Perhaps you’ve got a hankering to visit the wide open lands of Texas? Well, you’ll be sure to get your fix of good old country life. If you like line-dancing, rodeos, or horseback rides, you’re in for a real treat! Barbecue lovers won’t be disappointed with some of the best brisket or ribs you’ll ever get to try. Texas has plenty of charm for those of all ages; from kids to grandparents. Let’s jump in and look at some of the four top reasons to visit Texas.
After a wonderful time in Connecticut and Rhode Island, we were really looking forward to Massachusetts. Our first stop in the state was Cape Cod. Like all the National Seashores, Cape Cod was beautiful and we loved spending time at the beach. Traffic was kinda crazy because of a large rotary plus the primary road switches from two lanes in each direction down to a single lane in each direction. So every time we drove anywhere there was lots of traffic and it took longer than we expected. After visiting the cape, I quickly realized why so many people brave the traffic to find a parking spot near the beach. We loved building sandcastles, watching the seals swim by, and seeing the sailboats. The kids were also able to earn another Junior Ranger Badge and we all learned about the local wildlife at a ranger program about the areas birds.
Giving our children an education that they could never receive sitting in a classroom at a desk has been what our adventure is all about. There are so many amazing places to see and things to experience in this country that it makes homeschooling so easy. The best part about it is that we are learning all this great stuff together. We have now taken them to half of the state capitols in the country and to countless museums both large and small. The learning never stops and what I love is that my children are so excited about learning and tell me how much they like to learn new things; something I think every parent wants to hear. Our travels have recently brought us into the first of our New England states and we experienced another first which was visiting back to back state capitols. Most of these northern states are pretty small which made it easy for us to visit both Hartford and Providence from the same camp. We made our home in Connecticut for a week and explored the area.
It is located in the Gulf Coast between Corpus Christi and Brownsville in south Texas. There are many amazing things about Padre Island, and I am grateful that we got to experience some of them. We originally intended to stay at the Malaquite campground inside the park, however, things do not always go as planned. We have learned to be flexible with our plans as they often change on the spur of the moment. The campground was completely full when we arrived, so we studied the map for a few minutes, drove to the other campground on the bay side, and then decided we would take the trailer right down to the beach. There are no amenities when camping on the beach, but the view is amazing and the price is reasonable (free!). It is possible to drive the entire length of the beach. Four wheel drive is recommended after the 5 mile marker, so we only took the trailer down about a mile or two. We found a great spot, backed in, and set up camp. I can’t think of anything better than camping on the beach in a national park in January. It was awesome.
