Boondocking in Texas under a full Winter moon

[DKB_SATX]

Well, I had to rush out on Thursday during a chilly lunch hour (with the temperature continuing to drop) to winterize the 24' Argosy for the 3rd time this winter. Even as I was whinging about the tedious task, it was absolutely worth it because I had de-winterized to join my WBCCI unit (the Heart of Texas Camping Unit) for some Texas "winter" boondocking over the 3-day weekend at the LBJ National Grasslands near Decatur, TX (about an hour NW of Fort Worth.)


I feel like most people (reasonably) think of boondocking as a somewhat solitary affair. Well, we do things bigger in Texas! We had 29 trailers gathered to house 57 campers, complete with craft beer, a steak dinner and a helicopter (more on all that in a minute.)

As you see here, it took me two panoramic shots to get the whole set of Airstreams in!



We had some beautiful sunsets


and kept a campfire going in the middle of the camp on the cold nights. It was chilly in the mornings, but Chloe and I managed to keep comfy.


A member of our unit who's a brewer provided some tasty beverages


and the brother of one of our members dropped by in a helicopter to take a filmmaker up for some aerial footage.


But most importantly, we gathered to spend time with our friends and had a fantastic weekend.

[Lance M]

It is all about having FUN! When you have great friends, great food, free camping, a keg of high quality Revolver beer, a campfire, great weather, a filmmaker and a helicopter you are bound to have one of the best camping trips of your life!
Here are a few of my pics.
Having a catered steak dinner and fine Revolver beer.




Beautiful sunset!

A warm campfire

I'm looking forward to the next one

[bwoodtx]

Great Pics, David & Lance!! Looks like a fun time!

[Wayward]

Now that is my idea of a gourmet meal!

[Bob4x4]

Some of the best times you can have will be down a dirt road

[Rockwell]

Fantastic camp out. I had looked at LBJ Grasslands before but did not realize you could camp (boondock) there. Is there a designated section or a park ranger/map to point you in the right direction?

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Rockwell

Fantastic camp out. I had looked at LBJ Grasslands before but did not realize you could camp (boondock) there. Is there a designated section or a park ranger/map to point you in the right direction?

There is a designated camping area within the Grasslands shown on the facility map (see their website), but the area where we were camped is usable for "dispersed camping" and there are other sites in the area that are nice if you're camping on your own or with just a couple of friends.

[Sbb]

I loved reading about your weekend and all the great photos, thank you.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Rockwell

Fantastic camp out. I had looked at LBJ Grasslands before but did not realize you could camp (boondock) there. Is there a designated section or a park ranger/map to point you in the right direction?

There's another facility that's managed by the same office but closer to you. Caddo National Grasslands is WNW of Paris, TX (close to the Red River) and has a lake in the middle of it. I don't know anything about it first-hand, from where it is I'm guessing it may be a little flatter than the LBJ area, but the terrain map shows that it's not featureless and the satellite photos show lots of tree cover.

[Ramble On]

Where do I sign up?

[Don McKelvay]

Great pictures, wonderful food and most importantly you had (and know you always have) a fantastic time with friends in your Unit. Wish we could have been there - maybe another year when we leave the 'Frozen North' back to our winter Texas RV resort in Mission.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Ramble On

Where do I sign up?

I sent you a PM. You can check out our unit website to see lots of photos of our fun campouts, a schedule of our upcoming campouts and contact info to try us out for a campout and then join because you had so much fun.

David Boyd
VP, Heart of Texas Camping Unit, WBCCI