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.
When thinking of the Texas panhandle, what image first comes to mind? Windmills, of course. So it makes sense that Lubbock is where you will find the largest collection of windmills in the world housed under one roof at the American Windmill Museum.
The railroad industry relied heavily on windmills during the steam engine era. Which is why this is one of the first exhibits on display. It may be one of the best model train scenes I have ever seen.
The details in the miniatures placed throughout the display are impressive. It was designed to look like Lubbock during the heyday of railroads and windmills. Many trains are coming and going through the town, Thomas the Tank Engine even makes an appearance. They have a large spiral ramp the trains climb up and travel high above the room.
After wandering around the train scene you can check out the rest of the miniature collection. There are some very cool pieces on display. The kids each had their favorite, but Journey could have stayed in that area all day.
Some of the main concerns when visiting a large city are traffic and parking. Houston definitely has it’s share of both. We decided to stay in an RV park on the east side of the city in a small town called Anahuac. It was a decent place, but most of the sites were rented on a monthly basis and we typically only stay in a place three or four days on average. It was a little farther from the city than we had anticipated, but things usually tend to work out as they should and we were comfortable there for a few days.
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.
