roadtripper9990101

Abilene State Park is a beautiful park about 30 minutes outside of Abilene, TX. One of the things we like about this park, is there is a loop where no trailers longer than 25' are allowed.

Another thing we throughly enjoyed about this park was the swimming pool. While Lake Abilene is part of the Texas State Park system, the water level was extremely low, so swimming there wasn't an option. A $2 fee is required for adults to swim in the pool.

The park is well shaded, which is wonderful in those hot summer months. In addition to the campsites, the park has 8 screened shelters. Those do not have AC, but the shade would be much appreciated if you were in a screened shelter.

Since the park is off the beaten path, it is very quiet. People were quiet, and there was no traffic noise.

We have been to Abilene State Park before, and we will definitely go there again.

This was our first time to stay here. We were here in Aug & a pair of road runners were building a nest in the trees over our site! I was surprised by that an asked a ranger. He said that is how & where they nest. We enjoyed our mornings drinking coffee & watching the pair work.

We stayed in a water & electric site (required for HOT TX summer) but the park also has primitive, water only, and full hookup sites.

The entire park is on a bluff... while you are surrounded by a gorgeous lake, there are only 2 places you do not have to climb to reach the water (boat launch & 1 of the fishing piers has a ramp down to it.)

We did enjoy our visit to Eisenhower's birthplace. It is worth a stop. It is free, donations accepted.

To view a video of our trip to the area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEbDvxeUISE

This is a true Texas gem. The fall colors in Oct were amazing. The park is clean, well maintained. The river, trails and campsites make this a favorite park.

We have a video with more info:
https://youtu.be/3f0DOrUeP_M

This was our first experience boondocking and what an AMAZING place to "get our feet wet!" There is access to water and a dump station (once you go through the fee station.)

I'm giving this 5 stars for noise because we enjoyed hearing the surf. Absolutely awesome!

Here is a link to a video explaining the camping options at the National Seashore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhxhTvSihCo

This was a much needed stop for us so we stayed longer than planned. We are so thankful we did. We took advantage of our time here to make a video of the campground.

https://youtu.be/B8UCyd7Y6TI

We stayed here in April of 22. We chose this place because of it's proximity to Phoenix (we were visiting friends & family in the area) and there were actual trees here.

The first afternoon we saw 3 wild mustangs heading to the river.

Once you turn off the paved road it 's a short distance to the camping area, but there are a couple of blind curves. While there were a number of people camping there we never met anyone of the curves.

We enjoyed our stay and would stay here again if we were in the area.
We have posted a video of our stay.

This was the second time we have stayed here. This is the windiest campground in the recreation area, but still Amazing Free camping! We have made a second video explaining camping options in Lake Meredith National Recreation Area that explains the amenities at each campground: https://youtu.be/j5Ne-4MEHyc

One of the main reasons to stay here is it's proximity to the McDonald Observatory (just 12 miles.) I strongly recommend a Guided Tour where you can actually go inside these massive telescopes and the Star Party is a must see. This is DARK SKY country. During our stay, one of the camp hosts had a large telescope setup to share with fellow campers.

There is a trail that actually joins the state park to Fort Davis National Historic Site. IF you do not want to chance meeting rattle stakes on the trail you can drive. During peek season there are individuals in period costume on horse back giving information about the area.

IF you are going to be here during the summer I suggest choosing a site with lots of shade (Google Earth). It will cool off at night, but it will be HOT during the day. The tent only sites are just that, tents only. While a few of the sites might accommodate a small RV, the 1 way road would not.

We loved our time here and look forward to coming again

We were unable to get reservations here so we stayed at Victoria City Park (we have a video of that park) and drove over here for a day visit and to checkout the camping options. We brought a picnic and had a wonderful time riding our bikes and exploring this great historic park, and adjacent historic sites. There was even a wooden trail that took us into town.

Check out our video of this park: https://youtu.be/z1oSXz4l7Xk

It was sunny and warm when we arrived & and saw snow a couple of days later. At only $10 a night it was worth the 30 mile drive to Devils Tower. It is less than 5 miles north of the interstate.

Here is a video we made of the campground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxZXlLl8hw4

In late September of 2020, the Two Tired Teachers visited Reuter Campground in the Black Hills National Forest just outside of Sundance, Wyoming, which is the exit for Devils Tower. The campground was about 30 miles from Devils Tower.

The video was made on September 27, and it was cold. The campground has 24 sites, some of which are tent only. The folks at the National Forest Ranger Station in Custer, South Dakota recommended Reuter Campground. It was $10 per night, and it was dry camping.

Reuter Campground was beautiful, and it did offer some services. There was trash pick up, and potable water is in the campground. The campground also has some horse, bike, hike, and snow skiing trails.

Sundance is a nice small town, and it is the town that gave the Sundance Kid his nickname. The only time the Sundance kid was arrested was in Sundance, Wyoming after he stole a horse.

We used the Reuter Campground as a home base. The main reason is so we could visit Devils Tower a couple of times, but we also had to return to Spearfish, South Dakota to buy a battery after one on the RV went out.

We did have the opportunity to see a Wyoming cattle drive. On our way back from Devils Tower, traffic was stopped for 10 - 15 minutes while a large herd of cattle was driven across the road.

It did snow hours after we shot this video. Did we mention it was September 27 and cold? We hope you will join us next week for a look at Devils Tower.