Campground Review: Stubblefield Lake Recreation Area Sam Houston National Forest

I spent a couple nights at the Escapee's campground in Livingston in order to pick my 2015 Texas state sticker for my truck up (The Escapee's are my mail-forwarder and they do a great job if you need one.)  Not too far to the west of Livingston is the Sam Houston National Forest, one of four National Forests in Texas which seems low given the immense size of the state, but that's all there are...just four.  There are several camping areas set up by the Forest Service within the Sam Houston and I went for the Stubblefield Lake Recreation Area which if just northwest of Lake Conroe.

New Waverly, TX is the closest town.

The Recreation Area was built in 1937 as part of the New Deal and consists of 30 RV parking sites (no hookups) and probably double that tent sites dispersed around a loop with two restrooms with flush toilets and showers at opposite ends of the Area.

Really spacious campsites under tall trees.

Here's the Stubblefield Lake data sheet:

Hookups:                                 None

Fire ring:                                  Yes

Water Access:                         Yes

Fresh Water:                            Yes

Trash Service:                          Yes

Toilets:                                    Yes (flush)

Showers:                                 Yes

Dump station:                          No

WiFi:                                       No

Level sites:                              Yes

Laundry:                                  No

Store:                                       No

Pool:                                        No

Shade:                                     Yes

Verizon reception:                   4G, 1 bar

Internet reception:                   2 out of 5 bars

Cost:                                      $15 / night

Stubblefield Lake is more pond-like than lake-like.

There is a covered pavilion at the Rec Area with picnic tables for group picnics but since you can't reserve a campsite there I'm not certain how one would reserve the pavilion.  The campsites are given out on a first-come basis and bring exact change because you pay by putting cash into a Forest Service envelope at the entrance gate and then into a metal mailbox-style envelope container.  There is a nice couple who act as park hosts and from the look of their campsite they've been at it for a long time.  They come by and greet each party of campers and check to make sure you've displayed an envelope sticker on your dash that proves you've paid.  The lady explained that a tow service promptly removes vehicles without proof of payment, and I saw him drive through the loop a few times, FYI.

A small island in the middle of Stubblefield Lake.

One of the things that first attracted me to Stubblefield Lake was all the online reviews mentioning that the nightly cost was $10.  No longer, somehow the Forest Service deemed a 50% rate increase to be reasonable and $15 per day is now the cost which I found a LITTLE steep for primitive (no hookups) camping without a dump station.

Spanish moss hanging from trees along the lake shore.

Only an hour north of Houston, Stubblefield Rec Area fills up almost every weekend so I wouldn't advise knocking off work at 5, driving home then heading up on a Friday night although there is an overflow area just to the east of the Rec Area that looked like you could stay in for free - without rest rooms or trash service though.  My stay at the Area was quiet and relaxing and the October weather was perfect.  If you can overlook premium primitive camping rates you'll enjoy Stubblefield.

Thanks for reading!

And the New Broadband Wireless Internet Provider Is....

There really wasn't too much of a choice for RV'ers...AT&T or Verizon have BY FAR the best coverage in the Lower 48.  Better the Devil I know....so I went with Big Red.  Actually between now and the end of the month all four majors are offering double data plans for wireless broadband plans.  Under my old Millenicom plan for 20 GB/month and my Verizon smartphone plan on Verizon with 3 GB/month I was paying:

Millenicom:  $89.99/month  (20 GB data)
Verizon:       $110.00/month (smart phone with 3 GB data)
TOTAL:       $199.99/month

My NEW monthly charge:

 Verizon:  $210/month (40 GB Data, 2 lines: smartphone and 4G Jet Pack)


Yup you read right!  Big Red is DOUBLING my monthly data for $10 more a month.  Normally this plan would only have 20 GB associated with it so if you're thinking you need wireless broadband make the jump before the end of this month while those double data plans are still around!  Yay more monthly data!  By the way the 4G Jet Pack (a broadband wireless router that can have up to 8 devices connect to it) I referred to was free if I signed a 2 year contract.  There was no contract if you wanted to buy the Jet Pack up front...I think it was around $145.

Thanks for reading!

So long, Millenicom

Got some bad news this week.  My wireless broadband provider, Millenicom of Portland, OR is no more as of the end of October.  Reports say they sent out an email (I never got mine.) saying all their accounts had been "acquired" by Verizon.  Verizon was the network upon which Millenicom's minutes had been sold so so far I'm still able to use the Internet but I have no doubt that status will change come November 1.  I (and thousands of other RV'ers) need now to find a new wireless broadband provider that hopefully will offer as good a deal as Millenicom had.  I hate it when stuff that worked really well ends!  I'll update you with whatever service provider I get and my plan details.

Thanks for reading!

Campground Review: Lake Livingston State Park Livingston, TX

I'm still in the South Texas area and my daughter called me to say she would be attending a batchlorette party in Houston and wanted to camp one day that weekend in the Tank and spend time with me.  After trying to get reservations at the parks closest to Hoouston and finding them booked I lucked out and got one of the few remaining sites at Lake Livingston State Park where I've never camped.

The park is about 8 miles southwest of Livingston.

Lake Livingston is the reservoir for the city of Houston and was formed by damming the Trinity River with the Livingston Dam.  With water depths up to 55 feet it's an impressively large lake when you see it.

Lake Livingston from the top of a 3 story observation tower.

Lake Livingston State Park is tucked along the southeast corner of the lake and features 5 different camping "Loops" each with about 35 campsites.  Four of the five loops have lake view/access.....ours was the the fifth without.  It was called the Pin Oak Loop if you want to try to not get assigned there - it's the east-most loop in the park , as I mentioned, we were fortunate to get any site so beggars couldn't be choosers, so to speak.  It was a nice enough campground and very lively given the presence of 100 or so girl scouts and boy scouts camping there that weekend.   My daughter and I walked from our loop to the Day Use  area where we got the pictures of the lake you see.

My daughter Nickelle at the top of the lake observation tower.

Here's the Lake Livingston State Park data sheet:

Hookups:                                 20, 30, 50 amp  water and sewer

Fire ring:                                  Yes

Water Access:                         Yes at 4 out of 5 loops

Fresh Water:                            Yes

Trash Service:                          Yes

Toilets:                                    Yes

Showers:                                 Yes

Dump station:                         Yes

WiFi:                                       No

Level sites:                              Yes

Laundry:                                  No

Store:                                       Yes

Pool:                                        Yes

Shade:                                     Yes

Verizon reception:                   4G, 2 out of 4 bars

Millenicom reception:              3 out of  4 bars

Cost:                                       $18 / night

The Day Use area of the park has a boat ramp for getting boats onto Lake Livingston and a better stocked than usual park store and the aforementioned three story observation tower that provides great views of the lake.  This state park is on the smaller side so there were less hiking trails than you usually get...about 2 miles of hiking and 2 miles of horse back trails.

Docks and fishing piers at the Day Use area of the park.

This was the view from the back steps of the Tank at our campsite which was completely shaded by trees.

Each site had an RV parking spot and a tent pad for tent campers.

If you make plans to camp at Lake Livingston State Park try to reserve campsites on the Piney Shores loop, particularly sites 1-10 or 53-71, those are directly on the lake and would offer (I assume since I couldn't get one) the best camping experience with views of Lake Livingston.  I always enjoy camping with my daughter so it didn't make that much difference to me this time!

Thanks for reading!

Campground Review: McKinney Falls State Park Austin, TX

 Just prior to visiting my sister in Austin in the end of September I took a 3 day visit to McKinney Falls State Park located on the southeastern corner of Austin right around the intersecting of the Onion and Williamson creeks.

Not exactly Niagara, this is part of the Lower Falls at the park.

Thomas F. McKinney owned the 10,000 acres, part of which the state park occupies and worked it as a race horse raising ranch in the 1850's.  McKinney died in 1876 and his widow sold the land to James W. Smith.  In 1971 Smith's grandson donated 641 acres of the plot to the state of Texas for the purpose of creating a park.  After development the park was opened to the public in April of  1976.

This was the horse trainers house when the ranch trained race horses.

Here's the McKinney State Park data sheet:

Hookups:                                 20, 30 and 50 amp, water

Fire ring:                                  Yes

Water Access:                         Yes (creeks)

Fresh Water:                            Yes

Trash Service:                          Yes

Toilets:                                    Yes

Showers:                                 Yes

Dump station:                          Yes

WiFi:                                       No

Level sites:                              Yes

Laundry:                                  No

Store:                                       Small ranger station store

Pool:                                        No

Shade:                                     Yes

Verizon reception:                   4G, 3 out of 5 bars

Millenicom reception:              4 out of 4 bars

Cost:                                       $20/night

You can see where the water flow has eroded the limestone creek bed.

 The park contains 80 campsites and over seven miles of hiking and biking trails, most of which are through thick tree canopy that provides sun relief.

Meh!  Wally navigated the slopes just by riding the brakes down.

Onion Creek runs for 1.7 miles through McKinney State Park and theres a pond you can swim in (no lifeguard) beneath each set of falls.

The swim pond below the Lower Falls.

Onion Creek just entering the Upper Falls.

If the drought ever lets up and Austin gets some meaningful rainfall the falls in McKinney State Park would resemble the many really pretty pictures on the Internet.  As you can tell from my photos they were pretty diminished but still nice to hike to.  It's very unique to find a Texas State Park within a major city limits that allows camping (the one in Houston doesn't, for example) and the connectivity reception options at McKinney are the best I've ever experienced in Texas.  I biked/walked all the trails in the park and the opportunities to view deer and other wildlife was constant.  Couple camping at McKinney with a trip to the new Boardwalk along Lady Bird Lake and you'd have a great weekend experience right within Austin.

Thanks for reading!