REVIEW Malaquite Campground at Padre National Seashore

Malaquite campground is located just 1/2 mile North of the Visitors centre at Padre Island National Seashore.

Value 4.5/5
Only $8.00 per night but there are no hook ups.

Site Quality 4/5
Site was level, had barbeque pit, table and shade cover. No hook ups but has an RV dump at the entrance to the campground which is included with your park entrance fees not your campground fees so if you choose to camp for free down on the beach you can still dump. (CHECK beach driving conditions as it wasn't drivable when we were there and we opted to pay the $8)

Facility Fun 3.5/5
This rating is low as the amount of garbage on the beach made it not very enjoyable. It was also very windy, full of seaweed and Portuguese Man O'Wars.

Natural Surroundings 3.5/5
It was unfortunate that there was so much debris lying around the beach. Every foot or so along the shore line you would see a paper plate, empty bottle, netting etc. Turtle patrols went by constantly looking for turtles nesting and would drive over the garbage. It would have been nice to see them cleaning up the beach garbage as they pass. We picked up a bit but there was just too much. Otherwise the beach was beautiful. Nice and warm and shallow. Miles of beach to walk.

Bathrooms ???
Flush toilets and cold showers but I didn't go in to see if they were clean or not.

Staff 4/5
Fee booth guard was pleasant and the staff at the visitors centre were friendly and helpful.

Location 4/5
A bit remote but still fairly close to Corpus Christi which has everything you might need...except for a Costco! Plenty of Walmarts which the one we were at allowed Overnight RV parking. By the visitors centre there is a small store.

Overal 3.5/5
We weren't impressed with the garbage and the amounts of sea weed on the beach and in the waves. I was disappointed with the condition of the beach road which was supposed to be driveable for the first 5 miles with a regular 2 wheel drive. Due to present beach conditions we barely made it 1.5 miles. Of course the park can't help the natural occurances at the beach but it was still disappointng. Too many Man O'Wars to feel safe with the girls in the water.

Looking from the beach to te campsites, covered tables present on beach

View from our site to the beach

Our site in front of the beach. Tent sites on the Right and Rv sites on the left. Small Rv's on other side of lot

Portuguese Man O'War

End of the pavement just past the Visitors camping where there is FREE camping
if the beach conditions are suitable

The worst 24 hours EVER!!! and we arrive at Padre Island National Seashore

Ok Time to vent....we have had the worst luck in the past 24 hours...time to get our air conditioning fixed. The part cost $550 so we were expecting about 3 hours for the labour. As it turns out when they took out the AC pump they discovered a piston shattered which took out the accumulator. 8 hours of labour later, $900 in parts and a $2000 bill we are nice and cool.  Lucky us...of course this all happened 5000 miles after the warranty expired!

During the AC fiasco, we were shuttled by Ford to The Alamo.  Then Ian lost his iPhone 4. He left it in the shuttle van and they of course can't find it.

We came home to confirm the time of tomorrows hockey game and the menu says it wasn't playing...we try to call Dish network but our majicjack isn't working so we spend a couple hours on web chat trying to figure out what is going on. Apparently Versus switches networks when racing is on and doesn't carry the games. Hockey is the only thing we watch on the satelitte! Supposidly we can get "Distant Networks" from Dish Network which allows us to get the local channels across the country, but it is a 14 day waiting period... provided you can get the form.  We try to arrange to get a form...but it's against policy to email it, and they can't figure out where we get it off of the net (4 different operators in 4 different departments cannot find it)... connection was lost and we gave up for the night.

In the morning we tried to call the number they gave us and our majicjack isn't registering on the computer  but will allow us to make a 30 minute free call so Ian calls them, talks to them and they still can't figure out how to get us a form...then 30 minutes is up and the phone dies... and we know nothing more then we did last night...ARGGG! During this both Sierra and Aayla stepped in an ant hill and were both bit numerous times by the ants which was a screaming fit for both of them...poor girls...those ants were nasty little biters!

We decide to just leave and drive and head out to Padre Island National Seashore. We stop and fill up the diesel and off we go...

But we are burning fuel like crazy...like literally twice as much as we were burning for all the driving we did so far. If it continues this way we will run out of money and not make it home, let alone continue the trip. We look at our bill from Ford and see they performed a recall on the Engine Control Module...we look out the window and see this

That white stuff is fuel spilling out our exhaust pipes...diesel fuel that isn't burnt, actual fuel being spit down the pipes...money litterally being thrown out the window. We have gone from 16 litres per 100 km's to 30 litres per 100 km's.  Turns out, the recalled software from Ford is not compatable with the aftermarket tuner on the truck.  We pulled over at Walmart and updated software.  Good to go.

Discouraged and grumpy we arrive at Padre Island National Seashore Entrance fees here are $10 per vechicle but that cost was covered by our America the Beautiful Pass. No cell service so no internet and no phone...we try to enjoy the beach.

Sierra chasing Sea gulls in the parking lot

You can camp for FREE on the beach if you continue past the Visitors Centre and hit the end of the paved road. The first 5 miles are supposed to be safe to drive but with the trailer on...no way right now, the beach conditions were not safe for that right now.

We headed North again, past the Visitors centre and shortly after there is Malaquite Campground on your left (After pulling in from the road there is a dump station on your right before you enter the campground).



Our site #36 with the beach behind us. Sites are $8 a night, no hook ups



Sierra enjoying the waves

Aayla wants to enjoy the waves but she is a bit timid.

Ian isn't impressed with the sea weed and the garbage all over the beach

LOVING the warm gulf water

Between the two shelters you can see our trailer parked as Aayla
 runs from the waves. Behind her are mounds of seaweed and garbage washed ashore.

Digging for baby colourful clams

The view from our campsite to the beach

As we settle for the night all we can do is hope that with tomorrows sun, a better day will come.

REVIEW Hidden Valley RV Park San Antonio

A wonderfully quiet bit of country and very close to the city. To get here from the 90, take loop 410 South to I35 and head South on I35 but immediately exit on Fischer Rd (exit 144). Travel 3/4 mile east on Fischer Rd and turn Right on Campground Rd. This sign is easy to miss so keep a good watch for it. Also don't let the mile drive down this gravel road scare you away. The end is a quiet littlr peaceful place!

Value 4/5
This is a passport America site so we paid $15 instead of the regular $30. For $15 it was wonderful...we usually boondoock so for an RV park we liked it for it's natural wonders.

Site Quality 4.5/5
We were first offered a shaded, crushed gravel pad which looked level but chose to take the more open field space as we needed to make sure the satelitte would be OK. This field site #31 didn't need to be leveled at all. Full hook ups. Laundry facilities available and excellent Wifi. There are no regular plugs for extention cords etc.

Facility Fun 4.5/5
Amazing if you like to catch bugs, try your hand at fishing, visit the horses, swing on a hammock, go for a walk, listen to crickets chirp...We had a lot of fun here! There is even a Bonfire Cove area which is a community area for bonfires (when fire bans aren't in effect), tents for shade and bug relief (we didn't experience too many mosquitos etc) with chairs and a few toys, a couple of bikes and horseshoes to play. Only a small swimming hole to cool off could make this any more fun!

Natural Surroundings 5/5
Open fields, wooded trails, a creek for fishing, many bugs, birds, and even turtles in the creek.

Bathrooms N/A

Staff 5/5
I think Teri is the friendliest RV/Campground owner I have ever met! She is happy to answer any questions you have, help you plan your local activities, print off discount coupons for attractions if you need her to and help with anything she possibly can. She makes you feel welcome and wants you to enjoy your stay.

Location 4/5
As you drive up you may wonder where it is you are headed but this little RV park is a real counrty gem and you are less then 20 minutes from down town San Antonio where you can find anything and everything you need and more.

Overal 4.5/5
If you are looking for all the bows and whistles then this park is NOT for you. There is no pool or games room or store for supplies but it is full of character and if you want a quiet little spot in the country but still want to have close access to the city then this is the place for you. This family run park is full of Southern charm and makes you feel like you are right at home. If I ever come to San Antonio again I would stay here for sure.

Wide open field beside and behind us

View in towards our pull through site.
Ours had a picnic table but not all did.

View of some of the shaded, crushed gravel sites

The creek beside us which you can fish in...mainly catfish.

The park entrance and the horses are to your left

These are picnic areas along the creek

Bon Fire cove area a community shared area with 5 hammocks,
3 screened areas and lots of chairs



Sierra enjoying a hammock



The Alamo, Riverwalk and the San Antonio Children's Museum

Today we were up early to drop the truck off to finally have the air conditioning fixed!!! YEAH!!!!! We then headed into San Antonio and our first stop was The Alamo. It was a bit wet but that was a bit of relief from the heat here.

Singing in the rain...

 The girls were more interested in the giant Koi swimming in a canal at The Alamo.

We then headed over to the Riverwalk and had a little stroll along the river...

Which of course ended up in a 35 minute boat tour :) It was $8.95 for adults and $2 for children aged 1-5.



A view of a boat just like the one we were on





We saw some live entertainment near the Riverwalk Mall.





Our tour guide called this a Night Heron





The lock which closes off the city if flooding is expected



 For luch I was outvoted. We wanted to go to Rainforest Cafe as it is a family favourite when we decide to eat out, I wanted to eat outside in their very limited outdoor seating area, but the little ones LOVE eating inside so they won.

After lunch we were off to the San Antonio Children's Museum. We do not have any children's museums near us so it was a lot of fun for us.

The girl in the bubble

Leave it to Aayla to find a slide

I'm leaving on a jet plane...



Preparing for take off



Control tower...ha ha

Preparing for a feast

Sierra the paleontologist



Oh My Aayla is in heaven with her own
 little shopping cart to empty and
 fill until her little heart was content!



Lining up to pay and then start all over again!

Sierra tries to milk a cow

This ball zone was super cool...balls had to
placed in certain areas then they would be
sucked up to a scoop. When the scoop was full
 it would rain balls down on the kids and then they's
start it all over again, and over again, and over again....

Sierra LOVED this dumptruck thing.
She went on it about 20 times!

All and all we had a good day...until we called to see how the air conditioning was coming...




On the left the dealership guy telling us how much we owed them.....

On the right...both Ian and my expression when we heard how much we had to pay....

We are too mad to say any more!!!! However we were nice and cool driving home tonight!