Always Want To Go

Let me tell you about our RV misadventures on the Texas coast. Our planned destination was Magnolia Beach, so how did we end up at Goose Island State Park in Rockport, Texas?

The popular and well-known RV boondocking location at Magnolia Beach is a hard-packed sandy beach south of Port Lavaca. RVs are permitted to dry camp here at no cost along the 1.5 mile stretch of beach, camping just mere feet from the ocean waves.

We don’t operate on a schedule, so we left home late and arrived at Magnolia Beach after dark. Being dark was not a problem, and we spotted several open and perfect places to park on the beach. Once we were there, however, we realized we probably should not run our generator all night long.

Magnolia Beach is such a serene, peaceful beach, with the only sounds being wind and the sound of the waves. Our onboard generator is relatively quiet, but we believed it would create too much noise in this peaceful spot, and we decided not to stay.

Please let me know if you have camped at Magnolia Beach and used your generator overnight without disturbing other campers. We did not want to be those campers and disrupt the quiet.

Safe at a highway rest area

We still needed a safe place to park overnight if we didn’t stay at Magnolia Beach. We decided to drive down the road, stay overnight at a nearby highway rest area, and choose another destination the following day.

Unfortunately, we had what could have been a catastrophic incident on our way to that rest area. Two deer ran in front of the RV, and we hit one of them! It happened so very fast, but Steve managed to keep the RV on the road. He was able to miss one of the deer entirely, thank goodness.

We had to drive several miles on the two-lane deserted highway before pulling off the road and checking the damage to the RV. The only damage to the RV is a slightly dented front bumper and a missing license plate.

I’m sure many of you have experienced similar highway calamities. We were fortunate this one was not worse than it was. A deer ran out in front of my brother-in-law’s car recently. Although he was not injured, the impact caused his airbag to deploy and totaled his vehicle.

We were towing our Jeep, and there was nowhere to turn our rig around, so we could not go back and check on the deer. The following morning, after a good night’s sleep, we looked at the map and decided Rockport, about an hour further down the road, might be the perfect place for us to visit.

And this is how we ended up in Rockport, Texas!

Rockport, Texas

We live in Galveston’s back door. So why would we want to travel to another coastal city? Mostly it’s that “always want to go” thing, but we were already in the area and had heard what a great place Rockport is for RV camping. Steve and I thought we’d check it out.

A new adventure

Steve had been stationed in Corpus Christi during his time in the Navy. He spent many days fishing with his buddies in and around Rockport but had not visited there in several years, so it was a new adventure for both of us.

Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey severely damaged Rockport in 2017. Although some still struggle with Harvey’s devastating destruction, most homes and businesses have been rebuilt or repaired.

Rockport is a perfect coastal destination

This quiet little paradise has a beautiful certified Blue Wave beach designated by the National Clean Beaches Coalition. We discovered fun restaurants and enough shops and boutiques to make us wonder if we were not in our next destination of Fredericksburg, Texas, instead of Rockport.

Goose Island State Park

Sometimes it is impossible to snag an RV reservation at any state park with such short notice. Our luck held, and we could get a last-minute campsite at Goose Island State Park. We selected a bayside spot instead of a wooded area campsite for two nights and then moved to the wooded area.

Beachfront camping was pleasant with beautiful sunsets and sunrises, but we preferred the wooded and secluded campsites, site no. 138 to be specific. It was a back-in spot surrounded on three sides by trees and bushes. We could not see or hear our neighbors parked on either side of us.

We did not come prepared to fish, but almost everyone camping beachfront appeared to be having great luck fishing. This park has a fishing pier that is 1,620 feet long. Secret tip: A fishing license is not required if you are fishing from a pier or shore within a Texas State Park.

If you visit state parks in Texas, I suggest investing in an annual Texas State Park Pass. The pass costs $70 and entitles the pass owner and all in the vehicle to free entry to all state parks in Texas. Camping fees are half price for the second night if you stay two or more nights.

Park pass holders also receive discounts (usually 10%) at state park stores. Click here to learn more about this pass and the different options available. This is a great value just for the fishing benefits alone.

Lectric eBikes

Well, we did it. Actually, Steve did it; I had nothing to do with this research or purchase. Steve’s aged knees make walking distances painful, and he wasn’t enjoying our walking adventures much at all. He decided eBikes would enable us to see and do more and minimize his knee pain.

He spent months and months researching eBikes until he found a brand that was a good balance between cost and quality and was easy to transport and store and he selected the Lectric XP 2.0. step through eBikes.

Although he knew very little about the dealer or the eBike itself, he purchased two bikes online, and they arrived at our home as promised. Best purchase he ever made! What fantastic fun we have had! We carried these eBikes with us on this trip, folded down, in the back of the Jeep.

So far, I’m not as comfortable riding as I hope to become. I never saw either of us as bike riders, but here we are, helmets and everything! It is a terrific way to cover a lot of ground quickly, without over-exerting yourself to do it. We have a whole new world to explore now.!

Well, despite our generator noise pollution worry, what, to me, was a near-death experience with the unfortunate deer on the highway, and having to scramble to locate an RV campsite at a state park with zero notice at all; this was a fantastic adventure.

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Check back next week to find out what we discovered in Rockport, what makes this town such an excellent vacation destination. We plan to return to Goose Creek State Park again and again; it’s simply a great place to relax and enjoy nature.