RVing at Buckhorn Lake Resort

We finally took our first real RV trip with our Livin’ Lite Camplite travel trailer. Because of the reviews we had read we chose to stay at Buckhorn Lake Resort and we were not disappointed.  Every site has a concrete pad and full hookups, but what impressed us the most was the cleanliness of the facility. The staff at Buckhorn Lake Resort was very friendly and helpful. Maintenance workers were always visible making sure that everything was perfect.

The bathrooms/showers were immaculate and were serviced a few times a day. I really appreciated being able to take a leisurely hot shower, a shower that would have certainly drained all the propane we had.

I will say this—the facility is very popular with owners of HUGE RVs. Below is a picture of our trailer on our site followed by pictures of the RVs that were around us.

Our Little Trailer

Neighbor 1

Neighbor 2

Neighbor 3

Neighbor 4

There were actually some bigger RVs than these—some of the Class A rigs had tow-behind storage trailers that were bigger than our little trailer.

One feature of the Buckhorn Lake Resort that we liked was the availability of four pickleball courts.

Pickleball Courts

I can say that these are among the nicest and best maintained pickleball courts I have ever seen. There is also a tennis court next to the pickleball courts that was also in perfect shape. Normally when you find outdoor courts like these there are cracks in the surface, the nets are beat up and so on. Not here. These courts were in excellent condition.

Tennis Court

The resort also has multiple WIFI servers so no matter where you are you get a strong signal. That came in handy at night when we were able to watch a movie on Amazon.

Friendly People at Buckhorn Lake Resort

We met a lot of friendly people on the trip. Our next-door neighbors, Larry and Ginger, had three adorable Maltese dogs.

They have taken their fifth wheel all over the country bringing, of course, their dogs with them.

On the second day of our trip we saw a travel trailer smaller than ours, a “T@G” trailer. It belonged to Charli Flaherty Merchant and Karen Cruse of the Texas Ramblin' Roses chapter of RVing Women (http://www.rvingwomen.org/event/id/190186/Texas-Ramblin-Roses-Chapter---Bandera-TX.htm).

T@G Trailer

We helped them set up the canopy on the back of their trailer – believe me, it was no easy task, especially when the wind kicked up. Below is a picture of my wife Donna talking to Charli after we got it done.

Later in the day a couple, Rick and Denise, pulled a Class C motorhome into a site behind us. They were all smiles because, I guess, they didn’t have to deal with sway bars, levelers, sticky ball hitches and so on.

Rick and Denise

I have to say, Class C seems like a really good idea! I wish I had gotten a picture of their trailer. We also met their German Shepherd—she was a sweetie.

While we were at the resort Donna and I played pickleball doubles against a couple of guys, one of whom was Dick Howell.

Dick Howell (I apologize for the quality of the picture)

After doubles I played singles with Dick and thought, “This guy is pretty good.” He should be—he won the silver medal in age 75-plus pickleball singles and, with his partner, won the bronze medal in men’s doubles at the 27th Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah, in October of 2013. This is the WORLD Senior Games.

If you want to know more about pickleball, visit his web site: https://blog.pickleballcentral.com/.

To show you want a small world it is, he knew a friend of ours, Larry Honeycutt. That’s not surprising because Larry is a great ambassador for pickleball and he, like Dick, knows just about everyone involved in the sport.

Nearby Parks

Buckhorn Lake Resort is located near two parks--Louise Hays Park and the Kerrville-Schreiner Park.

Louise Hays Park is a 63.5 acre park with amenities such as Guadalupe River Access, volleyball courts, birding, trails, centennial stage, large and small pavilions, and playground area. It has nice trails, as shown below.

There is also a nice splashpad if you just want to hang out and relax.

The Kerrville-Schreiner Park is a 517-acre recreation and camping park on the Guadalupe River. It is a really neat place to walk around as shown in the pictures below. Note that it costs four dollars to get into the park (two dollars for seniors) but that’s pretty cheap for what you get.

The Kerrville-Schreiner Park has RV sites, some of which have full hookups. The sites are very nice and some even have tree coverage, as shown below.

The setting is more picturesque than Buckhorn Lake but if you are looking for a quiet time this might be the park you want to choose. Unfortunately there is little WIFI coverage so if you want to watch a movie at night, you’d better download it in advance (or get a dish). If you like kayaking while RVing, then you might want to check this park out. It runs along the Guadalupe River and has a lot of flat water kayaking spots. If you don’t have kayaks, you can rent them at the park.

Lessons Learned

We had been having some issues getting our hitch to engage with the hitch ball and disengage from it. Charli Flaherty Merchant and Karen Cruse told us about white lithium spray grease for the hitch ball and let us use theirs. What a difference!

We also learned that the dump hose we got with our trailer was a piece of junk. Of course we knew nothing about draining the gray water and I had to stand and hold the hose when we emptied the tank. We now have to purchase a better hose with an elbow fitting as well as a Sewer Hose Support to make sure the water drains correctly.