Mother Neff State Park

We aren’t the “thou shalt not poop in the camper” kind of people (I mean, I didn’t pay what I did for a second home on wheels to not poop in my own toilet), but even I was curious about these bathrooms at Mother Neff State Park that every Texas camper on social media was raving about. Apparently they’re basically the Buc-ee’s of State Park bathrooms and you can find them southwest of Waco, Texas just outside a little town called McGregor.

Side Note: If you’re not from here and you don’t know what a Buc-ee’s is, may I suggest you stop at one if you ever come to Texas. It’s a gas station, yes, but it’s so much more than that. It’s one of those things you really can’t prepare someone for. They just have to experience it for themselves. A pee break will cost a minimum of $40 so just be prepared to be distracted by all the things and to go home with some of it.

So we decided to make Mother Neff State Park our January camping trip. I swear we didn’t choose it for the bathrooms, but rather for the availability, nice concrete parking pads, and full hookups. It’s also technically only 2 hours from the house, but in reality with traffic, weather, and bathroom breaks, it took us about 4 hours to get there. It may have been more actually, but I’m trying to forget that particular experience. It’s just lovely when you’re stuck in rush hour traffic on I35 in downtown Austin and your kid announces they really need to go to the bathroom.

Sorry y’all, but all this bathroom talk has me thinking it’s the perfect time to share what might be my favorite photo from the whole trip.

So were the bathrooms everything the internet promised?

It wasn’t until after we were hooked back up and ready to go home that I actually went in them and I’ve got to say, they are most definitely the nicest Texas State Park Bathrooms I have ever seen.

Would I still wear flip flops in the shower?

Yes, absolutely. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Did I take any pics?

No. That’s weird.

Mother Neff in a Nutshell

Clean, small, partially closed due to flooding, very nice campsites, full hookups, very easy to approaching moderate trails, great playgrounds, and overall just very kid friendly. There’s also a dog. Nobody lost him so don’t try to find his owner. He’s friendly and basically their mascot now.

Site Info

We stayed in site 15. It’s pretty private and backs up to those really nice bathrooms I was talking about. There’s a spacious crushed granite area with a picnic table and firepit and the parking pad was extra wide. I’d stay in that spot again, but I think we also want to try site 12 in the future. 12 is a really long pull through site that also looked pretty private. All sites have full hookups but some definitely seem more exposed than others. The in-laws stayed in 16 and I’d also recommend that one and site 14 as well.

Site 16

Site 16

Site 15. Firepit is just out of frame over to the left and you can kind of see the bathrooms through the trees.

The Trails

Let’s just be really real for a sec. This isn’t the kind of park we’re used to when it comes to scenery. The “scenic overlooks” were pretty anticlimactic (we legit had to look at the map to make sure we’d actually made it to the scenic overlook), but the upside is that the trails were super easy. The kids (age 4 and 6) had zero issues getting around and the only complaints while on the trails were regarding hunger (from Corbin obviously) and when we were going to get to the playground (both kids). About half the trails are pretty exposed and the other half are through treed areas.

The Playgrounds

We don’t go camping for the playgrounds, but I’ve got to admit, we love having them at parks. Mother Neff had two that were equally awesome in very different ways. The first was a Nature Playscape near the camping loop. I loved this concept which included a slide built into the hill, tic tac toe from wood, logs for climbing, and things of that nature. Get it? Nature, lol. The second was a regular ole old school playground which was just a couple minute walk from the other. This was my favorite for photographing the kids and is where most of my favorite photos from this trip came from.

What’s that noise?

It’s SpaceX. You can read about it over by the bathrooms, but I guess they do engine testing there. We actually didn’t experience anything other than a couple not so crazy booms, but it’s my understanding that if you’re not aware SpaceX is just right down the road, the booms can sometimes be quite alarming. It’s not like they’re keeping you up all night so it’s really not much of a bother, but something worth noting.

Other Pics From Our Stay

Have any questions about our experience at the park? Let me know.

-Monica

5 Tips for Your Very First Trip in Your New RV

Your first trip out in the new RV can seem overwhelming. It feels like stocking a second home, which it kind of is, and surely you’re going to forget at least one thing you really need. Just make sure it’s not the toilet paper. The rest can be worked out.

Tips for Surviving your First Trip in the New RV

1. Stay Close to Home and Camp Near a Walmart - Seriously. Luckily for us there wasn’t anything that we needed to go run and get in an emergency, but it happens all the time for first timers. You forget something you really need and the last thing you need is to be way out in the middle of nowhere and far from home. Our thoughts were that if something went terribly wrong, we could just hook up and be home in 30 minutes. No harm done. Also if we forgot something small that we actually needed like a can opener or bottle opener (if you’re me that’s important), you could just run up to the nearest Walmart and grab it real quick. Some people even choose to camp in their driveway for the first time. If you live somewhere where you can do this, it’s probably not a bad idea.

2. Keep a Notebook or Start Notes in Your Phone - This is for those things you forgot that you got by without, but definitely want for next time. For me this was salt and pepper and also cooking spray. Although I’ll be totally honest with you, I left the cooking spray in the camper and I’m currently questioning that choice. It’s starting to get hot here and I’m afraid the next time I go in my camper it may have exploded. Fingers crossed my kitchen isn’t covered in cooking oil spray. Also this is great for keeping track of campsites. Drive around and find your favorites and write them down so you remember them for you next trip.

3. Use your Phone To Communicate While Backing Up the Camper - If cell service is non existent, you could also use walkie talkies. Our camper is 39 ft. long. I tried the whole use hand signals to help my husband back it in thing and it was bad for our marriage. I was never in the right spot and we were both super frustrated. Cell phones allow me to be anywhere I think I need to be and moving regularly to check clearance and I can still direct my husband into the campsite. It’s so much less stressful this way and who wants to start their trip off with stress?

4. Expect anything or expect nothing - Your first trip is likely going to be a shit show. Or at least peices of it. Expect nothing to go as planned. Expect anything to happen. Setting appropriate expectations can make a not so great trip no big deal at all. Just remember you’re learning and remember this first trip is all about working out the kinks.

5. Just Enjoy!

---

Just before our first trip I polled a Facebook group I’m in to have them tell me that one thing they forgot on their first trip. I want to share the top responses with you before I wrap this post up just so you can make sure you have the most commonly forgotten things.

• Can Opener

• Cork Screw

• Toilet Paper

• Garbage Bags

• Spices (Salt & Pepper)

• Dish Soap

• Pillows

• Scissors

• Table Cloth

If you have any great tips and tricks to add or want to share the thing your forgot on your first trip, please feel free to share in the comments.

Also if you want to check out my RV camping items on Amazon, click the button below. Maybe you’ll find something else you haven’t thought of yet.

Disclaimer: The Amazon link is an affiliate link and I do earn a tiny commission for any items purchased as a result of clicking this link. If you purchase, THANK YOU!! This allows me to keep bringing you quality content on a regular basis.

Happy Camping!!!

-Monica

---

Interested in more of my blog posts for Beginner RV Campers? Click the buttons below.

---

What To Do About That Terrible RV Mattress

Photo by Kalegin Michail on Unsplash

If you’re reading this I’m guessing you just spent the night on quite possibly the worst mattress you’ve ever slept on (if you even slept at all). No worries, I’ve got you. Let’s talk about that horrible RV mattress and the best and most affordable way to upgrade it.

It happens to the best of us. We buy our new or new to us camper, we buy all the things to go with it, and then set up our maiden camping trip just to find out ain’t nobody sleeping good on that poor excuse for a mattress that comes with the thing. You just spent all this money and a new mattress is the last thing you have room for in the budget. What do you do? Do you fork out the cash for a new one anyway? It’s a shame to spend all this money on something that’s supposed to bring you joy only to be sleep deprived with an achy back. We fixed this issue for under $100, which by comparison seemed like the perfect alternative to buying a new mattress.

This is NOT a sponsored post. I’m simply sharing what worked for us and helping out my fellow RVers.

---

What we bought

Lucid 3 Inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress Topper

This particular mattress topper had great reviews everywhere I found it online and was available at many stores for so much less than comparable models. I ended up buying mine from Home Depot because at the time they had the best deal. I like to shop around. I’m going to link it below on several sites so you can find the best deal at the time you’re looking at this. I did see it on more sites (JC Penny, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.), but those others had a much higher price point and I didn’t see the point of adding them here.

LUCID 3-inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress Topper - Queen Buy on Amazon

Other Buying Options

Disclaimer: The Amazon and Home Depot links are affiliate links and if you do purchase through one of those links, thank you! I will receive a super small commission, but that commission keeps me producing quality content for you. That being said, I’m a firm believer and finding the best price most of the time. If it’s not at Home Depot or Amazon, please choose the option that’s best for you.

---

What else you need to know before purchasing your mattress topper

I didn’t just purchase ours blind hoping it would work for us. I thought about our sleep needs and the level of firmness we typically prefer. If you like a super plush and soft bed, maybe the 4 inch model would be a better fit for you. If you love it super firm, you may consider the 2 inch model. We chose the 3 inch topper simply because we sunk into the super thin camper mattress directly down to the plywood below. We like it mostly firm, but felt for our needs that the 3 inch might provide a little bit more of what we were looking for. Check out this graphic from Lucid. Maybe it’ll help you decide which model will work best for you.

---

Hopefully you found this helpful and you can start getting a better night’s sleep on your next trip. This thing really has made a huge difference for us.

Interested in my other blog posts for beginner RVers? Check them out below.

Happy Camping,

Monica

Spring Break at Inks Lake State Park

You know what Saida and I fought about just before heading out with the camper to Inks Lake State Park? She didn’t want to go and and kept telling me we should just stay home. Homegirl junior. Not that she cares, but I had to pull the “well mommy and daddy don’t spend too much money a month on this camper to not go anywhere so do you think we should go camping or do you want to sell the camper?”

Obviously we went camping. I won’t say she didn’t cry about it for an hour and half on the way there though because she totally did.

Where’d we go?

Inks Lake State Park (and Longhorn Cavern State Park for a couple hours)

Site number?

West Loop, Site 43. I’d highly recommend this site especially if you like being right on the water and you like having the park store nearby with boat rentals and such. It is very close to the park store though and when they did fishing with a park ranger, there was a lot of foot traffic on the trail between 42 and 43. We didn’t mind, but if you do, consider a different site. And also fair warning, someone did mention to me on the Texas RV Camping Facebook page that they had seen a rattlesnake and some water moccasins in this particular area. We kept and eye out, but never saw anything.

What we did while we were there

Camped, hiked, paddle boated, made memories with family, made s’mores and hamburgers, watched movies in the camper (we’re real people), fished, hit up the park store for ice cream, made a quick trip to Longhorn Cavern State Park to take a cave tour.

Other Things you can do there

They have at least 2 playgrounds, a Kona Ice truck, kayaks, canoes, more hiking trails, swimming in the lake & events depending on the day. Also I had my eye on a winery up Park Road 4 called Perissos Vinyard and Winery, but we didn’t actually go there.

---

Around the campsite

Campsite 43. You can see the canoes from the park store behind the camper.

Golden hour behind our campsite looking towards the park store.

From our campsite (43) looking out over the cove.

---

Hiking

My kids aren’t exactly experienced hikers so when picking out a hike, we went for something that appeared manageable. We chose Lower and Upper Fisherman’s Trail and essentially made a loop. We ended up on the dark green trail for a few minutes so we walked a little further than originally anticipated, but overall this was a great trail for them. They got to climb a little, see the lake, and it wasn’t too long or challenging for them (ages 3 and 5). Corbin fell a few times, but that’s mainly because he’s a little more clumsy than your average 3 year old.

Upper Fisherman’s Trail

Lower Fisherman’s Trail and they were only climbing because the wanted to. This is actually just above the trail.

---

Paddle Boats

Anyone curious what happens when I ask my kids to stand next to each other for a picture? THIS! This is what happens. This is why I don’t ask them to do it. Also the only reason I have this sad image is because we were about to buy ice cream and they weren’t taking a chance of not getting it. Also this was after getting off the paddle boats which ended up being a disaster because everyone was tired and both kids (who couldn’t even really reach the peddles) wanted to be able to peddle at the same time. We didn’t even use our full hour and then when I asked Saida what her favorite part of camping was after we’d been home a few days, she said the paddle boats. Blew my mind. I’m like you mean that thing we did where everyone whined the whole time. They really did have a great camping trip overall though.

---

Longhorn Cavern State Park

Longhorn Cavern State Park really wasn’t on our list of things to do on this trip, but when we realized it was literally down the street from Inks Lake State Park, we decided why not. To be honest I really wasn’t sure what we were getting into. I thought we could explore a cave on our own for like 20 minute and then go hit some trails (because from what I can tell they have some super easy and kid friendly trails), but turns out this cavern is much more expansive than I originally thought and it’s only accessible by a 90 minute guided tour. Obviously we took the tour and decided against any hiking trails since we were well into nap time by the time we finished. The kids absolutely loved it. Corbin was a litte over it about an hour in (because it was nap time) but overall he did really well (thank goodness).

---

We’re only three camping trips in, but so far we’ve really enjoyed each one. I think the kids are anxious to come back here again sometime soon. My final thought is that it’s a fantastic park for families and next time we look forward to bringing bikes for the kids as well. Maybe I’ll even hit up that winery and report back.

-Monica