January in the Texas Hill Country

Consider this fair warning: we got a new camera, so you have before you a photo-heavy post. Say cheese!

Where We Stayed

During my 10+ years living in Texas, I’ve cultivated a love for the stunning Palo Duro Canyon and West Texas mountains, but my favorite part of the state is the Hill Country.

I’ve been on numerous camping trips in the area (to Longhorn Cavern and Inks Lake, Pedernales Falls, Lake Travis, Lost Maples State Natural Area, and Garner State Park to name a few), and not just because it’s only a 3-5 hour drive from Houston.

So when we left the Houston area, it was only natural that we headed west to San Marcos in the Texas Hill Country. I was eager to spend some quality time in this quirky college town between Austin and San Antonio, right on two rivers.

Our home for the week was Pecan Park Riverside RV & Cabins, which proved a very pleasant and accommodating place to stay.

This retro Scotty greeted us at the front gate

Shade-giving pecan trees dumped nuts on our roof

The San Marcos River was a short walk from our front door

Gazebos with swinging benches are basically playgrounds for adults, right?

Wonder what the horsepower is on that thing

If I could’ve put these doors in my RV, I would have

I reckon Texas has a steady supply of these

The outdoor movie theater was our pup playground during the day

What We Did

There was plenty to do around the park, like take riverside walks with Gabby and play horseshoes.

Taking a picture of me taking a picture of my dog. Meta.

Of course, it wasn’t all play. We worked plenty too.

When we could break from work, we left the park.

We checked out the nearby town of New Braunfels

Our weekend adventure took place at Hamilton Pool after two days of rain, making the waterfall truly spectacular.

One of the most gorgeous swimming holes in Texas was looking its best

For comparison, here’s how it looked on my last visit.

What goes down the path must come back up. Here we go!

Who We Saw

Despite our introverted nature, we actually ended up spending a good bit of our time in San Marcos making new friends and getting to know old friends better.

I took an afternoon to meet up with friends in San Antonio.

Peace at a battle site. Seems like forward progress to me.

We stayed at the same park as Brittany and Eric Highland of RV Wanderlust, who Ardent Camper interviewed last year and who inspired us to launch into this lifestyle.

They grilled for us one night, and we grilled for them another. We all went out to eat in downtown San Marcos and took work breaks together walking around the park. It was great hanging out again.

Steaks and mashed potatoes were had. Also good conversation.

We also met up with a bunch of local RVers and swapped war stories over burgers and shakes at Centerpoint Station, which I definitely recommend if you’re in the area.

Look at all these nomads! Photo credit RV Wanderlust

I was super impressed by what must be the awesome parenting skills of Kelly and Brian McGovern, whose blog McGovernville chronicles their journeys with their four kids. FOUR.

During our time in San Marcos, we also got to know Pecan Park’s owners, Rachael and Doug Rowley, who were super accommodating and cool.

What We Ate

Short answer: lots of good stuff.Being a cool little college town, San Marcos has lots of neat places to eat. One of our favorites was The Hitch, a food truck park.

Wood-fired pizza oven in a trailer. Mind. Blown.

Tofu pad thai. Would eat again, most definitely.

Josh was really excited to discovery that his favorite BBQ joint has expanded to the New Braunfels area, so we took a little pilgrimage. I mean, road trip.