Texas: Houston Rodeo

"Howdy Y'all"

March 20th to 24th:  Lakeview RV  Resort, Houston, Texas

Site 136

We had booked 4 nights here, primarily to see Judy's daughter Pamela and husband Clyde.  At the time of booking, little did we know that it was also the last week of the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show.  As it turned out, that was an added treat.  In fact, Pamela and Clyde had a whole host of activities planned for us.

Because of the Rodeo, the RV Resort was packed, including many fancy and expensive looking camper/horse trailer combinations.  

With a combination of trade shows, livestock show, rodeo, carnival midway, and concert venue, there was way too much to cover in one day.  It's really a multi day event.  For our one day there, we took in the livestock show, some trade show shopping, and a great lunch.  With almost 15,000 steps for the day, we were dragging at days end.

These livestock show section reminded me of showing dairy cattle at the county and New York State fairs in my much, much younger years.

Of course, shopping and lunch finished out the day.  

We only saw a tiny bit of what the event includes.  Judy and I have already made plans to come again next year and spend several days.

Next day on the activity list, the Bayou Bend Gardens, where the azaleas were in full bloom.  The mansion and gardens were donated to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston in 1957.  The comparative plaque explains it all.

Today, the 22nd also happened to be my birthday, so Pamela and Clyde treated me to two celebrations.  One for lunch out and one for dinner at their home.  

The 23 was our last day in Houston.  So we slowed down a bit.  We delivered some local maple products from good friends Bruce and Donna, and the girls spent time searching and shopping.  Pamela came to the camper to say good bye.  We'll be back for Houston Rodeo next March!!!!

Good bye Houston.  See ya next year!!

 

You can see our previous post here:  "Two weeks in the Texas Hill Country".

Two weeks in the Texas Hill Country

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March 6th to 20th: Peach Country RV Park, Stonewall, Texas.  We found this park back in April of 2023 (you can read about it HERE) when we camped here for 5 days to see the Texas Hill Country for their renowned vibrant spring wildflowers, including bluebonnets, Indian paintbrushes. We liked the park so much, we decided this year to "linger longer" and give a 2 week try.

Site 136

The weather was forecast to be sunny days and temps in the mid 80’s.   This park is our ideal type of park. It's rural and small enough that everyone can get to know their neighbors. The sites are good size, and there are large dog walking areas. It is located midway between Fredericksburg and Johnson City with numerous shopping opportunities and over 60 wineries in the surrounding area to keep us entertained.

After 6 weeks of nagging coughs and congestion, we finally went to an Urgent Care in Fredericksburg. Come to find out we were both plagued with nagging bronchitis, exacerbated by the high pollen this season in Texas. We loaded up at the nearby Walgreens on antibiotics, prednisone, cough medicine and antihistamines. Relief was not instant for sure, we are slowly gaining. Again, we are by no means bed ridden, just coughing and lethargic.

I never realized it, but the Texas Hill Country has become a huge wine growing region, starting in the 1990's. It is now about the 6th largest wine region in the United States, surpassing the finger Lakes of New York. Below are the ten largest regions in the US.

Maggie and Parker continue to provide daily entertainment with their shenanigans.  

On Saturday the 15th, after several days of Reg Flag (very dry and extremely high wind) Weather Warnings, a wild fire about 15 miles from us broke out. Reported originally to be only 400 acres, by nightfall it had spread to nearly 10,000 acres. The Stonewall Volunteer Fire Department across the street from us was a hub of activity all night and the next day. By Monday the fire was nearly contained, but nearly 40 structures were lost. Scary experience for us with the heavy smoke and threat of changing wind direction. On top of the winds, this area of Texas is in a severe drought this spring.

The Hill Country is extremely dry this year. In fact, Gillespie Country, where we are staying, is currently in severe drought.

This US Government Drought website shows the area in early March of this year.

We first noticed the fire about 2:00 in the afternoon.

Stonewall Fire Department.  The winds shifted later in the evening, sparing our area.

As we finally started to feel better, we ventured out a couple times at the Aldstadt German Brewery for lunch and German beer. This area of Texas was founded by German immigrants, so the German influence is everywhere.

After lunch I visited the antique tractor museum located at the brewery and had a really interesting visit with the host at the museum. About my age, we both grew up on farms. He said every tractor in the museum was restored and in operating order.  We shared some wonderful growing up memories.

After watching another RVs in the park being professionally washed and waxed, we bit the bullet and had ours done. This most amazing husband and wife team spent almost 4 hours cleaning both our camper and truck. I have never seen such attention to detail. No wonder they are constantly booked a week ahead. Thank you Skyler and Alda. You are the best. They have a Facebook page HERE.

Thank you Skyler and Alda!!!

We have met some wonderful people here. Jersey Mike, a Brooklyn native who now lives here full time and does all the lawn moving for the parK. Mike and Patricia who manage the park, along with Angela. A couple parked near us in a vintage motorhome, Mike and Terri.

So, did our "linger longer" plan work out? ABSOLUTELY! In fact, we reserved same spot for February and the first week of March 2026. We like the rural atmosphere of Stonewall, but 20 minutes either direction you shop and sample wines and craft beer. And the eclectic city of Austin is only an hour away. We really enjoy this region of Texas.

Next stop, a weekend stay in Houston to catchup with family and just maybe, the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show.

Read about our next stop: "Texas, the Houston Rodeo and Much More".

You can catch our previous post here: "Texas, Here We Come: Dallas and Waco".