Phannie

Phannie
Photo taken near Monument Valley, Utah

Monday, March 3, 2014

Gulf Waters--Our First Visit; Plus, Final Thoughts on Llano Grande and the RGV

At Gulf Waters RV Resort, Port Aransas, Texas…

We are quite impressed with this park, located just a stone's throw from the beach about eight miles south of Port Aransas.  It is very upscale with concrete roads and pads, many with intricate stonework.






We were led by and attendant to our site with head-in parking facing a pond.  This was the nice view from inside Phannie:

Yes, the windshield wiper is skewed a bit after a wash job; I straightened it after taking the photo.
Now that we have arrived at Gulf Waters, I'm going to leave you with one more photo of a typical street at Llano Grande RV Resort, from where we departed the Rio Grande Valley.  It was almost sunset when this photo was taken, and it is easy to see how this place is attractively maintained:




Now, a few impressions of our visit to Llano Grande: It would be hard to overstate how impressed we were with this place.  It is easy to see why so many folks spend their winters here year after year.  The facilities are first rate--the photos speak for themselves.  Owners have many options in the structures occupying their lots--there are many interesting examples, from minimalist to downright luxurious casitas and park models.  There is no shortage of activities either; residents could find a group involved in just about anything you can imagine.  The weather is great--even during this harsh winter, there were no freezing temperatures.  The beaches at South Padre are only an hour away, and Mexico is only 15 minutes to the south.  The park is situated in the small town of Mercedes, but McAllen, with large-city attractions, is only 20 minutes away. The area's cost of living is low--a good deal lower, for example, than Florida.  Here's an example:  A full wash and wax job for Phannie was only $135, and they did a great job.  Try to find that price anywhere else!  We also found that prices for real estate in Llano Grande are quite reasonable.  

Best of all, the people at Llano Grande are extraordinarily friendly.  I know, I know, RV folks are just that way, but the folks we met here were really special.  

Wait a minute; it has just occurred to me that I'm making this sound too attractive. Why, it's hard enough to get a reservation here already, so what am I doing promoting it like this?  Please ignore all the above; I'm sure you wouldn't like it down here.

I think that if our theme of traveling were more single-destination oriented now, we might very well purchase a site in Llano Grande. (By single-destination, I mean a return to the same place each winter and summer for the duration thereof.)  However, since I only recently retired, we're still in the "exploration" mode and wish to travel to many different locations.  This notion may subside a bit in the future but, for now, we want to see as much as we can while we're able. (I have a very long bucket list.)  In the meantime, we can always rent a spot when available.

Okay, back to Port Aransas:  We'll be doing some exploring in the area and recount that activity in the next few posts.  Hope everyone is staying warm--no freezing weather here on the Gulf Coast!


1 comment:

  1. I read a blog called http://2totravelphaeton.blogspot.com/
    They are also staying at Gulf Waters in site 461. We haven't met them, but they seem to be very nice and interesting people. We loved our stay in Port Aransas last winter. My favorite thing was to walk along the jetty and look for dolphin and sea turtles. We also enjoyed a trip to the National Seashore. We drove through Gulf Waters and it looks like a very nice park. We stayed at Marine Beach RV Park which wasn't as nice, but was close enough to town for walking and biking. We really enjoyed the little town of Port Aransas. Have a great time!

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