Howdy West Texas board! I know there are quite a few Aggies out I this neck of the woods and this board seems pretty dead. Lets do a quick check-in/roll call.

Family and I are in Midland (Greenwood area) been out this way for 1.5 years. Actually enjoy it over the humidity of Corpus.

This summer we are looking for things to do that are unique to West Texas so any suggestions would be welcome. We have plans to go to balmorhea, and probably down to Alpine again.

https://www.mrt.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/article/Midland-alcohol-sales-surpass-5-million-in-13652225.php

With two little ones, 7 and a 2 year old the majority of my drinking is done at home. But that's pretty impressive for a short month.

You know, if you want to do a day trip type of thing out there, I'd say Ft Davis is a better bet than Alpine. I grew up in Alpine and miss it terribly sometimes but I'd visit it more as a hub for the region than a destination. There are certainly things to do in Alpine and it is scenic, but late fall will be a better time.

Monahans sandhills is also a pretty fun place and the kids will enjoy it. Get to Big Bend as often as you can is my best advice. Go do the Guadalupe Peak hike at least once (without kids though).

Stay at KOA in Carlsbad in a camper if you got one they also have little cabins, eat the food at KOA, go to the Carlsbad Caverns, good place to eat breakfast is the Blue Door Cafe. Take a stroller for the 2 year old if you want to hike up or down or don't and take the elevators.

This used to be a yearly trip for me and the wife until we had our now 20 month. We may go back this summer.

Welcome to West Texas, I am originally from Katy, so my gills have already dried up out here.

We have been out here since 1993, raised both kids here, one from toddler and other from birth.
We bought a used RV and went all over Texas and parts of New Mexico. Used it to get front row parking
Some of the local places we went camping were Midland KOA for a birthday/slumber party, Abilene, Colorado City, Sweetwater, San Angelo, Carlsbad, Christoval for rope swings into the River. Mostly we did hiking and fishing.
San Angelo has a small riverwalk and is a pretty little city out here.
If you go to the Sand Hills buy your own plastic toboggans/sleds to slide down, you can use them later if it snows on Beal park in Midland. May want to check that they allow you to carry in your own.
Midland & Odessa has a few kid friendly museums - Children's Museum, Planetarium, and Petroleum museum.
They might like the Stonehenge on UTPB campus if it seems interesting to them.
Kids have been to Balmorhea and Ft Davis and enjoyed it as part of School camps/excursions.

Farther out or on the way out of town?
Lubbock has a very nice Children's museum that also has an IMAX.
If you can get to Albuquerque, you can take the Tram to the top of the Sandia mountains and there is a restaurant up there (a bit pricey but good).
When they are older you may want to try Junction - South Llano state park and get canoes and/or kayaks if the kids can swim.
Heading down I-20 to Ft Worth check out the Thurber Museum interesting history of a boom-town to ghost town. Food is pretty good at the restaurants up and down the hill there.
I will probably think of more later.

EDIT: Palo Duro Canyon has many things to do also.

My folks live in Cloudcroft, NM and I spent about 10 months working on a project for a uranium company in Albuquerque and Grants, NM. So, we spend a lot of time in the mountains of New Mexico skiing, hiking and horseback riding. We haven't taken the kids to the caverns yet, but we hope to do that this summer. I appreciate all the suggestions, I'll update this thread and we hit some of these spots.

Currently living in Salt Lake City but being raised in west Texas (Eastland County) formed my worldview as it did that of another Eastland County resident, Walter Prescott Webb, who is an esteemed Texas/western historian. If you never have read his works (he was active from the 1930s to his death in 1963) I highly recommend The Great Frontier, The Great Plains and The Texas Rangers. His view of the frontier and the definitive role of Texans being caught between two opposing forces (plains Indians and the Mexican government) is highly instructive about how it formed our distinctive consciousness as Texans.

There are some good suggestions here. I grew up in Carlsbad and it is a nice little town with good access to some great outdoor sites. They have the Pecos River running through town if you have a boat or jet skis. Also, if you're going to make a trip and stay over there, Sitting Bull Falls and McKittrick Canyon are a couple of great places to go hike or have a picnic.

Ruidoso also is a fairly easy drive and pretty much the closest mountain area retreat for people out here. Most people will think of either skiing, the casino, or the horse track, but it is a great getaway in the summer when the temperatures out here are insufferable.

I'd say go to the coast

As Claytie once said, "just sit back and enjoy it..."

(it= the dry friggin wind-blown heat and dirt of West Tx)

All that said, it is great place to live with good folks.

BIL/SIL live in Greenwood... We are in San Angelo.

Gig 'Em!!

_89

Family has been in San Angelo for a year now. We moved out here so I could go to PT school at ASU. Love the town. I grew up in Wichita Falls and they are practically the same town. Not sure if we'll stay when I graduate, but we like it out here.

Having just spent the extended weekend at my wife's grandmother's place in TX City I now officially call myself a West Texan. I can't do the humidity, it kills me. I tried playing a round of golf on Saturday and it was miserable. it wasnt even the August type hot and humid, just enough to zap your energy and make you want to take up an air conditioned hobby. Give me the dry, furnace fan heat any day.

Richline said:

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Having just spent the extended weekend at my wife's grandmother's place in TX City I now officially call myself a West Texan. I can't do the humidity, it kills me. I tried playing a round of golf on Saturday and it was miserable. it wasnt even the August type hot and humid, just enough to zap your energy and make you want to take up an air conditioned hobby. Give me the dry, furnace fan heat any day.

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From San Angelo and I have learned to miss the dry heat. I strangely grew up with nosebleeds and allergies because of the dry air and cotton, but I'd take them back in a heartbeat over 90 degrees and 80-90% humidity of Temple.

I love Temple and have no plans to move back but I've really learned to love dry heat over anything east of 35.

Alpine checking in.

Coming in the summer,I 'd rule out Terlingua and Big Bend. It'll be ridiculously hot. Fort Davis with the mountain elevations is probably a better bet. The state park, the fort, the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute all have decent hikes that are good with kids, like Maduro Canyon. The Mcdonald Observatory is good too, if you have smaller kids I wouldnt do the star party, since it'd be late and little ones aren't as patient and interested. There's plenty for them to see and do during the day up there.

In Alpine, see if you can go to a game at Kokernot. $6 tickets, usually good food, fun minor league park. Viva Big Bend in the summer is a texas music festival spread over Marfa, Fort Davis, Marathon, and Alpine. Because the acts aren't too famous, its pretty low key and a fun way to jump around the area.

Big Bend Brewing Co is sadly closed, but Marathon has a good barbecue / brew pub called the Brickhouse. Plus while you're there, go check out the Gage Hotel and hidden across the street, the Gage Gardens.

Nooooooo! Don't say the brewery is closed! That was such fun last summer, and we were looking forward to going back.

Bucketrunner said:

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Nooooooo! Don't say the brewery is closed! That was such fun last summer, and we were looking forward to going back.

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It was a heart breaker, announced in December. Still hoping someone swoops in to buy the equipment and location and start something new there, but so far nothing.


https://therivardreport.com/big-bend-brewing-shutdown-a-sign-of-hard-times-in-craft-beer-industry/

I don't live out that way any more, but I was born & raised in El Paso, TX. That's about as "west Texas" as it gets. :P

While I don't care for the city, I do miss the beauty of the area.

I would like to toss in the Marathon 4th of July Post Dance as a cool trip to take this summer.

https://visitbigbend.com/events/4th-july-dance/

So far this summer I have done absolutely nothing mentioned here. I've had to travel back to TX City (wife's family) and down to Corpus and that has eaten up several of my weekends.

We are looking to spend some time in San Angelo this weekend any recommendations on what to do there with a 2&7 year old?

Richline said:

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So far this summer I have done absolutely nothing mentioned here. I've had to travel back to TX City (wife's family) and down to Corpus and that has eaten up several of my weekends.

We are looking to spend some time in San Angelo this weekend any recommendations on what to do there with a 2&7 year old?

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Just saw this. If not too late, the Concho river has some cool kids areas and Twisted Root is a fun place to eat that's right there as well. Those might be fun options with kids.

AggieBarstool said:

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I don't live out that way any more, but I was born & raised in El Paso, TX. That's about as "west Texas" as it gets. :P

While I don't care for the city, I do miss the beauty of the area.

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Cities with their own time zone don't count...

Headed to Balmorhea this Weds, just for the day. But may spend some more time down that way after the Midland ISD kids go back to school. My oldest doesn't start until Sept 3 so I'm thinking we may spend those last few weeks exploring the popular summer destinations. Both my girls love to swim so thinking of Santa Rosa, NM as a possible destination. Anyone know of any other good swimming holes in west Texas? Last time we were in Alpine we went on a guided hike to a spring fed pond that was pretty awesome. May do something like that again.

I grew up in Big Spring, TX and went to school in Coahoma (had 57 people in my Sr Class). Got outa there as soon as I could. I used to visit a couple times a year, but I haven't been back in over 2 years since my mom moved near me. I plan to go back when my Grandma passes, but that will be it.

The thing is the place was dead the whole time I was living there as a kid, but the recent oil boom gave it a bit of a kickstart, especially the Midland/Odessa area which is ~40 miles down I20. Property prices have gone crazy. Luckily my mom was able to take advantage of that when she sold the family property.

Born and raised in Abilene. Stuck working in Houston now. Would love to live in Alpine, but wife says no.

Summer has come and gone and unfortunately we didn't get to do as many trips as we had hoped. But we did hit Balmorhea and that was pretty great. They closed the park again after labor day for more repairs to their septic system, but hopefully next march the entire park and RV park will be open 100%

I do want to brag on one place that we went. It's called Chandler Ranch. It's about 2 hours due south of Midland on 349. You hit Sheffield and go another 27 miles south. And it's literally an oasis in the middle of the desert. The ranch itself has 1200 acres and has miles and miles of frontage on both the independence Creek which is spring fed and the Pecos River. It was pretty amazing and I can't wait to go back. We got to swim Crystal clear spring-fed Creek it was like swimming in an aquarium. They Feed you three meals a day, and these meals are fantastic, and they give you access to a mule, the Kawasaki kind. I'll post some pictures on here tomorrow, but if you're in the Midland area and you're looking for a getaway I would highly recommend it.

Was in alpine over the weekend for Mrs. Davis's services.

If you went to Alpine high prior to the 90s, you probably had her for English.

Richline said:

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Summer has come and gone and unfortunately we didn't get to do as many trips as we had hoped. But we did hit Balmorhea and that was pretty great. They closed the park again after labor day for more repairs to their septic system, but hopefully next march the entire park and RV park will be open 100%

I do want to brag on one place that we went. It's called Chandler Ranch. It's about 2 hours due south of Midland on 349. You hit Sheffield and go another 27 miles south. And it's literally an oasis in the middle of the desert. The ranch itself has 1200 acres and has miles and miles of frontage on both the independence Creek which is spring fed and the Pecos River. It was pretty amazing and I can't wait to go back. We got to swim Crystal clear spring-fed Creek it was like swimming in an aquarium. They Feed you three meals a day, and these meals are fantastic, and they give you access to a mule, the Kawasaki kind. I'll post some pictures on here tomorrow, but if you're in the Midland area and you're looking for a getaway I would highly recommend it.

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How much did it set you back?

It was 300 a night for a cabin that slept the 4 of us. That included all our meals and snacks while we were there. We just had to bring adult beverages.