First off welcome to you stillinatent. Sometimes I wish I was (in a tent I mean) but we've gotten spoilt to our popup.
My first experience with the Frio River came at Neal's Lodges in a tent. This was back in '87 so quite a bit of flooding as occurred since then and the river has changed its course a bit. What few camping spots they had are pretty much all gone downriver now. You didn't miss much by not getting a tent spot there. Sure, the ones that are left are right on the river but only one is really worth having.
The cabins are rustic, some have been updated and its been years since we stayed in one. The folks have stayed pretty much the same. A few new faces but the owners are still around. We've stayed in the pop up there once. What's so funny about our trips to Neals...it has always flooded right after we go! That may be why we don't stay there anymore (not that we're superstitious but I hate to cause destruction whereever I go!
)I feel like I'm at home when i'm there. Even now when we're in the area we always stop by and go walk along the river. They don't charge us for parking. I think thye recognize us and just hope we'll leave before the rain starts! Hmmm...maybe we need to go so it
will rain on them a bit!
Anyways...I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Neal's.
And Parkview...we stay there in our popup, right between those 300k monstrosities. Hopefully they will continue to let popups in. I LOVE their place. The most relaxing time I've had along the Frio I've had at Parkview. Its good to know the the new place next to them has opened. They're kin to the owners of Parkview so it's all family there. Maybe Parkview will quit letting popups in but we can go to Nana's now.
Garner is great if you don't mind the crowds. Lost Maples is a great spot if you like hiking. Not much in the way of swimming, just some wading.