Houston Rodeo and Chris Stapleton

 

Howdy Y'all.

Tuesday, March 10:  Lake View RV Resort, Houston, Texas for 7 mights.

Lakeview RV Resort is located in the SW part of Houston, just off US-90 and close to NRG Park and Stadium. We have stayed here several times in the past. It's a resort with a lake and pool. The sites are paved and the roads are wide and easy to navigate. Many long term residents live here in the permanent section.  In fact, I met a fellow last year who has lived here close to 10 years.  In fact, since the resort is located within the city limits, the only downside is the Houston traffic, which can be horrific for a couple of country bumpkins like ourselves.

Because of the annual 21 long day Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show, the park was 98% full.  We had requested a pull thru site almost 6 months ago, but got bumped to a back in that was available in the long term section instead.  But it worked fine and we were able to put the porch out for the pups.

Houston is a busy, busy city, in part due to the Port of Houston, the Johnson Space Center and the Texas Medical Center.  The medical center hosts the largest children's hospital and the largest cancer center in the world!!  And you can never runout of things to see and do. In the past we have visited the Botanical Gardens, Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, Bayou Bend Gardens, Houston Farmers Market and many great places to eat, from BBQ to seafood. 

Follow the links below to read about our previous Houston adventures:

2025:  https://davidsipher.blogspot.com/2025/03/texas-houston-rodeo.html

2024:  https://davidsipher.blogspot.com/2024/04/2024-spring-trip-houston-texas.html

2023:  https://davidsipher.blogspot.com/2023/04/spring-2023-houston.html

This year, the rodeo and Kris Stapleton concert was on our "To Do" list.  And it did not disappoint!  First, the rodeo was just like you see on RV.  Barrel racing, bronc busting, bull riding, etc.  It was amazing to watch.  And then to close out the evening, 77,000 of our best friends joined us to watch Kris Stapleton perform.  It was an evening to remember!!!  

Bronc Busting video.

Here is a link to a YouTube video (not mine) of Stapleton closing out the Houston show singing Tennessee Whiskey.  Here's a bit of trivia for you...Stapleton was Valedictorian of his High School class.  But instead of writing a speech, he wrote and sang a song.  

One afternoon we went to see the  traveling Chinese Terra Cotta Solders exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  The 8,000 plus clay figures, discovered in 1974, are over 2,000 years old.  They were created to guard the Emperor's tomb.  You can read much more from Wikipedia HERE.

One evening Pamela surprised me with an early Birthday cake, and on another evening we grilled at the campsite.  

We always have an amazing time with Clyde and Pamela.  But it's time to keep moving toward home.  Now we are off for a stay in the Natchez, Mississippi area.  So, this is how we roll: 

 

Texas Hill Country

Sunday, February 8:  30 days in The Texas Hill Country

This is the first time we have ever tried to stay in one place for an entire 30 days, and we don't know what to expect.  Will we like our site for that long, will we like the neighbors, will we get bored?  So many unknowns.

Site 31, Peach Country RV Park, Stonewall, Texas

But lets back up.  Upon arrival, we discovered that the site we had reserved was too short for our new RV with the porch.  No problem, we were able to switch to a more desirable spot.  It wasn't long before we felt really comfortable in campground community.  A few folks from our 2 week stay last Spring remembered us.  And then, at the Valentine Campground dinner I won the door prize.  That's a quick way to get known.  :-)  

Valentine Dinner

Soon I discovered the morning coffee club, and became a regular.  I was the only New Yorker there.  It was interesting listening to viewpoints from the Midwest members.

Two of Judy's daughters joined us for a few days.  Christl stayed with us in the RV, while Pamela opted for a nearby bed and breakfast.  We had great times with them 

Pamela with us at the Fredericksburg Brewing Company.

Shopping at the Magnolia Pearl flagship store.

Christl, Judy and Pamela.

Downtown Fredericksburg shopping.

The Texas Hill Country is one of the largest wine producing areas in the United States.  And Stonewall is located almost in the center of over 60 wineries in the nearby area.

A friend we got to know last year, Angela, works at William Chris Vineyards, and she invited us to a tasting.  And wow, did we get the first class treatment.  Thank you Angela!!

Every Monday the campground put on a potluck dinner.  Judy's contributions, including of taco soup, chili, and chicken tetrazzini were always hits.  

Another activity was the constant opportunity to appreciate was the live musical events.  Many of the wineries offered live music on weekends, and we enjoyed several Fridays enjoying a bottle of wine with friends and live country music at Texas Heritage Vineyards.

Parker and Maggie loved the attention as they lounged on the porch.

Al, our next door neighbor, always made several visits each day.

We became friends with several couples, including Tony and Deb from Wyoming, Tim and Lynda from Minnesota, and fellow Brinkley owners, Kim and Sandy from North Dakota.

So, to answer the original question about is staying in one place for a month too long;  Not one bit!  We had an amazing time.  In fact we went ahead and reserved a site next winter for 2 months.

This region of Texas is awash with wineries that cater to nearby Austin and San Antonio, especially on weekends. The Hill country has become one of the largest wine growing areas in the US and on par with California and New York. Stonewall is also the epicenter of the Texas peach industry. There is a strong German heritage in the area resulting in great German restaurants and breweries. Just a couple miles away is the President Lyndon Johnson ranch which served as his summer Whitehouse and where the family cemetery is located.

We have met some wonderful people from all over, including Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Alberta, as well as some locals. There is a very laid back small town vibe at the campground with weekly potluck dinners, morning coffee chats, and Friday Happy Hours. We have really enjoyed our time here with wine tastings (thank you Angela at William Chris Vineyards for the most amazing tasting experience ever), craft breweries, great German food, and fabulous weekly music and wine at Texas Heritage Vineyards. We can’t wait to come back next year.

Now, we reluctantly say "goodbye" to our community.   Next we are off to Houston for a week to visit Pamela and attend the Houston Rodeo.

Texas State Parks: Galveston Island and Stephen Austin

January 31:  Galveston Island State Park, Galveston, Texas for 6 nights.

Galveston Island State Park: site 37

I have always wanted to visit Galveston, especially after reading the book Issac's Storm about the devastating hurricane of September 8, 1900.  At least 6,000 people died.  A fascinating history of the storm can be found HERE.

The drive from Lake Charles to Galveston Island was, to say the least, an adventure!!! Three miles into the trip, and we came to a temporary low bridge sign that wasn’t on the RV GPS app. That caused us to take a white knuckle U-turn across 4 lanes of traffic!! And if that little snafu wasn’t stress enough, we suffered through miles and miles of ROAD CONSTRUCTION. Texas should be required to post a second sign next to their “Welcome to Texas” sign that reads, “All roads in Texas are under construction, proceed with caution”. LOL.

Typical Houston road construction traffic.

Galveston Island State Park is a very beautiful campground right on the ocean. The sites are paved concrete, but water and electric only. Each site had a covered shelter. Stays are limited to 2 weeks. There are several sections, Bay side and Beach side. We camped along the beach where we had glorious sunrises and we could walk the pups everyday along the beach. The only negative thing I can say is the heavy traffic around Houston to get to Galveston Island. Once there, it was a wonderful stop.

Dawn over the campground.

Glorious Sunrises

Full moon rising over the ocean.

Porch time.

Lazy pup.

Judy and her daughter beach walking.

Thursday February 5th:  Stephen Austin State Park, San Felipe, Texas

We had a 3 night stay here.  Another wonderful State Park, but more rustic and rural than Galveston.  We had a pull thru site with full hookups.  The sites were large and quite private.  There were some nice trails for walking the pups, although several of the trails were closed for maintenance.  Since it was a weekend, the park was busy, but still very pleasant.  

Stephen Austin State Park:  site 34

I'm really liking this short sleeve shirt in February weather.  

Now, it's on to Stonewall, Texas for a month long stay!!

Mississippi Mishap and Louisiana

January 17:  This overnight stop in Gulfport, Mississippi was unplanned.  It turned out to be a real adventure, but in hindsight a happy one, although at the time I'll admit it was a "wee bit" stressful.  LOL. 

I feel it's only fair to show you that RV life isn't all sunsets and relaxation. Saturday, on our way to Baton Rouge, we planned to stop for lunch at new friends Karen and Bob, who we met when they camped next to us in Savannah. They live only 4 miles off Interstate 10 in Gulfport, MS. It seemed a shame to be so close and not stop to say “Hi”. They have a beautiful property in the country with a narrow, shared driveway, that had a sharp 90 degree turn in. I pulled off the right hand shoulder to make the wide left turn, and I veered about 12 inches too far off the shoulder and buried the camper wheels in wet Mississippi MUD. With the help of friendly neighbors, especially if they are in the construction business, and after 3 hours of digging, jacking and blocking, we rescued the RV. Steve and Toby, you deserve a HUGE thank you!!!

Lift and block under the wheels, lift some more and block some more, etc, etc.

It's pointless to cry, so we might as well laugh.

More lifting and blocking.

The rescue crew.

Toby and Steve

Dead tired, we ended up staying overnight “moochdocking” in Karen and Bob’s yard. Then, just to show that history does repeat itself (and that we are slow learners), the same exact thing happened Sunday morning when leaving. But no worries and only a day late, we finally made it to Baton Rouge for the rest of the week. And the best part, we got to spend twice as much time with Bob and Karen as we had originally planned.

We're slow learners.  But we knew what to do now.  :-) 

This "adventure" taught us 2 valuable lessons: 1) The difference between disaster and success can be measured in inches and 2) There are good people everywhere who will drop everything and help you in times of need. Watching the national news and social media and you think our society is falling apart. But get down to neighbor helping neighbor at the local level, and we are still a great people!!!

January 18th:  Tiger's Trail RV Resort in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was our next stop for 10 nights.  This is a new park for us.  We specifically chose it in order to visit some RV friends we met last May in Columbus, Georgia.  Mike, Sonya, Ted and Roxanne are such great examples of Southern Hospitality with outgoing and friendly personalities.  

Site 176 at night looking across the pond at the casino.

Tiger's Trail in Baton Rouge is a very nice resort with large and level sites. During our stay we faced some cold weather, albeit nothing like family back home in Northern NY. The campground turned off all water at the park for 2 days because of freezing temperatures. So we filled our onboard water tank and “roughed it”. I topped off our propane tanks one morning, and was the last customer before the campground ran out of propane. They couldn't get refilled for several days since all the local dealers were sold out. A weather crisis hits everyone in many different ways.

One of the joys of traveling is learning new things about our country. For instance, did you know that Mardi Gras originated in Mobile, Alabama even thought it is mostly associated with New Orleans. And what about King Cake, ever hear of that? We invited our friends over for dinner at the campsite one evening, and they rewarded us with Mardi Gras beads and King Cake. We had never heard of King Cake, which is a cinnamon cheesecake served only during the Mardi Gras season and is associated with the 3 kings of the Christmas tradition.

Our first ever King Cake

.

Judy found the good luck plastic baby.

King Cake for breakfast the next morning.

Maggie was sooo excited to meet our Louisiana friends.  LOL.

We had a really wonderful time with our new Louisiana friends, but sadly after a 10 day stay we have to move on.  We celebrated our visit with lunch at one of their favorite restaurants and agreed to meet again in March at River View Resort in Vidalia, Louisiana.   

February 6th:  Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles, Louisiana was another new stop for us.  We spent 2 nights here, but could have easily spent many more.  The campground has been completely rebuilt after devastating storms.  

Cyprus swamp.  That's us in the background.

Walking trails

Boardwalk along the river.

Morning fog.

Neighborhood watch. 

Our amazing time in Louisiana is over for now.  Next up, Texas for about 8 weeks.