This was our first RV park experience. We rented a converted trailer through AirBnB (we always get scammed or screwed through AirBnB).
Here's a short story of our experience, and then I'll give some more objective-minded review factors.
There was no rule about dogs off-leash in the park in the description. We see everyone has dogs. There are dogs hanging out off-leash, in yards, all over the place.
Well, you can guess that someone anonymously complained about our dogs. And then it just escalated.
I tried being cordial. I went to the office, wrote a letter on a piece of paper stating that I would like to resolve the issue with the person who complained. I left my phone number and email so that they could remain anonymous. As far as I can tell, there's no actual problem. My dogs are friendly and socialize well with other dogs.
A couple of days go by. No response. Then the office manager comes marching up. I ask her what the issue was and she's saying "sometimes other people's dogs are not friendly so you guys need to keep your on a leash."
Maybe I'm crazy but saying "Other people's dogs are ill-behaved so yours need to be punished/restricted" doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
The office manager was clearly not interest in any kind of conflict resolution. She was there to bark orders (pun intended), and that's it.
We discuss this with AirBnB. She says it's city ordinance, but that doesn't fly because it's private property. She doesn't have a leg to stand on with AirBnB so she lies, makes up all kinds of things to try and make us look bad.
What a load of crap. We just wanted a peaceful spot to build our van.
We are admittedly new to this RV thing, but I love my dogs. I want my dogs to be free, happy, and healthy. Keeping them cooped up inside on a beautiful day, when they aren't hurting a damn thing, and staying right next to us, isn't what I call being a good dog owner.
Ok, I've said my piece. And whatever side you may be on regarding dogs on leashes, you should keep in mind that this place felt like drama-central to us. Don't trust the office here. You'll want to do everything by the book, in writing, they don't seem to care about getting along.
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Some objective points.
Here's a short story of our experience, and then I'll give some more objective-minded review factors.
There was no rule about dogs off-leash in the park in the description. We see everyone has dogs. There are dogs hanging out off-leash, in yards, all over the place.
Well, you can guess that someone anonymously complained about our dogs. And then it just escalated.
I tried being cordial. I went to the office, wrote a letter on a piece of paper stating that I would like to resolve the issue with the person who complained. I left my phone number and email so that they could remain anonymous. As far as I can tell, there's no actual problem. My dogs are friendly and socialize well with other dogs.
A couple of days go by. No response. Then the office manager comes marching up. I ask her what the issue was and she's saying "sometimes other people's dogs are not friendly so you guys need to keep your on a leash."
Maybe I'm crazy but saying "Other people's dogs are ill-behaved so yours need to be punished/restricted" doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
The office manager was clearly not interest in any kind of conflict resolution. She was there to bark orders (pun intended), and that's it.
We discuss this with AirBnB. She says it's city ordinance, but that doesn't fly because it's private property. She doesn't have a leg to stand on with AirBnB so she lies, makes up all kinds of things to try and make us look bad.
What a load of crap. We just wanted a peaceful spot to build our van.
We are admittedly new to this RV thing, but I love my dogs. I want my dogs to be free, happy, and healthy. Keeping them cooped up inside on a beautiful day, when they aren't hurting a damn thing, and staying right next to us, isn't what I call being a good dog owner.
Ok, I've said my piece. And whatever side you may be on regarding dogs on leashes, you should keep in mind that this place felt like drama-central to us. Don't trust the office here. You'll want to do everything by the book, in writing, they don't seem to care about getting along.
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Some objective points.
- Mission Texas is in South Texas near Padre, Brownsville, and McAllen.
- It's a small town but surprisingly busy. One RV couple here told us they were leaving because they thought it would be quieter and calmer.
- I was raised in Houston, and Houston drivers are very aggressive. Drivers here are just like in Houston (speedy, aggressive, no signal while they cut you off kinda driving.)
- If you've got dogs, or like to walk barefoot, you'll want to know there are what people call "sandburs" which are little spikey balls about the size of a pea. They are surprisingly painful (like stepping on a LEGO). I had to pull dozens of these things off my dogs' bloodied paws. My dogs were actually avoiding the grass (it's usually the opposite).
- There's a little fenced-in area, about 50 by 50 feet that they call a dog park. It's big enough for dogs to run around a bit in, but it's full of the sandburs as well. My dogs simply wouldn't run around (they always like to run). Not a great dog area.
- The grounds themselves are OK. If you like palm trees, there's plenty of those here, and throughout this area of Texas.
- Mask and social distancing enforcement were very strange here. My wife and I are very health-conscious, so we don't wear masks or social distance if we can at all help it. The strange part is that they have all these rules and signs up, and most people here are over 50. Almost nobody is wearing a mask. Everyone is congregating outdoors and indoors with each other. Not complaining, but if you're someone who's really afraid of the virus, then you may want to avoid this place.
- There were also quarantine rules for the pool and restrictions on how many people could use the washer and drier area (coin operated). It was said that you had to quarantine for 14 days before using the pool. At first I was wondering, "how do they know who quarantined?" We talk to the other people in the park and they say "if you stay here for 14 days then you've quarantined" we said "but we see people going to the grocery stores and coming back" their reply "yeah but just wear a mask and it's still quarantining" lol? Again, the less asinine rules the better in my book, but if you believe int he COVID hoax, then better mask up somewhere's else.
- There is a large park in walking distance. It's got a running path, baseball fields, basketball courts, and a big dog park way in the back. Not many dogs or people around when I went there, and if you're making the trek with your dogs, you may want to drive. It's spiker-ball city getting to the dog park.
- I couldn't tell you the hook-up situation because we're not using main/shore at this point. 50 amp or 30 amp, I don't know.
- The people were mixed, some very friendly, some were real creeps, and just about everyone seemed nosey as hell. Guess that's normal in RV parks? We didn't go out looking for people or engaging at all really, they all just sorta came to us. (including people who complained about us)
- There were showers and bathrooms. I'd call them clean.
If you like authentic Mexican food as we do, there were some good taqueria's around. Grocery shopping and prices aren't bad comparatively. (Prices seem to be going up everywhere. Gee, I wonder why. I digress)
