West Texas with Kids: Our Recent RV Vacation

For our recent Fall Break, our family rented an RV and traveled to Big Bend National Park. West Texas with kids is really fun!

We had been talking about renting an RV for years and finally got around to doing it. I think we took so long to move forward because RVing doesn’t align to our “formula” for our favorite kinds of vacations. For example, our summer vacation to Upstate New York fit our formula precisely.

However, RVing was on our Bucket List (just like going on a cruise for the first time this year was also on my list). And while we will not be doing it again any time soon, it was a really fun experience that I recommend everyone try at least once, if you’re interested.

The Logistics

I used RVshare to search for RVs in our area. I ended up making a matrix to compare options. It was hard to keep track of everything. The things that mattered to me most included:

Selecting an RV that was as short as possible so it would be relatively easy to drive and park
A queen or bigger bed for Matt and me
Separate sleeping areas for Henry and Tate
Relatively decent gas mileage

The check-in and out times varied from option to option. We ended up needing to rent it for two more nights in order to have time to pack it up and return it after a long drive home. We factored that into our price comparisons.

Preparing the RV

We picked up the RV from an area that was approximately 30 minutes away from our home. We spent the afternoon getting it packed with our clothes, bedding, and toys. I packed a giant Tupperware container with magnatiles, legos, books, tracing paper, a travel BINGO game, drawing paper, crayon pencils, etc.

We also packed it with breakfast foods (oatmeal and yogurt) and baggies of snacks. Our road trip ritual is to pass out a new snack every hour on the hour.

It really did feel like a home away from home with our own pillows, Tate’s stuffed animals, and our bikes on a rack on the back.

Day 1

Even though we intended to pack up on Sunday, there was inexplicably a lot that we still needed to do on Monday morning. We got on the road later than we wanted.

Then we quickly realized one key fact about RVing: Google Map estimates are not accurate. The owner of the RV told us not to drive more than 70 miles per hour. That small fact meant that every route took longer than we anticipated.

We arrived in San Angelo, Texas, later than we wanted and rushed to San Angelo University to enjoy their lunch buffet. Because of our ritual of exploring university buffets whenever we travel, our boys have a positive association with college. They specifically devoured bowl after bowl of Lucky Charms.

Then we made our way to the Visitor’s Center and took our bikes along the river trail. We stopped to play at a cute playground.

Finally, we headed to our RV park for the afternoon/evening. This RV park was my favorite. I used their online booking system to select a spot right on the lake. It was beautiful! The boys rode their bikes around the RV park while Matt and I played gin rummy on the grass. We used GrubHub to have Mexican food delivered to our spot. We picnicked outside for dinner.

Day 2

Day two started with breakfast outside on the grass and more bike rides around the RV park to watch the deer. Each day we tended to get a little later of a start than I wanted to. However, it was worth it because it meant that we were sleeping well and enjoying just hanging out for breakfast.

When we finally got on the road, we drove to Fort Davis. We had lunch at a nice little restaurant and then headed to the Chihuahuan Dessert Botanical Garden. Luckily, we didn’t have a single problem parking our RV anywhere we went. None of the places were particularly crowded, and the RV was relatively compact.

West Texas is so expansive and majestic. And quiet. We enjoyed walking around outside at the botanical garden. Since driving into West Texas, Tate had been asking, “Can we climb a mountain?” And so we did.

Then we headed into town to get ice-cream at an old-fashioned drug store. Next, we settled into our RV park and then headed to the McDonald Observatory.

We ate dinner at the Observatory and even ran into another family from our school! The Star Party was just the best. They take you into an outdoor amphitheater and use a laser pointer to give you a tour of the galaxy. We knew to bring our sleeping bags and get spots at the very back where we could lie down and look up at the stars.

Then, we took a tour of the telescopes and even saw Saturn!

Day 3

The next morning we drove into Big Bend National Park. We stopped at Panther Junction to watch the short documentary (highly recommend!). Then we drove to the southeast corner. I really, really wanted to cross the river in rowboats and head into Mexico for lunch. However, the border was closed.

Instead, we parked our RV on the road and then rode our bikes on a dirt trail to a natural hot spring right along the Rio Grande River. We connected with strangers while we soaked our bodies. When we got too warm, we would hop in the Rio Grande River to cool off. Henry had a great time swimming across the river saying, “Now I’m in Mexico; now I’m back in the United States.”

I had forgotten to book a spot at the only campground with full RV hook-ups. However, it turned out to be a blessing. Their regular campsites welcome RVs, and it was way better to be nestled in the trees instead of on asphalt. We used our generator to open out our bed and charge some of our electronics. Then we turned it off for the night, which was fine. We were able to use the restroom at the campground.

Day 4

Day 4 was a driving day back to Austin. It took way longer than we thought! We were pretty cranky and explosive by the end of the day.