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:
The utilities were fairly convenient:
We also got around to adding the Big Bend National Park sticker to our coach, the last new park for several months:
More pictures of chickens at our site:
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):
The RV park also has some goats:
And a few ducks down at the adjacent river:
They also feed the wild deer daily; the deer are smaller than we’re used to:
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):
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:
Well, the store is staffed by chickens, but I’m not sure they count:
Inside:
The store list:
We bought some cookies, candied pecans, and a tea towel:
They also sell freshly laid eggs; we bought a couple dozen:
An RV park sign:
The “chick-in” point:
When we arrived, we received info on items for purchase etc, and a free sample of candied pecans:
Art and a garden:
The RV park was fairly sparsely populated at this time of year. Here are some other RVs and the bathroom:
Near our site was a mobile chicken coop; here it’s being opened in the morning:
Chickens emerging:
Peeking in the pop door of the coop:
Roosting bars:
Nesting boxes:
More rice treats for chickens:
Paladin watching the chickens:
A forward-and-back GIF of chickens; I love how they run:
Eating GIFs:
Let’s finish with a couple more pictures of our site:
A delightful park; we’ve really enjoyed having the chickens and other animals around. We’ll definitely stay here again.
We drove our coach 269 miles, about five hours of driving, from Marathon, Texas to Junction, Texas.
The map route, heading north then east:
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:
Paladin went straight down the steps, so I left the step cover open:
Some fairly barren hills; compare to later pictures:
Heading north:
Roadworks; narrow lanes are a little disconcerting in a wide coach:
More roadworks:
Joining I-10 to head east:
Roadrunner mural:
“Cud you not text and drive?” There were several amusing cow-themed billboards like this:
Paladin still on the steps, enjoying the view out the cat window:
We stopped at a roadside picnic area for lunch:
Since the step cover was open, I hopped out to stretch my legs. Here’s an old stagecoach stop:
Our coach:
Paladin on the back of the couch during lunch:
An interesting mountain:
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):
Our coach:
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:
A river, and a lot more greenery; we’re out of the desert now:
Our exit:
Our destination, Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm, nestled behind a pecan tree farm:
Chick-in:
Guided to our site by the owners:
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:
We spent a day visiting Big Bend National Park in Texas, our last national park for the year, and our last new one until we visit Death Valley in March.
An interactive map of our route:
Entrance sign:
Persimmon Gap Visitor Center near the northern entrance:
We asked the ranger about picnic spots; he told us about a secret picnic spot that isn’t normally mentioned, since they don’t maintain it; a couple of shelters, but just one table. So we had a picnic lunch there:
Hazy mountains and views:
Panther Junction Visitor Center, which includes a post office:
You know I enjoy relief maps:
Gift store:
There’s even a gas station, very unusual for a national park:
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, with our truck behind:
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:
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:
So I taped a bit of cardboard over it to mask that light:
A grasshopper on our windscreen Magne Shade:
The neighboring site has a bird feeder, which attracts lots of birds:
Of course, Paladin really enjoyed watching the birds:
The motel has a resident cat, Oliver, that visited our coach:
Paladin wasn’t thrilled; he hissed at the 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:
By the entrance:
RV check-in:
Old motel signs (established 1940):
The sign at night:
The office; friendly staff, happy to receive packages for us:
A very nice courtyard area:
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:
Backside of the courtyard:
Old cart:
Water tank and windmill:
Goat artwork:
Horse artwork:
Telescope shed and domes; they do nightly star viewing here (a separate post coming about that):
Telescope domes, with our coach visible in the background:
There is an onsite cantina restaurant, but it’s currently closed due to lack of staff:
Other RVs:
Dumpsters, laundry, bathrooms, and motel rooms:
More motel rooms:
There’s an area with a deck, pond, and gardens; a little run down, but it is winter:
They have a chicken run; I enjoyed spending some time with the chickens; I sometimes miss mine:
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.
We drove our coach 275 miles, about five hours of driving, from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas.
That was about double what we normally aim for, but we felt we could handle it, since we had two week stays on either side. And yes, it was fine; it didn’t feel like twice as long, due to taking several stops, plus the drive was pretty easy (no significant mountains or other challenges).
The map route, heading south:
An interactive map, with our stops:
Leaving the RV park:
Our coach with the slides in while traveling:
Heading down the highway:
Carlsbad cavepeople in the median, and a mural of their historic aquaduct, the Pecos River Flume, which is also famous for being the only river that crosses itself:
National Parks Highway:
Entering Texas from New Mexico:
Paladin on the dash, approaching a rest area:
Continuing on down US-62, past the Guadalupe Mountains:
US-62 to SH-54:
A flood gauge:
We quite liked this region of Texas; nice mountains etc:
Dip:
Big dip:
Van Horn, Texas:
A fuel stop:
There wasn’t a great place to stop for lunch around the Love’s, but I had an alternative plan; I had spotted a good place to park our coach elsewhere in town:
Near a Pilot travel center (which we didn’t use for fuel, as we don’t get a discount there):
We went to Wendy’s for lunch:
A funky camera artifact:
Lunch (it’s pretty rare to have Wendy’s, but their fries are actually quite nice, for fast food; I like the skins-on style):
Birds on a wire:
Back to our coach:
Back on the road; we noticed cotton on the side of the road:
Probably from a cotton field:
Another stop:
To check out a roadside art installation, Prada Marfa:
We stayed for two weeks in a patio site and really enjoyed our time here. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, going so far as to help me forward a couple of packages that arrived after our departure. The onsite BBQ was convenient and tasty, especially nice after a day of driving. There is a tiny bit of road noise from the highway, but it was generally pretty quiet. It was pretty easy to get to Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks as well as Sitting Bull Falls and various state parks. We camped at Carlsbad KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
The RV park map:
Our site:
We sprung for a patio site, which included a textured concrete patio, fire pit, rocker bench, patio table, and chairs:
The utilities; there were two sewer ports, though neither ideally positioned for us, but the water and power were reasonably placed:
I mentioned in our previous campground that the water pressure regulator and gauge got frozen and stopped working correctly. So I replaced them while here, plus replaced the water hose with a more flexible one, to make it easier to put away:
Some nice sunsets:
A nice feature of this RV park is that it has a BBQ smoker and kitchen, offering various food options. We had a couple of meals from there; especially welcome on a travel day:
Another meal:
Tasty lava cake dessert:
We made good use of our griddle while here, including breakfast for dinner one night (with Jenn helping to cook the eggs):
We were able to add a couple more National Park stickers on our coach while here:
Another Allegro Bus next to us:
And a Vanleigh fiver across from us:
Another neighbor, a #vanlifer:
Other sites elsewhere in the campground:
“Be patient… I am pushing this thing as fast as I can!”:
An intriguing configuration: a van and tiny toy hauler trailer. Kinda the best of both worlds (or the worst?); would be good for fitting in small campsites like in many national parks; the benefits of having your home always with you when exploring, but more living space at the site:
The entrance and flags flapping in the wind:
KOA sign:
The office and store:
Rec hall:
Porch by the rec hall, laundry, and bathrooms:
Giant chess:
Giant checkers and swing seat (and you can see our coach in the background):
These drifting seed pods were everywhere:
Wind turbine; it sounded like a helicopter in strong winds:
We drove our coach 125 miles, about three hours of driving, from Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico to Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The map route, heading east then south:
An interactive version from my trip planning, with potential stops marked; we only stopped at the first one, “Atlas Missile Silos Official Scenic Historic Marker”:
The first part of the drive along US-70 was quite pretty:
Fox Cave:
Buildings:
There are several places named Picacho, though I always think of Pikachu from Pokémon:
Nice hills and trees:
US-70 becomes fairly flat and barren:
We stopped for lunch at a “roadside table” area; like a rest stop, but no bathroom facilities (which is fine for us):
On the opposite side, a motorhome with an interesting trailer configuration, carrying a side-by-side and towing a car like a dolly:
We killed half an hour while having lunch, to avoid arriving before check-in time. When we got underway again, Paladin remained on the back of the couch, looking out the window:
Apparently towing vehicles like this is quite common in New Mexico:
After Roswell, the highway is super flat and boring, so I didn’t bother taking many pictures:
