TRAVEL INFO CTR, Laredo, TX

Travel Info Ctr,  Laredo, TX

RUN BY:   State of Texas

LOCATION:   27.760720  -99.437400
Last Visited: 12/11/2018

UTILITIES:  None

COST:  Free

DISCOUNTS:   N/A

OUR RATING (1-5): Category III.  Score 4

NOTES:  This is, by far, the fanciest visitor center we’ve ever seen. The tile work is marvelous. There are picnic tables by ponds inside a short wall. The only down side is that there is no differentiation between truck parking and RVs.  I hate to take space that might be needed by a truck. This must be too close to the border and Laredo terminals for truckers to need it since there weren’t three trucks there all night.

Environment:  open scrub land of south Texas

Amenities:  None

Dump:  No

Public Water:  Yes  (in restrooms) 

Toilets: Yes

Showers:  No

Laundry:  No

Phone Service:  fair Verizon

Nearest Propane: probably Laredo

Location:  At the intersection of I-35 (Exit 18) and US-83 just north of Laredo. 

Proximity to shopping: Laredo

Camping Population: travelers 

Sites:  Parking lot.   

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.