Yea unfortunately all the camping is paid and only allowed at marked sites. That being said, they all seemed very well kept and clean. We didn't see any scorpions, but seeing massive spiders cross the road while driving 45 mph was concerning.
Yep, made the trip from Houston to BB. Stopped in Junction for a night and camped in South Llano River State Park (also a very nice park) on the way out to split the drive up a bit. Camped 3 nights in BB. Did some off-roading as well, Old Ore Road, which took most of one our days.
I've seen this in person multiple times. Never powered by a generator on the roof though. That's impressive.