Finne's Follies: A Little Time in Texas

Lake Whitney

Texas is a great place to be in the spring and fall. (Summers not so much.) And an added benefit is the many Thousand Trails RV parks scattered across the state. As I've probably noted many times, all of the Thousand Trails parks are free to us on account of our annual dues, which pay for our camping. The only exception to that rule is that some parks charge a premium of a few dollars a day for 50 amp service. Manageable.

So once our repairs were done, we headed to Texas for about three weeks.

Our first stop was Lake Whitney. Lake Whitney is about a forty minute drive northeast of Waco. While we were there, we finally got to visit the Magnolia Silos, owned by the famous duo of Chip and Joanna Gaines. I took my "birthday dinner" as a lunch at the Magnolia Table restaurant, which serves only breakfast and lunch for the time being. I hope they eventually expand into dinner because it's a wonderful place to eat. The restaurant is clean and beautiful, the staff are friendly and helpful, the food is delicious-- made from scratch with real, local, and mostly organic ingredients. It is a true "farm to table" experience. And considering all that, the prices are quite reasonable. We definitely splurged, and indulged in some treats in honor of my special occasion.

At Magnolia Table. Mark had breakfast
I had lunch--chicken salad sandwich and
butternut squash soup.

That said, the Silos are a bit gimmicky in my opinion. The grounds are beautiful. The merchandise is lovely. But everything is a tad overpriced. We lookey-looed around and bought a few trinkets, but that's all. After resting up a bit with a cup of coffee, we headed home. Was it worth the bother? Absolutely. I definitely recommend at least one visit... and if you take along your lottery winnings, you can get some pretty nice stuff there.

Magnolia Silos, Waco TX

We couldn't get a longer stay than a week at Lake Whitney because the park was full beyond that time period. So we headed north to Lake Tawakoni, which is about an hour east of Dallas/Fort Worth. We've been at Lake Tawakoni several times, now, and like it better each time. They are upgrading many of the sites to full 50 amp hookups, and we were able to snag a good spot next to the open field. Even though we were on the main road, the trees and woods behind us and the huge open field in front made it feel more secluded than it really was.

At Lake Tawakoni

The downside of Lake Tawakoni is that there's absolutely nothing to do there, as far as "attractions" go. They do have a nice hot tub that we made use of a few times. Otherwise its glory is a peaceful week of sitting in the woods. Now, if you have a watersport vehicle--a boat or kayak or canoe...or you love to fish, then Lake Tawakoni will have what you need: a lake. We don't. But we enjoyed it all the same. We stayed fifteen days, and that was enough for me.

Yesterday we left Texas and headed for Louisiana where we will spend the next three months in the Hoffman back yard (Melanie, Mark's daughter & her family). Part of the reason for the long stay is to visit with family, but a bigger reason is the rising costs of travel. We're beginning to slow down quite a bit, and next year the plan is to move less often and stay longer wherever we can.

This week is Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to spend it with family and friends, and that you remember to take the time to reflect on the goodness of our God and thank him for his blessings and provisions.

"Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:19-20

God Bless! & Safe travels...