Nick found this cute breakfast place while in Houston, the Black Walnut Cafe. It was located in Conroe (north of Houston) by the local airport. The cafe was located on the top floor, so it was a great place to sit and watch the planes coming and going.
The pancakes were very fluffy and had a nice flavor. The breakfast sandwich had eggs, bacon cheese. It had a nice crisp to the croissant.
Tables were spaced apart for social distancing. When you get there, you went to the counter to order/pay. You received a buzzer and you were able to pick where you wanted to sit. There was also an outdoor balcony to sit at.
If you are in the Houston area, we would definitely recommend eating here.
This Thousand Trails location is located in Willis, Texas near Houston. There were RV spots (mix of pull through and back-in) and cabin rentals. The map lists tent sites, although I did not see anyone tent camping. There was also a section for long term stays. The cabins and the front RV spots looked very nice. The front RV spots were back-ins with concrete pads.
Those were not what we got. We went to check in and the Ranger (not wearing a mask) at the gate told me how full they were and was just not very welcoming. I told him we had a reservation and he pointed me to the back of the lot saying only one lane had openings. Spots back here were gravel, the roads in the back of the park were rougher (not the nice paved lanes like the front of the park), and sites were tight together. We picked our site from the few open in the lane. Driving around later, we saw other open spots that were not given to us as an option. I am not sure if it is because we are Thousand Trails members and we just get assigned the worst spots in the park and the non-members who are paying per night get assigned better spots.
Ice was sold at the Ranger station at the gate for $2.25. The campground had bathrooms and a laundry room. Washers were $1.75/load and dryers $1.50. The campground did not offer change or a coin machine. Half of the washing machines were also out of service when we were there.
There was also a single station car wash for $1 and a vacuum for $0.50. The car wash did not have any soap in it, but we could at least get some of the dust and dirt off of the truck. There was also a tire air station there.
Gate codes changed on Tuesdays, which we were not told until our code did not work.
The pool was open Tuesday-Sunday and was not heated. It was a nice sized pool with tables and chairs. The spa/hot tub was not working while we were there. It wasn’t closed off, just told it wasn’t working. There were bathrooms and two outdoor showers at the pool area.
There was a playground, a putt-putt course, tennis courts, and small basketball hoops. Across from the office/laundry/pavilion area was a small field which was nice for the boys to play ball in. Fishing was mentioned on their brochure, although the office did not sell bait. You could walk to a small beach area on Lake Conroe. The beach area also had a volleyball court and picnic tables. It was too cold to go in while we were there, but I can see it being nice in the summer.
The office was technically open, but they kept the doors locked during open hours, so you had to get their attention to get any assistance. We had some problems in the laundry room (a washer broke mid cycle) and had to get someone to help with the water that was leaking and refund the coins. The younger woman in the office was helpful with the laundry problem, but the rest of the staff seemed grumpy and not interested in interacting with anyone. The staff at the gate never had masks on, even when talking to people checking in. There was another building at the office/Pavilion that was closed for Covid.
We had decent reception with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. The water pressure did drop one day, but came back to normal in a couple of hours.
It was close to a Kroger, some fast food restaurants, and a park. Houston was about an hour away, Galveston 1.75-2 hours, Waco 2.5 hours from the campground.
I don’t think we would stay here again. Houston was not our favorite town in Texas to visit, so I don’t see us coming back to the area. Even if we did, the park wasn’t very welcoming. I think if you were in a cabin or in one of the nice front RV concrete pad spots, it would probably have a completely different feel.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 2-2.5 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull through, Back-in
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Technically no, but we did see a few people put up outdoor tents.
Amenities: picnic table, fire pit/grill, cable, playground, putting area, tennis courts, basketball, dog park
Cabins: Yes
Tent Camping: Yes
Full Hook Ups: Yes. 30 or 50 Amp sites
Pool: Yes
Food On-Site: No
Camp Store: No
WiFi: No
Accepts Mail: No USPS, $5/package from FedEx or UPS
We were in the mood to explore outside. After some online searching, Hermann Park came up on several lists of things to see in Houston.
It was a cloudy day, but the park was very busy.
We walked around the park checking out what was available. There was a small train to ride, a lake with paddle boats, walking trails, picnic areas, and a Japanese Garden.
We walked through the Japanese Garden, but after San Antonio’s amazing Japanese Tea Garden, it was a bit of a let down. Maybe in the spring when it is more green and things are blooming it would be better.
Hermann Park Japanese Garden
We walked a path down towards the lake and found some trees for the boys to try their new hammocks. We sat and watched the birds/ducks/geese while the kids hung out.
Texas is the first place I could see living in besides Ohio; however, not in Houston. Houston just doesn’t have the same nice feel as the other cities, and is by far the worst at mask wearing and compliance. Even in stores where it is “required”, a lot of people do not wear them and there is no enforcement of the rule.
It was raining the last two days and we wanted to go out even if we got wet. We didn’t really have a destination in mind, we were just exploring the local area. We ended up driving by the Sam Houston University and passed the Sam Houston Home historic area. The rain had slowed down to a mist, so we stopped to explore. The buildings were really neat, some were original to the home and some were dismantled and brought in later.
Houston had a couple of homes in the area, the home at the University that we saw was called Woodland.
All the ducks in a row, garden on site, Houston’s office, outbuildings
