Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!
No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement.
Population: (Arlington: 392,786) (Dallas: 1,288,000) (Ft. Worth: 935,508)
Founded: (Arlington: 1876) (Dallas: 1841) (Ft. Worth: 1849)
Average income: (Arlington: $31,916) (Dallas: $31,975) (Ft. Worth: $32,409)
Average price of housing: (Arlington: $ 332,592) (Dallas: $399,000) (Ft. Worth: $326,618)
Median age of the population: (Arlington: 33) (Dallas: 33) (Ft. Worth: 33)
https://www.arlingtontx.gov/
https://www.visitdallas.com/
https://www.fortworthtexas.gov
Geographically, Dallas-Fort Worth sits in the north central portion of Texas. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget includes the city of Arlington in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area.
We were only in this area for about a week, during that time there were heavy rain, hail and tornado warnings for much of that time! A tornado did touch down northeast of our campground! Needless to say, our eating out and going to interesting places was very limited!
If you have limited time to spend in the area, we highly recommend downtown Fort Worth!
Home Base: The Campground
For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!
Originally, we were assigned site 302 at the Dallas/Arlington KOA in Arlington, TX. The park appeared to be clean and well-maintained. Our pull thru site was a FHU (water-electric-sewer) on level gravel. Simple check in, we were escorted to our site. All sites had grass between them and most sites had large, mature trees. 30 and 50 amp service was available. There was good cell phone coverage (Verizon). Our site had an open southern sky for our satellite.
However, when there was a heavy rain storm (3” of rain in 2 hours), all of the sites in the 200 and 300 rows flooded. The office was aware of the flooding; we were actually sent a text asking us to unhook our sewer connections due to the flooding! The text did not suggest or offer moving sites due to the flooding. We had to contact the office about moving! With firm insistence on our part and great reluctance on their part, the office staff told us we could move to a higher area, site 535.
We moved to site 535. We did not hook up because the site was COVERED with dog poo. The person on 534 had a dog lead lashed to “our” electrical column. We never saw or heard a dog, but one definitely lived there! I documented at least 13 examples of large dog poo on site 535 before contacting the office. The office staff reluctantly said we could move to site 502.
We walked to site 502 and an RV was already on it, an RV we recognized as someone who had also been down in the flooded area. We again contacted the office. This time, with exasperation in their voice, the office staff said we could move to site 532.
We ended up on site 532 for the remaining 4 days of our stay in Arlington. This site was MUCH more crowded in both width and length than our original site. The site was so uneven, our front tires were 4” off the ground just so we could be level. No satellite coverage for us. There was barely enough room for the length of our 35’ motorhome and our Jeep at a 45 degree angle.
This had never been our experience in a KOA. While staff did move us, it was not a pleasant experience and required strong assertive skills. Literally, the manager waved a stack of reservation folders at Amy (another RVer who had been flooded out) and me saying, “We have 45 people with reservations coming in tonight. Those reservations will be honored before we move anyone who is already here.” What? During a tornado warning – not watch, warning – the manager at the KOA in Arlington told Amy and me that the 45 campers who MAY come in – during a tornado warning – are more important than the campers who have paid and who were currently sitting in 8” of flood water?
If you still decide to book your stay at this campground and are assigned a site in the 200 or 300 area, keep your eye to the sky for rain. If it rains, you will be flooded out. And rest assured the management at the KOA will not prioritize you and/or the safety of your RV.
Downtown
Dallas is a busy commercial area with tall office buildings, lots of traffic and construction with little parking available.
Fort Worth has a wonderful, quaint, fun, vibrant downtown with busy retail stores, restaurants, museums and other attractions. This is where we spent most of our available time exploring.
Food and Drink
Cattleman’s Steakhouse in downtown Fort Worth has been open since the 1940s. The steak and the salmon were excellent! Both were moist and flavorful. Atmosphere was casual and service was attentive. This is a place we would definitely return to again and again!
Attractions
Dallas:
Medieval Times was a lot of fun! It is a dinner theater show featuring a “competition” among 6 knights of “the kingdom” who “battle” to determine who will be the “victor who protects the throne of the Queen”. The show was impressive, especially since “our” black and white knight won the jousting tournament!
John F. Kennedy Memorial and the Sixth Floor Museum. The memorial to the assassination of JFK includes two sites; one site at Memorial Plaza where there is a large open-air structure and the other the Sixth Floor Museum.
Fort Worth:
Cattle Drive. The most fun we had in downtown Fort Worth was watching the cattle drive through the Fort Worth Stockyards. Real cowboys and real Texas Longhorns!
Texas Trail of Fame. Very similar to Hollywood’s Hall of fame stars, but focusing on cowboys and the cowboy lifestyle. Names like Sam Elliot, Tom Mix, James Arness and John B. Stetson.
Trinity River Trails Gateway Park. This is a wonderful park along the Trinity River. There are numerous hiking trails, but our favorite is right along the river. The day we were there, there were dozens of families enjoying the walking space. Such a nice, relaxing area.
Summary
This stop had some really high, positive points (Medieval Times, Cattleman’s Steakhouse, the cattle drive). The weather and our KOA experience were low points. This is an area we will return to. Hopefully, the weather will be more cooperative!
Your partners in travel, safe travels,
Kathryn, Dave and Lucky
RVing Nomads
It’s a lifestyle
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If you haven’t checked out our Special Places & Recommendations page, please do so. If you are in these areas, you may find these places as enjoyable and rewarding as we did!