Travel from Columbus to Lake Conroe, Texas

We drove our coach 132 miles, about three hours of driving, from Columbus to Lake Conroe, Texas.

Here’s the map route, heading east then north — the route was a bit wacky as we saw that an accident had closed a portion of the freeway we were on, so we took a detour to avoid that:

Map route

Leaving the campground:

Leaving campground

For the first part of the trip, Paladin sat on the steps, looking out the window:

Paladin on steps

Looking back across the pond towards the site we had:

Pond

A herd of deer:

Deer

Onramp to I-10:

Onramp to I-10

Passing the town of Columbus:

Passing Columbus

We stopped for fuel at a brand-new Road Ranger station:

Road Ranger

Due to roadworks, we had to drive on a frontage road for a few miles, before we found an ramp back onto I-10:

Onramp to I-10

Oil containers:

Oil containers

We still haven’t checked out the super-popular and massive Buc-ees gas station:

Buc-ees

Exit to TX-99:

Exit to TX-99

A high overpass:

Overpass

This is a toll road, but we have the “Freedom Pass” transponder in our coach via TSD Open Roads, so we should be covered — but this was the first time using it, so we’ll see!

Toll road

We saw that an accident had occurred ahead on TX-99, so we took the exit to 290 to bypass it:

Exit to 290

Exit to Sam Houston Tollway north:

Sam Houston Tollway

Another high overpass:

Overpass

A glimpse of downtown Houston in the distance:

Houston downtown in the distance

Toll lanes:

Toll lanes

Toll transponder readers; here’s hoping it works:

Toll transponder readers

A third overpass:

Overpass

Exit to FM-830:

Exit to FM-830

The entrance to our destination, Thousand Trails Lake Conroe:

Thousand Trails Lake Conroe

Moving to thrice-weekly posts

Jenn and I have been homebodies over winter, what with having colds, and not feeling like exploring much. So I’m running low on blog posts.

Therefore, I’ve decided to switch from an everyday posting schedule to three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Don’t look so shocked:

Paladin

I may do extra posts occasionally, and of course may increase the frequency again if I start to accumulate too many posts, but for now this seems a good pace.

Travel from Corpus Christi to Lockhart, Texas

We drove our coach 217 miles, about four hours of driving, from Corpus Christi, Texas to Lockhart, Texas.

The map route, heading north:

Map route

The somewhat narrow road from the campground:

Road by the campground

Joining South Padre Island Drive:

Joining South Padre Island Drive

Oso Bay:

Oso Bay

A pitstop at a picnic area for lunch:

Picnic area

A Hurricane Evacuation Route sign; totally reassuring:

Hurricane Evacuation Route

Exit 69, nice:

Exit 69, nice

Exit to Karnes City:

Exit to Karnes City

Refinery:

Refinery

Pump jack:

Pump jack

Nixon, Texas mural:

Nixon, Texas mural

Water tower:

Water tower

Paladin:

Paladin

Another stop for a short break:

Stop

Another water tower:

Water tower

Lockhart, Texas:

Lockhart, Texas

Our destination, Lockhart State Park:

Lockhart State Park

The welcome center:

Welcome center

A flood gauge:

Flood gauge

Corpus Christi KOA Journey

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:

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:

Our site

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

Patio

Utilities:

Utilities

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

Regenerating water softener

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

View out or window

Views from behind the site:

View

A pelican on the water:

Pelican

Working outside:

David outside

Afternoon view:

Afternoon view

Sunset view:

Sunset view

Info:

Info

Rentals:

Rentals

A well stocked KOA store:

Store

Playground and private beach:

Playground and beach

Private beach

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

Pool

Pelicans and gulls:

Pelicans and gulls

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

Deck

A shore bird of some kind:

Shore bird of some kind

Grackle:

Grackle

Grackles checking out garbage awaiting collection:

Grackles checking out garbage

Paladin watching a grackle on our roof:

Paladin watching a grackle on our roof

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

Cleaning sites

Other RVs:

Other RVs

An empty patio site, and houses beyond:

A 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:

Tiffin Allegro Bus

Nice paint job:

Nice paint job

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

Cabin

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:

Propane delivery to site

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

Tamales

We tried the tamales, corn chips, and salsa:

Tamales

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:

Negative COVID test

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:

Weather alerts

Hard freeze weather alert:

Hard freeze weather alert

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

Christmas lights

And a mini tree:

Christmas lights and mini tree

Mini Christmas 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.

Travel from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, Texas

We drove our coach 163 miles, about three hours of driving, from San Antonio, Texas to Corpus Christi, Texas.

The map route, heading southeast:

Map route

Leaving the campground, along the mile of dirt road:

Leaving campground

A fuel stop; a later one would have been better, but this location was cheaper:

Fuel stop

Paladin on the dash; not something we encourage. He was feeling a bit stressed about travel; sometimes he forgets about it:

Paladin on the dash

I-37 south:

I-37 south

Paladin on the dash again:

Paladin on the dash again

Fortunately it wasn’t too far to a planned stop for lunch, which gave him time chillax:

Stop for lunch

I like it when I spot a roadside diner with adequate truck parking:

Diner

This was Kuntry Korner cafe in Pleasonton:

Café

Menu:

Breakfast for lunch; not bad, if a little slow:

Breakfast for lunch

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Onramp from the service road to I-37:

Onramp from service road to I-37

Paladin on the back of my chair:

David and Paladin

There were several oil refineries near Corpus Christi:

Oil refinery

Our exit:

Our exit

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Buildings on stilts near the water:

Buildings on stilts

Our destination, the KOA:

KOA

Check in:

Check in

Our coach and truck when checking in at the office upstairs:

Our coach and truck when checking in

Being led to our site:

Being led to site

Travel from Junction to San Antonio, Texas

We drove our coach 135 miles, about two hours of driving, from Junction, Texas to San Antonio, Texas.

The map route, heading southeast:

Map route

The chickens didn’t want us to go; they roosted on our sewer hose (the feeling was mutual; we could have stayed longer):

Chickens

Leaving the RV park, past the pecan trees:

Leaving RV park

Ranch Road:

Ranch Road

Steep grade ahead:

Steep grade ahead

I-10:

I-10

A stop at a rest area for lunch:

Rest area

Paladin on the back of the driver chair as we started off again:

Paladin

But he soon retuned to his safe space next to the passenger chair:

Paladin

A sign of approaching a big city; a HOV lane appears:

HOV lane

And freeway overpasses:

Freeway overpasses

Exit to I-35 south:

I-35 south

Another exit:

Exit

Our destination is appropriately enough on Campground Road:

Campground Road

A rough one-mile dirt road leading to the RV park:

Dirt road

The office:

Office

Paladin on the steps, waiting for Jenn to return from checking in:

Paladin on steps

Continuing on down the dirt road to our site:

Dirt road

Approaching our site

Our site:

Our site

Pecan Valley RV Park

We stayed at Pecan Valley RV Park in Junction, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice and quiet RV park, with chickens, ducks, goats, and other animals.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-12-04
Check out: 2022-12-11
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a little drizzle
High temps ranging between 63-78°F, lows around 47-61°F
A little afternoon wind, up to 25 MPH gusts

Noise:

No significant road noise; no train noise
Occasional neighbor noise
Chicken song!

Site:

#17, pull-through, asphalt
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Very level
Large site: about 65 feet long by about 50 feet wide
Picnic table, fire pit

Utilities:

50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
50 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
A little too low sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 79-80 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
AT&T: 50 Mbps down, 9-17 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Verizon: 80 Mbps down, 24 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage bins
Package delivery to site
Country store with various swag
Fresh eggs
Chickens and ducks and goats, oh my!

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Close to I-10 but a world away

We stayed for a week and wish it had been longer. This park (and I do mean park) was so tranquil and relaxing but also convenient on/off the Interstate and close to town for groceries, etc. When we pulled in, we were met by the owners, who guided us to our site. All the sites look out over a large grassy area and are nicely spaced, so there’s a good feeling of openness. We also had a good view of one of the chicken coops and really enjoyed watching the hens throughout our stay (and giving them treats). There is a nice farm store by the main chicken coop and goat pen where you can buy goodies and swag, plus the owners or camp hosts will bring farm-fresh eggs to you on request ($5/doz). You can also wander down to the river for swimming, fishing, or just relaxing with the resident ducks. We will definitely stay here again when we pass through the area. We camped at Pecan Valley RV Park in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park; our spot was to the right of the “Space #18” marker:

This RV park is delightful in part due to its free-range chickens — not so great if you’re afraid of the tiny raptors, but we enjoy them, and miss them from our former homestead. Here are several chickens at our site:

Our site, with chickens

The utilities were fairly convenient:

Utilities

We also got around to adding the Big Bend National Park sticker to our coach, the last new park for several months:

National Park stickers

More pictures of chickens at our site:

Chickens

We gave them some leftover rice as a treat (the owners invite people to give treats); here’s a video of chickens eating the rice:

And a slow-mo video of chickens eating rice:

They liked to hang out on our mat (yes, I had to clean off a little poop when we left; not a big deal):

Chickens

Chicken

Chickens

David and chickens

Chickens

Chicken

The RV park also has some goats:

Goats and chickens

Goats

And a few ducks down at the adjacent river:

Ducks

River

Ducks

They also feed the wild deer daily; the deer are smaller than we’re used to:

Deer

And there are squirrels living in the trees; here’s a video of lots of them scampering:

They have a raised bed garden near the river (currently dormant, being winter):

Raised beds

And an unstaffed “general store” where people can go in and choose items to buy, purchasing by writing the selected items on a pad of paper:

General store

Well, the store is staffed by chickens, but I’m not sure they count:

General store

Inside:

General store

The store list:

General store list

We bought some cookies, candied pecans, and a tea towel:

Swag

They also sell freshly laid eggs; we bought a couple dozen:

Eggs

An RV park sign:

Sign

The “chick-in” point:

Chick-in

When we arrived, we received info on items for purchase etc, and a free sample of candied pecans:

Info and pecans

Art and a garden:

Art and garden

The RV park was fairly sparsely populated at this time of year. Here are some other RVs and the bathroom:

Other RVs and bathroom

Bathroom

Other RVs

Near our site was a mobile chicken coop; here it’s being opened in the morning:

Opening chicken coop

Chickens emerging:

Opening chicken coop

Mobile chicken coop

Peeking in the pop door of the coop:

Mobile chicken coop

Roosting bars:

Mobile chicken coop

Nesting boxes:

Mobile chicken coop

More rice treats for chickens:

Rice

Chickens

Paladin watching the chickens:

Paladin watching chickens

Chickens

A forward-and-back GIF of chickens; I love how they run:

Chickens

Eating GIFs:

Chickens

Let’s finish with a couple more pictures of our site:

Our site

A delightful park; we’ve really enjoyed having the chickens and other animals around. We’ll definitely stay here again.

Travel from Marathon to Junction, Texas

We drove our coach 269 miles, about five hours of driving, from Marathon, Texas to Junction, Texas.

The map route, heading north then east:

Map route

Firstly, a video of retracting the front driver-side slide-out:

Our coach with the slides in, and the truck hooked up, ready to leave:

Coach and truck ready to leave

Paladin went straight down the steps, so I left the step cover open:

Paladin on steps

Some fairly barren hills; compare to later pictures:

Hills

Heading north:

Heading north

Roadworks; narrow lanes are a little disconcerting in a wide coach:

Roadworks

More roadworks:

Roadworks

Joining I-10 to head east:

Heading east onto I-10

Roadrunner mural:

Roadrunner mural

“Cud you not text and drive?” There were several amusing cow-themed billboards like this:

Cud you not text and drive?

Paladin still on the steps, enjoying the view out the cat window:

Paladin on steps

We stopped at a roadside picnic area for lunch:

Picnic area

Since the step cover was open, I hopped out to stretch my legs. Here’s an old stagecoach stop:

Old structure

Our coach:

Our coach

Paladin on the back of the couch during lunch:

Paladin on back of couch

An interesting mountain:

Interesting mountain

Cutaway

We stopped again, at a parking area (there are various kinds of stopping places: a rest stop has bathrooms, a picnic area has tables but no bathrooms, and a parking area doesn’t have any amenities… which is fine for us, being self-contained):

Parking area

Our coach:

Our coach

Road Ranger fuel stop:

Road Ranger fuel stop

There was both the Road Ranger truck stop and a Love’s fairly nearby; we would normally have gone for the Love’s, but the Open Roads app indicated that Road Ranger had a much better discounted fuel price:

Open Roads app

Cutaway

A river, and a lot more greenery; we’re out of the desert now:

River

Our exit:

Our exit

Our destination, Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm, nestled behind a pecan tree farm:

Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm

Chick-in:

Chick-in

Guided to our site by the owners:

Guided to site

I started this post with a picture of our coach ready to leave; let’s end with our coach just arrived, before putting the slides out:

Our site

Marathon Motel & RV Park

We stayed at Marathon Motel & RV Park in Marathon, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A motel with a small RV park in a cute small town.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-11-27
Check out: 2022-12-04
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny
High temps ranging between 67-79°F, lows around 33-52°F
Afternoon wind most days, up to 30 MPH gusts

Noise:

A little road noise; occasional nearby train noise
Some neighbor noise

Site:

#7, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind and in front of coach
Very level
Medium site: about 80 feet long by about 30 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power, conveniently located
60 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
Good sewer connection, not conveniently located (2.5 10-foot pipes needed)

Picnic table
Goat’s heads!

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 86-94 Mbps down, 31-43 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
AT&T: 40-50 Mbps down, 7-21 Mbps up, 40-70 ms ping
Verizon: 30 Mbps down, 11 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Package delivery to office
Star party

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

The stars at night are truly big and bright

We stayed here for a week as a base for exploring the area and absolutely loved it. The RV sites are on the basic side, but everything worked in good order. The park is a dark sky area and every night, they do a star party with multiple telescopes and lots of fun conversation about what’s visible. We also did the star party at the MacDonald Observatory, and the one in Marathon was actually better (and cheaper); there were no crowds and a personalized tour of the sky. The staff here was so helpful, going above and beyond when we had package deliveries, including one that arrived after we checked out. I cannot say enough good things about how friendly everyone was. The town of Marathon is small but has everything one needs, including restaurants, a coffee shop, and a small grocery store for the necessities. We camped at Marathon Motel and RV Park in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park:

Our site before parking:

Our site before parking

Our site, with our truck behind:

Our site

Our site with our truck in front:

Our site with our truck in front

The utilities weren’t super convenient; the water was well positioned, but the sewer and electric were at the back of the site:

Utilities

The Power Watchdog surge protector has a bright light; the dog face lights up white if all is well, or red if there’s an issue. But in a dark sky park, that was a bit too bright:

Power Watchdog

So I taped a bit of cardboard over it to mask that light:

Power Watchdog

A grasshopper on our windscreen Magne Shade:

Grasshopper on Magne Shade

The neighboring site has a bird feeder, which attracts lots of birds:

Birds

Of course, Paladin really enjoyed watching the birds:

Paladin watching birds

The motel has a resident cat, Oliver, that visited our coach:

Campground cat

Paladin wasn’t thrilled; he hissed at the cat:

Campground cat

There is a train track across the road from the park, which has a few freight trains pass by each day, sounding their horn:

Train

By the entrance:

Entrance

RV check-in:

RV check-in

Old motel signs (established 1940):

Sign

The sign at night:

Sign

The office; friendly staff, happy to receive packages for us:

Office

A very nice courtyard area:

Courtyard

We enjoy playing Pokémon, and Jenn recently got the ability to request new PokéStops (or “spinny-things”, as we call them); she added one for the courtyard:

PokéStop