Tags
Camping In Texas, Coach-Net Camping, Coach-Net RVing, First Time Campers, Ray Roberts Lake State Park, Texas Camping, Texas State Park, Texas State Park Camping
Ever since Coach-Net purchased an RV for it’s employees to use, my parents have been asking me to take them on a camping trip. Both sets of my grandparents had RV’s at one point or another, so needless to say, they were excited when I let them know I’d take them out on the company Airstream over Halloween weekend!
However, they’re not too adventurous, so we stayed relatively close and booked a 2-night stay at Ray Roberts Lake State Park, which is only about a 45 min drive from us.
The drive wasn’t too bad. It’s not exactly scenic, but once we got off the highway, it was nice to drive through some of the winding roads surrounded by large ranches. It’s always great to get out of the city and into the country a bit. We did have some high winds and I could feel its effect on towing the trailer. This wasn’t too much of an issue, especially with the sway bars we had connected to the trailer, however, it did still make me a little nervous given that it was my 2nd time taking it out.
Once we arrived at camp, we got the Airstream backed onto the pad, leveled it out, and chocked up the wheels. As I went to hook up the water and electrical, I had a difficult time finding the 30 amp power chord. So, I called my friend and Coach-Net’s Learning Program Manager, Joseph Kaminski to see if he could help me locate the chord over the phone. Well, it turns out that as I was getting ready to leave, I unplugged the power chord and left it at the office assuming there was a second one in the back on the Airstream. What a bone-headed move. Thankfully, Joseph offered to bring it to me! This meant he drove all the way back to the office, picked up the chord, and drove through traffic to drop it off at my campsite. (Well over an hour and a half drive time) He’s the real MVP of our trip! Now that the biggest hiccup was over, we continued to enjoy our weekend! We spent the evening around the campfire, cooking hot dogs and burgers and listening to classic rock jams it was time to hit the hay.
The next day we spent an hour or so in the morning fishing. I didn’t have much luck that day but I did get 1 pretty aggressive bite, I just missed it. (Texas fishing for ya) After breakfast, we went on a hike/walk through some of the designated trails. My dad wasn’t a huge fan of the “taking a hike” idea but he pushed through like a champ after my mom nudged him a few times.
We spent most of the afternoon hanging outside of the Airstream watching college football on a TV we hooked up to the RV. This was accompanied by some brats my dad proudly cooked over the fire he paired with some kind of mustard dip concoction he came up with. Soon after the brats, when Texas Tech was losing to OU by 21, one of us took a big nap to rest up before dinner.
We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening around the campfire, cooking dinner in the Airstream, eventually roasting up some s’mores (which the wife was happy about) and busting out a bottle of the good stuff. A perfect way to end the night.
Sunday morning, we packed up our gear, cleaned up the campsite, and rolled out! To top a great weekend off, we stopped for lunch at a Babes Chicken Dinner House right down the street. We’ve done this several times after camping, at this point it’s becoming a tradition and I’m okay with that.
My parents are already thinking about renting an RV for their next adventure and heading to the same spot! Dad keeps telling mom that’s how they’re going to retire but she’s not having any of that. We’ll definitely be booking another RV trip with them (hopefully this time in separate RVs)! It was great to get away, spend time with family, and have nothing on the to-do list for the weekend. It very may well be the best way to vacation.
Lance C. ~ “My first experience with Coach-Net service, and wow was I ever pleased!”
As most people know, emptying the gray tank after the black allows the gray water to rinse and flush the sewer hose of black water and solids. Once both tanks are empty, close the valves and detach the bayonet from the RV. After washing out your sewer hose, use the station rinse hose to thoroughly flush the dump station pad area near the drain pipe. This should include anything that dripped out the end of your RV drain pipe after you disconnected your hose. Completely rinse the area around the station drain to make sure there is no solid waste or gray water remaining. Ensure everything is washed down the station drain so it’s clean for the next user. Perform this task as efficiently as possible to minimize the wait time of those behind you. Note that you should also follow this process at full hookup RV sites so the next guest (or park staff) doesn’t have a mess to deal with.
You don’t need to fly to have an awesome adventure. Sometimes a road trip is even better! For example, you can take a historic highway such as Route 66 across the country, and make stops at places that are chock-full of adventure along the way. Check out road-tripping sites such as 
If you are going to drive to your destination, you’ll need lodging along the way, as well as at your final destination. Beyond hotels, look into renting vacation houses, apartments, and cabins. Also, consider camping. If you have the equipment, camping is cheap and can be an adventure in itself. You can also look into hostels, boathouses, volunteer stays, and other 
Way back in 1987, Coach-Net was created for RVers by RVers. Many years and even decades have passed, resulting in so much change. RVs have progressed in size and with countless electronic updates. And the widespread use of the internet has not only made our trip planning infinitely easier, it has allowed our exploration of the outdoors to be so much more accessible. And with the passing of time, even Coach-Net has changed, continually updating our methods and tools to better serve our members. But while many things have changed, there is one thing that has always stayed the same. We are RVers! The only way to truly understand the intimidation a new RVer has when driving their RV, or setting up in a campground for the very first time is by experiencing that moment ourselves. For this reason, Coach-Net proudly owns not just one, but two RVs – a motorized and a towable unit both available for our employees to go camping with family and friends, at no cost. We want every person working for Coach-Net to have that personal camping experience and we want to be able to share our experiences with you.
