
• Campground Wi-Fi: not used
• Starlink: not used

Amenities:

• Garbage dumpsters
• Package delivery to the site
• Thanksgiving gathering

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Basic park with super-friendly folks

We stayed for two weeks and loved the serenity of the place. The check-in process is self-serve, and then you pick your own site from the available options. Everyone is nicely spaced out in the park, and they encourage arrivals to leave space on either side, if possible, so you get the lovely views of the desert instead of your neighbor’s rig. We were there over Thanksgiving, and everyone made us feel very welcome, inviting us to the neighborhood feast where we met some of the long-term residents, some of whom have been wintering there for decades. The amenities are basic, but they work. Between the scenery and the people, we’d definitely stay here again. We camped at Loma Paloma RV Park & Golf Course in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park:

Our site:

This is our first campground in Texas… so you know what that means — yep, we get to add another sticker (the last new one until August next year!):

This park is a bit unusual in that it doesn’t have a staffed office (more on that later). But we can still get packages delivered, as FedEx and UPS will deliver straight to our site:

The utilities weren’t ideally placed, but not too bad:

A video of three cats by our site at night from our front door cam:

A pleasant view out our dining window:

Sunsets:

This campground is away from big cities, and the nearby Big Bend Ranch State Park is a dark sky park, so we have a good view of stars at night (looked better in person):

A sign for the park:

The main entrance:

Slow adults at play; this is more of a long-term snowbird park than a kid-friendly one (which suits us just fine):

The office building:

As mentioned, it is unstaffed; it just has a small room with books and such, and a desk for self-registration, paying by cash or check in an honor box:

A map of the park on the wall:

The other half of the building is a single toilet and a laundry:

Other sites, including several long-term ones; people don’t live here year-round, but several people spend the winter here:

A bird feeder opposite our site:

Wilderness opposite our coach:

Cats peeking over a tub:

The Lizard Lounge is a gathering place in the center of the park:

Apparently once more people are here over winter they have regular gatherings there, but while we were here there was just one, a Thanksgiving feast:

A nice bunch of people, and a relaxed, quiet RV park. I can see why many people come back every year to spend the winter here. We probably won’t, as it wasn’t quite warm enough for our wintertime, but if we’re passing this way again, we wouldn’t hesitate to stay again.