Camping at Big Chief RV Resort and Other Things

January 31, 2023 by Monica Brown in camping, Fun with kids, photography, travel

This one time (just this Fall) we decided to go see an off market house with land real quick before leaving to go camping and then put an offer in on it and had it accepted and then we decided we’d rent our old house instead of selling it and that I’d get a job after 6 years of being a stay at home mom (because 2 mortgages) all in the same 60 days. It was wild.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures on that camping trip, but the ones I did take were definitely calm moments I took just for me. I remember being at peace and trusting that whatever was about to happen, was what was supposed to happen. We waited that entire trip to hear back about whether our not our offer was accepted. I’m currently typing all of this in my new office, which has a front porch view of the tree swing I’ve always wanted.

Buchanan Dam just around the corner from Big Chief RV Resort

looking out onto the lake from Big Chief RV Resort

Saida and her cousin doing a little exploring/probably trespassing. My nephew thanked me for taking them on this adventure.

Where did we camp?

Big Chief RV Resort Now referred to as lake buchanan rv resort

Well, we tried to get into Inks Lake State Park, but we were a little late to the game. We ended up at Big Chief RV Resort on Lake Buchanan instead. We were actually pretty excited about it though because Facebook says good things.

Would I recommend it?

It’s a nice RV park. I would recommend it if you don’t have kids. I would NOT recommend it if you have kids who even considered having any kind of fun in a pool ever. A simple “No Fun Allowed” sign probably would have made more sense because every time a kid so much as smiled, the staff was there on the golf cart correcting the behavior. And honestly, we have good kids. They’re not the kids you’re thinking of when you think of terrors at the community pool so the whole thing just felt a little over the top. We watched the staff target all campsites with children. On the plus side, they didn’t have an issue with my super well behaved dog being off leash, but maybe that’s because they were too focused on my well behaved kids to even notice the dog.

So yeah, I’ll just leave that there and then encourage you to book early enough to get into the state park instead.

Around Camp

Tracks we found while exploring one morning.

Texas/OU weekend. We finally installed that TV mount in the pass through.

The kids watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid at one of our camp sites and learning about the cheese touch.

Smiling at their own risk. I’m sure the fun police showed up within minutes after this.

What else did we do?

The Pottery Ranch

We visited their Marble Falls location while on an outing with the ladies. It was a great place to kill some time and enjoy each other’s company. Outside is covered in an abundance of pottery and inside is everything from leather purses to Mexican vanilla. I bought the big bottle and joked with Tyler about buying this sign (which I believe was $200). I didn’t though. Don’t forget to show them the free pot coupon on their website.

Wedding oak winery

After the Pottery Ranch, us ladies stopped by a local winery for a tasting at the recommendation of a neighbor friend of mine. The building was very cool with a fun history and us dry red wine lovers loved our tasting. The others weren’t as keen on it as the sweeter wines were apparently a little over the top in sweetness. Of course we still enjoyed each other’s company and the overpriced cheese plates. My suggestion is get lunch before you go.

Longhorn Cavern state park

Longhorn Cavern is just a few miles from Inks lake State Park and maybe 20 minutes from where we camped. We’d been there before when the kids were younger, but thought this might be a fun activity for the extended cousins. It takes about 90 minutes to complete the guided tour and the kids actually loved it. Corbin and one of his cousins he’d only just met were great entertainment as they had approximately 100 ridiculous questions for the guide and claimed things like having been to the moon. I just loved that they had a great time and didn’t make our lives miserable in place where there was no escape for 90 minutes. I take my wins where I can get them. It’s a great cave tour, especially on a hot day. I highly recommend.

Okay so now about that move…

So basically we’ve been looking for our next house since we bought the last one. We knew it wasn’t our forever house, but it was the house we needed at the time.

When we saw the previous owners of our new house post about it on the Nextdoor app, we decided to go see it simply because the price was right. The pictures were terrible and I honestly thought we were going to have another walk in, be underwhelmed, walk out type situation. We walked in the front door for our showing and I was immediately kinda stunned. Did it need some updating? Yes!!! Did it have high ceilings and loads of potential with fantastic trees? Also YES! I turned to my fabulous realtor and told her we were buying this house. We continued to walk it waiting for the deal breaker to show up and it never did. It felt too good to be true.

Turns out the owners just wanted it to go to a family who they thought would value the home and give it what it needed. It belonged to his mother who had passed over the summer and they just live a few minutes away in the same neighborhood. They liked us and we liked them. We were incredibly lucky. It’s already received a ton of love from us in the form of lots of gallons of paint, lots of hours on the chainsaw, among other things. Did I mention it’s 2 acres? Our previous house was less than 1/4 acre.

Our lender also held our hands as we explored the idea of keeping our old home to rent it out. It was a chore, but I just received payment for the second month’s rent from our renters (who also seem to be really awesome people and we’re thrilled to have them living in our house).

This has definitely been one of the most challenging and terrifying experiences of our lives, but one that we knew would pay off years from now if we saw it through. Wish us luck!

By the way, here’s that tree swing I was referring to.

Airport Park Lake Waco and Some other Waco Things

July 22, 2022 by Monica Brown in camping, photography, travel

Airport Park

More back blogging. This trip was from February.

Airport Park has been on my list for quite awhile actually. A few years ago we had it booked for the Heart of Texas Airshow and it flooded (they canceled our reservation) and I never actually bought the airshow tickets. That’s when we ended up taking our first trip to Lake Bastrop South Shore which has since become kind of our go to and the kids’ favorite. Taking the kids to an airshow is actually still on my list too.

People rave about Airport Park because it’s on the lake and got a state park feel, but without the trails. The sites are pretty spacious and treed is what I mean by a state park feel.

About the Sites

We stayed in site 22 which was a pull through on the water. It was a bit windy, but I assume it probably always is. I honestly didn’t see one bad site while driving around Airport Park. They all looked pretty decent. There was crushed granite around the picnic table and everything seemed pretty well kept. We were gone during the day mostly, but only ever heard a few planes in the evenings (the airport is across the street, hence the name). We didn’t take the kids this time, but I kept thinking they’d probably love it here.

What We Did

This was one of those trips that was less of a camping trip and more of a I don’t want to pay for a hotel trip. We left the kids at home and did Magnolia (kid free!) and stopped by a few breweries. All of this was a pretty quick 15 minute drive from the RV park.

Magnolia

Look, I know some people are way over it, but I’m still a Chip and Jo fan. I love interior design and it feels good to just be in a pretty space surrounded by pretty things. I also had some birthday money to blow through. We did The Little Shop on Bosque first and honestly I wasn’t super impressed. The Silos area had grown so much since our last trip though and I’ve got to say, all the new stuff made getting around so much less frustrating. In previous trips you would wait FOREVER and stand in long lines for just about everything. Having more things covering more space really helps spread the people out and makes each thing much more enjoyable and quicker to get through. We actually did the whole thing pretty quick which meant we could move on to the brewery part of the trip, which was Tyler’s preference.

I took exactly one picture at Magnolia. Honestly I just wasn’t interested in having the masses in any photos, but I was pumped to finally get the try Magnolia Press without having to wait in hella long lines.

I also love that you can buy cupcakes from a food trailer on the grounds now instead of waiting in the bakery line. I would recommend the bakery for first timers, but the trailer works fine when you’ve already done the bakery twice. The Cup o’ Jo cupcake is my personal favorite.

where we drank (breweries)

We did a total of three breweries while we were there. We enjoyed all three, but each had their own vibe.

Brotherwell Brewing

We were highly entertained with people watching at Brotherwell. We got there on the early side for a Friday and watched them set up a vintage market while we had our flights. Honestly this place made me feel a little old (or maybe it was the fact that we were on senior citizen time in our late 30s), but most of everything we tried was good and the atmosphere was interesting. We drove back by after dinner and this place had come alive with patrons.

For the most part they live up to their reviews and it’s worth a stop. I’m a light beer kind of girl so the Bridge Street Wit was my favorite and I didn’t much care for the Radler.

Waco Ale Company

Ok I really liked this one. Waco Ale Company was more downtown while Brotherwell was more in what they call Eastside Waco (still on the west side of I35). Everything we tried was good and I was a little disappointed we weren’t there at a meal time. The food menu looked awesome. I mean, there’s not a ton on it, but I wanted to try one of most things. I would definitely go here again (for lunch or dinner) and I’d recommend it with some disclaimers. Dude behind the bar was DRUNK before we left and it was just the middle of the afternoon. The more drinks he took, the more colorful his language got which doesn’t bother me so much, but I was a little bothered for the family trying to have a late lunch with a few younger kids. This one may not be the most family friendly, if that’s a thing you’re looking for. I will say he was super knowledgeable about their beer and made some great suggestions for our flights which I was super appreciative of.

Southern Roots Brewing Co.

Southern Roots Brewing is just a couple blocks from Waco Ale Co. and I loved their vibe. This place definitely invites you to stay awhile. I didn’t do a flight here, just a beer, but I enjoyed it and the smell of pizza cooking in the back. The pizzas looked and smelled delicious, but a regular did tell me they’re hit or miss. Just depends on who’s cooking that day I guess. This one is 100% family friendly (including furry family members) and I love that they have board games and things available for you enjoyment. In terms of hospitality, this was my favorite. I don’t have any pictures of this one unfortunately, but I’d consider their lifetime membership, if I lived in Waco.

where we ate

Revival Eastside Eatery

The guy behind the bar at Brotherwell Brewing sent us to Revival Eastside Eatery when we asked for dinner suggestions. We both ate a Golden Calf burger, which had me at caramelized onions and goat cheese. I love goat cheese. Their beer taps are constantly changing from what we were told so there is always something new to try in the local beer department. It seemed like a trendy spot with good food that I’d eat again.

Cheddar Box

Cheddar Box is a food truck on the Magnolia grounds. Tyler ate, not me, but I’ve had them before. They make a pretty solid adult grilled cheese. My personal favorite is The Boss which includes bacon, gouda, and basil on sourdough bread. I’m seeing a theme here in the food section of this blog post and it’s cheese.

Ninfa’s Mexican Restaurant

This was more of an old school, been in Waco forever option. Less trendy, but still super popular. I can’t complain. I’m always a little unsure of the places that are considered tried and true because sometimes they’re just not what they used to be. We’ll let this one keep the tried and true label. It’s solid old school Tex Mex.

My Favorite Photographs from the Trip

A Week At Padre Balli RV Park in Corpus Christi Texas

July 20, 2019 by Monica Brown in camping, Family, Fun with kids, personal, travel

I cannot express to you how good it actually felt to be in our camper again. It had definitely been way too long since we’d made a trip (3 months). I let it slide though because I knew we’d be staying for a week this time and I have a certain amount of nights I insist we spend in the camper each year to make paying the price worth our while.

This wasn’t really a traditional camping trip for us. It was one of those situations where the camper is basically a condo on wheels and an affordable way for us spend an entire week at the beach. We showered regularly, went souvenir shopping, ate some dinners out at restraunts, and civilization was at our doorstep… or close enough (Thank goodness because we needed it to be on Thursday night).

Why We Chose Padre Balli Park For This Trip

Morning walk on the beach before the crowds showed up

The main reason we chose Padre Balli Park was for the proximity to people we were going to the beach with. Yes there are nicer RV parks within 30 minutes of where we stayed, but those parks weren’t a 5 minute car ride to the family we were spending time with at the beach. Also we knew we weren’t going to spend a lot of time at the park so paying a higher price for one of those other nicer parks just didn’t make any sense. My parents ended up tagging on to the end of this vacation so we did end up driving 15-20 minutes each way to hang at the beach in front of their beach rental too, but we still weren’t hanging out at the RV Park so paying the price for a “nicer” one just didn’t make sense. In this way Padre Balli Park definitely seemed like a good choice.

My Thoughts on Padre Balli Park

Pros:

Park is on the Beach
There is a restaurant and gift shop on the fishing pier at the park
Easy drive to Dollar General, Gas Stations, and Restaurants
50 Amp area is new
Shower Houses and Laundry onsite
Full Hookups in 50 AMP area
Concrete pads in new section
Friendly staff
Affordable (we paid $275 for an entire week in the 50 AMP area with full hookups and it’s on the beach. The 30 AMP area is $150 a week and doesn’t have sewer. There is a dump station.)

Cons:

No pool
Basic sites (not too close together, but not too far and zero landscaping)
Quiet hours not enforced and people like to party. Thank goodness for AC units being so loud.
Old 30 AMP area is run down and cramped (pot hole parking lot with hookups)
The beach at the park is very crowded
Lots of trash left behind on beach and at the campsites and the park doesn’t seem to prioritize cleaning it up.

Notes:

They do things a little differently than most. They don’t actually take any payments from you until you show up. When you call to book, you get a reservation confirmation number and that’s basically it. Write it down and hang on to it. You don’t hear from them again until about a week before your trip when they call to confirm your stay. It was my first time experiencing this and it honestly made me a little nervous that we might not have somewhere to stay when it was time to show up. Fortunately that wasn’t the case. They seemed to have it together in this department.

Would I stay at Padre Balli Park again?

Yes, absolutely. We definitely want to try out Gulf Waters sometime in the future too, but we want to do that when we plan to stay there and not rush off each day to go see other people staying in other places. When we pay the price to stay at Gulf Waters, we want to take advantage of their scenery, pool, and easy access to a beach that’s clean and beautiful. Padre Balli Park is absolutely a great go to for situations similar to this trip we just had. And honestly, if you’re not a little beach spoiled like me and you want to save a few dollars, Padre Balli Park is really a great choice even if you plan on taking advantage of the beach without driving elsewhere.

The highlighted site is site 16 which is the site we stayed in.

What I Learned on This Trip

More than I was prepared to learn, that’s what. But seriously though, Tyler had to go back to work for a couple days so we spent night 2 with just me and the kids in the camper. I was laying in bed about 10 PM that night thinking it had all gone so smoothly without him when the power goes out in the camper. It’s July in Texas and I like AC. Saida is already passed out and Corbin is making every excuse to stay up just a little longer, but I finally have him laying down in Tyler’s spot in my bed when this all goes down. I check to make sure we didn’t trip the breaker, but the entire Park is out. Turns out a transformer blew and the estimated time of restoration is 3 AM. YES 3 AM. If we don’t get the generator going, we’re going to be hot as hell and lose the food in the fridge and we’re one of the lucky ones with a generator. Unfortunately there isn’t any gas in it so that means I’m hauling kids out of bed at 10:30 at night to go buy gas cans and gas so we can get through these next few hours in comfort. All of these things were new for me, but a momma’s gotta do what a momma’s got to do and I wanted AC for my kids and to save the milk I just bought for them that evening.

Once the transformer was fixed, they blew another one and the new estimated time of restoration was 5 AM. I didn’t buy that much gas so I dropped us down to 1 of 3 ACs and everyone still managed to sleep comfortably. Power was back on by 3 AM anyway and we still had enough gas to get us through another power outage (this time for the entire island) that happend a couple days later.

We’re buying a nice gas can and taking some with us on every trip going forward for situations like this. The other option is our camper does have a fuel station and we could keep some gas in there with a stabilizer to make it last a little longer. And I’m happy to say I now know how to start the generator and keep things going when things don’t go as expected.

I really hate to wake sleeping kids, but they did an awesome job hanging with me and holding the flashlight while I filled the generator.

Places We Ate

Snoopy’s

13313 South Padre Island Drive

Corpus Christi, TX78418

A family favorite on Padre Island at the JFK Causeway. We’ve been going here for years and fish is always fried to perfection and the view is great. The secret is out though so go early or be prepared to wait in line to order.

A La Mode Gelateria

14254 S Padre Island Dr Ste 101

Corpus Christi, Texas 78418

Our friends introduced us to this place. It’s also on Padre Island and Saida and Tyler are obsessed with the banana pudding gelato. The staff is super friendly and welcoming and it’s definitely a new tradition for us.

La Playa Mexican grille

222 Beach Ave.

Port Aransas, TX 78373

Cash only in Port Aransas and this one isn’t a secret anymore either. The restaurant itself is super tiny so there is almost always a wait and then we show up with 16 people. I love it here because they actually know how to make a fish taco. I love cheese, but you don’t put cheese on fish tacos, you don’t put fruit salsa on fish tacos (IMO), and you don’t use flour tortillas on fish tacos. They do none of those things, thank goodness.

Brooklyn Pie Co.

15326 S Padre Island

Corpus Christi, TX 78418

We were first timers here. I wanted to just walk over to Mikel Mays on the pier at Padre Balli Park the night it was just me and the kids, but Saida insisted on Pizza and we had seen this place just up the road at the next stop light. We ordered their large cheese pizza, went and roamed around at ACE Hardware for about 15 minutes and then came back to pick up our pizza to go. The kids loved it and it came with one of those little plastic barbie tables… I mean pizza savers… which the kids have never seen before and Saida is excited to use it as a barbie table (as it was obviously meant to be).

Favorite Camping Hack of the Trip

I stole this hack idea from one of the RV Camping Facebook pages I’m on. As soon as I saw it I was on Amazon ordering these suction cup hooks to hang our beach towels and swimsuits on the outside of the camper. It was a great solution for not having to bring our wet and sandy towels into the camper.

Disclaimer: The link to Amazon below is an affiliate link. If you purhase from Amazon after clicking this link, I will receive a super teeny tiny commission at no additional cost to you. Also if you purchase these after clicking this link, THANK YOU! You doing this allows me to keep creating quality content for my readers and I think that’s pretty awesome.

Buy on Amazon

Drink of the Trip

Overall this trip was a family success, just not without drama because who would even know what that looks like. Lots of margaritas were had; spicy grapefruit ones. Click below to see the recipe I found on Pinterest. They were delicious. and I used lime juice from a bottle, HEB’s Rio Red Grapefruit juice, Espolon Silver tequila, and didn’t bother with garnish because we were taking it out to the beach.

Jalapeno Grapefruit Margarita Recipe by Eatwell101

Pictures From Our Trip Because I’m a Photographer

On Mustang Island near my parents’ beach rental

Mustang Island near my parents’ beach rental

That’s how I feel about ice cream too. Shout out HEB.

Iphone Picture edited with Lightroom Mobile @ Padre Balli Park

Iphone photo unedited @ Port Aransas, Texas

Iphone Photo edited with Lightroom Mobile @ DQ in Pleasanton on the way home

Share with Me

As usual I have no idea how to wrap all of this up. That was all kind of random, but that’s just kind of our life right now so… it is what it is.

Feel free to share your favorite restaurants in the area in the comments, tell me where you’ve found fish tacos that don’t suck, or let me know if you tried that margarita recipe. Seriously they are so delicious, especially if you’re into spicy alcoholic beverages.

Happy Camping,

Monica

A Dreary Weekend at Lake Bastrop South Shore Park

April 14, 2019 by Monica Brown in camping, Fun with kids, travel

So first things first, I’m just letting you know that if you’re showing up at Lake Bastrop South Shore Park after 4pm on a Friday with your camper, you need to call ahead and let them know. I’m not always the best at reading the fine print, but fortunately we knew our site number and the park host made sure we were good to go. In my defense, I originally planned on showing up at check in time, but life happens and it didn’t happen.

Where’d we go camping?

Lake Bastrop South Shore Park (an LCRA Park)

Lake Bastrop South Shore Park is one of a collection of parks located along the Colorado River in Texas operated by the LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority). We paid $22/night to stay in a water/electric RV site and then paid an entry of $5/day for just the adults. The park does have a dump station and I believe they also have just a few full hook up sites. If you don’t have an RV, cabins are also available for rent and of course you can bring your tent.

Site Number?

Site number 4. We made our reservations kind of late and I wasn’t actually excited about this site at the time of reservation. Turns out it’s (in my opinion) one of the best campsites in the park. It’s super spacious with a sufficient enough pad for our monster of a camper and it has a little trail right down to the water. You can actually see the water from the campsite when you’re looking down the trail. This site would be perfect for anyone planning to bring kayaks along as there is plenty of room and an area perfect for launching kayaks just at the end of the trail.

What did we do there?

So we have a running joke already in our household about my ability to choose camping weekends. This was only our 4th trip, but each trip has come with some kind of weather. The first one was cold and a little rainy, the second one was cold and super duper windy, the third was actually mostly okay, but it was a little cold in comparison to the weekends on either side of it, and this one came with the promise of legit storms, flash flooding, and potential for 2 inch hail. Yep, I sure know how to pick them. That being said we didn’t really get to take too much advantage of our time at the park this go around. I think we watched every movie in the camper at least once.

We spent some time down by the water near our campsite watching fish swim around, listening for and finding frogs, and just playing. We also explored the other community areas of the park which included fishing docks, a playground, boat rentals, and mini golf. Of course with the weather we didn’t get to do all of those things, but we were impressed with the amount of activities available. Hiking of course is also on the list of things you could do. You could even hike all the way to the North Shore of the park to the LCRA park there.

Campsite 4. This was our first night and the best weather and light of the entire trip.

Pre bedtime exploration on night 1. This is the area just at the end of the trail from the campsite that would be great for launching a kayak or canoe.

Camping at Lake Bastrop South Shore Park

Messy eater didn’t get cleaned up before setting off to explore.

Do you see the frog? This little guys were hanging out all over near the water. It was so fun to spot them.

Looking for fish swimming around. There was actually a bass just off the shore. Would have been a great fishing spot.

Swimming area. It was a little cold for swimming though.

More from the swimming area at the main community area where the playground, mini golf, and boat rentals are located just off a large parking lot.

The Clean Explorer Disposable Rain Ponchos with Hood and Drawstring: Extra Thick (4 Pack) Buy on Amazon

After this last photo we headed back to our campsite for lunch and Corbin’s nap. By the end of Corbin’s nap, the weather was starting to approach and any plans we had were out the window. We stayed inside the rest of the time and watched movies and waited on storms to pass.

Leaving the next morning was quite eventful. Check out is noon and all we saw on the radar was one storm after another. We packed up the inside of the camper and waited for a break and weather and then hooked up as fast was we could and hit up the dump station in the rain with thunder off in the distance not all that far away.

Ponchos are a definite must have to have on hand in your camper. If you don’t have them, go to the dollar store or jump on Amazon and order some now.

-Moninca

Think of Someplace Warm

October 15, 2018 by Monica Brown in Family, Fun with kids, personal, travel, camping

So I love yoga partly because I sometimes get to have these day dreamy moments at the instruction of my yoga teacher and nobody gets to ruin them by asking for fruit snacks or milk. It’s not every time I go, but I hadn’t actually been in over two weeks and my body and mind were screaming for some me time on the mat.

It was 90 degrees yesterday. It’s 45 degrees today so during a pre-class child’s pose Maria (my yoga instructor) asked us to think of someplace warm. 10 times out of 10 when you ask me to think of someplace warm, I’m going to think of my toes in the sand, the sun on my face, and gentle waves slowly lulling me to sleep. It’s my go to. I tried to go there today and you know what? I didn’t want to be there.

Who am I? Why do I not want to be at the beach? What other warm place could I possibly want to go?

And then I had my most favorite day dream of someplace warm to date. It was cold outside in this day dream (much like today), but I was snuggled in close on the couch in our new to us camper in front of the TV and space heater fireplace with the three people who mean the most to me in all the world. Wrapped in blankets we’re happy and warm and just soaking in all the goodness that is family confined to a small space. We’re drinking hot chocolate, the kids are laughing (I can actually hear Corbin laughing in my head and it makes me smile), Tyler and I are beaming with pride for the family we created, and I literally can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.

I can’t wait to start sharing our camping adventures with you. I love that we’re calling them adventures. I was showing Saida all the places we’d go and instead of asking where we’d camp next, she asked me to tell her what the next adventure would be. It was painful actually signing the paperwork for the second most expensive thing we currently own, but hearing her put it that way makes me realize I would have gladly paid even more to make these adventures her reality. These are the moments we were absolutely meant to live together and I’m glad we get to start sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned.

- Monica