We ❤ State Parks

Greetings from McKinney Falls State Park in Austin, Texas.

Our Southern Migration Friends and Food Frenzy continues! Since arriving on Monday, we've met up with friends Steve and Cathy and our Iowa buddies Gary and Francile here in Austin this week. Yesterday, we ventured south to New Braunfels to reconnect with fellow fulltiming buddies Deb and Rod over a very tasty lunch buffet. It's been great to see everyone. And, as always, we look forward to the next chance to reconnect with these good people on the road. As much as we love the places we visit, the people we get to spend time with are the absolute best!

Between our fun fests, we've really enjoyed our time here at McKinney Falls State Park. It's just one of the many gems in the Texas State Parks system. This oasis of peace, quiet, green space, wildlife and plenty of Texas live oak trees is just 20 minutes from downtown Austin. But, it feels much farther away. With 50 amp electric, water, 3G cell service, satellite and plenty of HD over the air, we have just about all the comforts of home. (And, there's a dump station on the way out.) Our nearest neighbor is about 100 yards away, which is about 10 times farther away than our nearest neighbor in our last stop in the metroplex. There are about six miles of hiking trails around this place, and we've enjoyed about half of them. (We'd take advantage of more if it would only stop raining!) We've watched deer pass by our place every morning and evening. It's all a welcome break from our 50 amp paved RV park life.

Now, don't get us wrong. If you build a fancy schmanzy concrete RV "resort" with wide interior roads, level concrete pads, full hookups, wifi, cable and swanky landscaping, we will come. But, every now and again we're noticing we like to get back to nature. And, we've discovered that many state parks fill that bill.

We visited our first Texas State Park last March when we stopped by Davis Mountain State Park in the west Texas oasis of Ft. Davis. When we checked in, the enthusiastic ranger convinced us to buy a Texas State Park Pass. For just $70, we could visit all of the Texas State Parks we wanted without having to pay the $5 per person (or so) day pass fee for the next 12 months. Since we were planning to spend five or six nights at Ft. Davis that benefit alone had us ready to sign on the dotted line. An added benefit was a 50% discount on the second night of our next four stays at a Texas park. We weren't sure we'd be able to take advantage of that. But, when we were heading to Austin and found McKinney Falls, we decided check out the place.

It's all good!

So far, we've stayed at State Parks in three states. In our native Kansas, we spent a night at Hillsdale Lake State Park while we messed with our refrigerator repair. Like our experience in Fort Davis, that stay offered a spacious site with lots of green space and a few well-placed trees. While passing through Colorado a couple of years ago, we were fortunate to snag a space for a few nights at the very popular (and beautiful) Cherry Creek State Park near Denver. The way we look at it, to have a spot to call home that's close to nature and just minutes from the city is the best of both worlds.

We like it!

We'll be a bit sad to head out of this gorgeous spot on Sunday. But, a few hours later, we'll find ourselves in another Texas State Park. This time we'll be on the eastern edge of the state on our way to our holiday spot in Louisiana. We've never been to Village Creek State Park before. But, we have a feeling we're going to like it.

With parks in three states under our belts, we're wondering. What are your favorite state parks?

Curious minds want to know!