There’s nothing like a cool sea salt breeze on a warm February Texas day. One of our favorite places to visit is Rockport, Texas. A small town on the western Gulf coast, Rockport is host to fantastic fishing, shopping, amazing food, and plenty of activities for outdoor fun.

This was our fifth trip to Rockport, but our first trip in Edie The Aliner! We booked a bay side campsite for a three night stay at Goose Island State Park. If you have never made a visit, it is definitely one to add to your travel list. Goose Island State Park offers fishing, hiking, birdwatching, and camping. With over forty campsites along the bay and more than fifty sites tucked into the trees, there are plenty of options for a relaxing stay. We previously stayed at a tent site in the trees, so we opted for a site off the bay. Site 16 was our home for three Texas nights, and we could not have been more excited to kick back and relax.

Our arrival was not as smooth as our last trip, but we certainly learned some valuable lessons! Since we arrived late at night, we knew we had to quickly set up the Aliner and call it an early night. Our site had a unique setup with the electric outlet located under the shade shelter and on the opposite side of the camper power inlet! At first we thought we were parking on the wrong side of the site, but our parking location matched the other campers along our side of the bay. We realized this was only the case for sites 16-24, because the power source for sites 1-11 was located on the power inlet side of the camper. We weren’t sure if the cord would reach, but we managed connect to power without an issue. After a fast setup, we settled into the camper for the night. About twenty minutes later, Tyler heard rustling outside. He went to investigate and food a raccoon helping himself to our potato chips! One of the locks on our food tote was not set, so the raccoon was able to lift the lid and help himself to a snack. Needless to say we had to throw away our chips, but we had a good laugh as we fell asleep.

Exploring Goose Island State Park

Tyler headed out after sunrise to test his luck on the kayak for fishing. I won’t give away his favorite fishing spots, but he spent the entire morning out on the water. While he was living the fisherman life, Hank and I explored the park. There is something so peaceful and beautiful about walking along the coast. With a steady breeze and a perfect 70 degree day, we enjoyed the pier and looking for fish near the water’s edge. After returning to the camper and making lunch, Tyler had returned. We took a walk to check out the park store. We recently decided to collect patches from our travels, so I was excited to check out their collection. One thing I love about Texas State Parks is chatting with the friendly and knowledgeable park rangers. We learned about the couples whooping crane walk scheduled for the next day and the upcoming Galentine’s tea party. In fact, Goose Island had several events planned throughout the entire month. Goose Island has several hiking trails to explore in the tree covered area of the park. Hank enjoyed the nature walks while Tyler and I checked out future potential camping sites. The sites in the wooded area of the park have a completely different setup from the bay sites with more privacy between sites and trees providing light shade. We especially liked sites 152-154 and 147-149, so we booked one of the sites for an upcoming spring trip.

What’s For Dinner?

We are looking forward to a return visit in a few weeks. Now that we have a few trips accomplished, we are starting to plan our summer and fall adventures which will include a trip to Arkansas and hopefully visits to two of our bucket list locations: Rocky Mountain National Park and Big Bend National Park. Until then, we are ready to pop up and camp out at our next destination.

Happy Camping,

Dawn and Tyler