Winter in Texas ???

sledman78

Member
We will be retiring at end of the year and trying to decide where to spend our first winter. We would like to stay in Texas to be close to family in Illinois. We are overwhelmed with this decision - gulf is nice but too windy, Big Bend too far, central Texas too cold - all posts we have read and bits of advice we have been given. Don't know what to believe! Any help would be appreciated.
 

dlw930

Well-known member
We're not among the retired group yet, but a lot of folks we know from our Heartland rallies winter in "The Valley", AKA the Rio Grande Valley. There are lots of RV parks catering to "snowbirds" in Mission, McAllen, Harlingen and Brownsville. If you don't want to go that far south, there are lots of winter Texans in parks in the Texas Hill Country from Fredericksburg and Kerrville to Boerne and New Braunfels. I'm sure someone can give you recommendations on specific parks in these areas. Enjoy your retirement, wherever you go!


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jayc

Legendary Member
There will be a group of us in Mission again this year. The good thing about the valley is the variety of parks, the entertainment and of course the food. We have a dealer open house scheduled for February 3rd in Donna and lots and lots of fun.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
There are a number of Snowbirds who go to the Hill Country Resort and Event Center RV Park in Medina, Texas which is about 18 miles south of Kerrville, TX. They have a beautiful park there with great facilities. For a quiet place which is great and not crowded try a new (3 years old) RV park name Antler Oaks Lodge and RV Resort in Bandera, Tx. Bandera is known as the 'Cowboy Capital of Texas" and is about 28 miles west of San Antonio. There are plenty of things to see and do in the area. Antler Oaks loves 'winter Texans'.
 
You should be happy in about 80% of the places in Texas compared to IL in the winter. That said, if it is cold that you want to avoid, the Valley is the best bet and only adds about 2 average travel days to a trip to IL (just 1 extra day if you want to push it). While the gulf coast can be windy that is not always the case, so I would not rule it out. Big Bend is a beautiful area but it can get fairly cold with a good norther coming in, and it is sparsely populated. The hill country is a good option. You should be able to handle the fronts that come thru and the majority of the days would be very nice.

No matter where you park your wagon you will find Texas hard to beat.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
You should be happy in about 80% of the places in Texas compared to IL in the winter. That said, if it is cold that you want to avoid, the Valley is the best bet and only adds about 2 average travel days to a trip to IL (just 1 extra day if you want to push it). While the gulf coast can be windy that is not always the case, so I would not rule it out. Big Bend is a beautiful area but it can get fairly cold with a good norther coming in, and it is sparsely populated. The hill country is a good option. You should be able to handle the fronts that come thru and the majority of the days would be very nice.

No matter where you park your wagon you will find Texas hard to beat.

One other thing I forgot to mention is don't forget to look around the Houston Area.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
We spent a couple Winters at Johnson Creek RV park in Ingram near Kerrville. Nice enough place if you get a good spot. Some of the spaces along the center rows can be a bit crowded. Weather can be a little marginal at times but for the most part better than the Midwest....Don
 

AAdams

Well-known member
We stayed last year in a couple parks in the Rockport and Aransas Pass area. We are going back this year. I like to fish and Deb's brother lives there so it works for us rather well. One of the things we like is that it isn't real windy since we are not right on the Gulf, but the Gulf / Bay does help keep it warmer than the areas a little further inland. It did reach 28 a couple nights but the temp went right back up during the day to a reasonable level. If you like the beach take the free ferry to Port Aransas ( Just not during Spring Break ) and you can drive on the beach till you find a spot you want to stop at. We will be staying at a park that is scheduled to open Oct 1st. of this year right at 35 and 188. Walmart, HEB ( grocery store ) are 9 and 6.1 miles from there. Courpus Christi is 25 miles down 35. If you fish the out of sate license for salt and fresh water was $65 last year. To park on the beach in Port Aransas was $12/year and the beach access in Rockport was $15/year. There are limited places that are free to park on the Port Aransas beach. Also there is a group of Heartlanders that get together each week at a restaurant in the area.

Hope this helps, Alan
 

TxCowboy

Well-known member
Alan, not to hijack the thread but where do you all meet in the Rockport area? Laurie and I have our LM parked at a bay front slot in Fulton and are down there every other weekend or so.
 

simsfmly

Ohio Chapter Leaders-retired
Sledman78,

We've spent the last 4 winters in the Coastal Bend area (Portland, Rockport, Port A, Aransas Pass) and loved it. Couldn't justify the extra 3 hours one way down to the Valley. Love the area. The last couple of winters have been downers (two years ago cold, last year rain), but that's the ups and downs of anywhere.

If you do choose the Coastal Bend, make sure you subscribe to this thread on the forum, here on Facebook or PM me your email address and we'll keep you up to date on the Heartland happenings in the Coastal Bend. As Alan and Debra said, we try to get together at least once a week.
 

happykraut

Well-known member
We've stayed in Mission for several winters now and really like it. Lots of things to do. Several flea markets and real close to Mexico to go to the dentist and pick up your meds. Personally I'm afraid to get to close to the coast because of the salty air.
 

rxbristol

Well-known member
We've stayed in Mission for several winters now and really like it. Lots of things to do. Several flea markets and real close to Mexico to go to the dentist and pick up your meds. Personally I'm afraid to get to close to the coast because of the salty air.

I'm afraid to go into Mexico with the current drug cartel situation. My current job prevents us from going into any bordering Mexican states.
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
I was raised in Ft Worth and spent 12 years there. With that background you will understand when I say google "tornado alley" and avoid it.
In my traveling of Texas, the Gulf is beautiful, but can get humid. (I prefer a drier climate in the long term) All things considered, I feel the Austin area has about the best overall weather in the state, if you are going to reside there long term. JMO. Trace
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Check out this thread, lots of good folks winter in Rockport, Fulton, Aransas Pass area. Becoming a very popular area and less expensive than the valley. If you don't want coastal area check the hill country, Boerne, Kerrville and Fredericksburg.

Jim M
 

scottyb

Well-known member
I was raised in Ft Worth and spent 12 years there. With that background you will understand when I say google "tornado alley" and avoid it.
In my traveling of Texas, the Gulf is beautiful, but can get humid. (I prefer a drier climate in the long term) All things considered, I feel the Austin area has about the best overall weather in the state, if you are going to reside there long term. JMO. Trace

I agree with Trace. Central Texas is hard to beat in the winter. Very little wind and lower humidity than the coast. Having grown up in West Texas, I could't believe how nice the Fall, Winter, and Spring were, when I moved here in '79. Of course our summers are 5 months long.
 
Yikes - have been here in Rockport for more than two weeks and haven't seen a heartland RV or met anyone with one...........we are at Palm Harbor - right on the water - it's a nice place - friendly and good facilities
 

jayc

Legendary Member
Come on down to the Rio Grand Valley and you will find lots of Heartlanders, including three more next week!
 

AAdams

Well-known member
Yikes - have been here in Rockport for more than two weeks and haven't seen a heartland RV or met anyone with one...........we are at Palm Harbor - right on the water - it's a nice place - friendly and good facilities

We were at Palm Harbor last year for a month. Nice place and real nice people. This year we started at Coastal Paradise and have already moved.... it wasn't 'Paradise'. Now we are at Salt Water Flats right down the street from Palm Harbor.
 
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