Camping – Page 2

Collier Seminole State Park

Over spring break, we spent three nights at Collier Seminole State Park. We didn’t take our bikes or our kayaks and after we got there, we wished we had! John did bring his fishing stuff and spent some time at the dock fishing.

There’s a lot of history here. This is the park keepers house. The bottom is the visitors center and the top is off limits now.

Collier Seminole State Park House

This is a dugout canoe that Native Americans would’ve used. I can’t get over how narrow it is! I think my 8 year old would fit best. I’m not sure you would get me in that and stay right side up in the water!

Collier Seminole State Park Dugout

This contraption is a walking dredge that was used to build Tamiami Trail through the Everglades. The story of how they finished the road is pretty neat!

Collier Seminole State Park Campground Walking Dredge

We weren’t sure about the campground when we first pulled in. We felt like we were so close to our neighbors. As it turned out, it wasn’t so bad. Yes, the sites in the middle are closer together.

Collier Seminole State Park Campground

But, they have the center of the circle for kids to run around in.

Collier Seminole State Park Campground

It kept us from feeling too crowded. The sites around the outside are wider. The only hook ups are water and electric.

Collier Seminole State Park Campground

The kids loved playing around this fire ring? sand box? Whatever it was, they had fun!

Collier Seminole State Park Campground

We were given a family membership to the Naples Zoo and we finally made it. I’m not much of a zoo person, but this was OK. It isn’t huge, but it was worth the trip and we might even go back. There was giraffe feeding and camel rides that my youngest thinks he just has to do.

The primate excursion is a 15 minute boat ride around the islands where the monkeys live. This lesser ape (I think) was putting on a show for us!

Naples Zoo

A giant anteater – I really can’t believe how big he was!

Naples Zoo

Of all the animals there, the ducklings win the cutest award! They were totally unfazed by all the people passing by their puddle. Naples Zoo

I had read about Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in our local paper and thought it sounded interesting. When I realized it was less than an hour from the campground, I decided we should check that out too. It turned out to be pretty neat. The boardwalk is 2.25 miles long and there are several places to stop along the way (but no facilities). We were surprised at how many people were there! Our kid were not as impressed with the walk, although I think if they had each had their own pair of binoculars it might’ve been a little better.

One of the first things we spotted was a Painted Bunting. These brightly colored birds flitted from the feeder to the nearby palm trees. I could’ve watched them for longer (and tried to get more pictures), but the kids were already restless and not impressed with these little birds. As a side note – there were some serious bird watchers and they were always willing to point out what they were looking at and tell us what kind of bird it was. There were some signs along the way pointing out the birds most commonly sighted.

Painted Bunting at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Towards the end of the walk, there was a small “pond” left (rainy season is still a month or two away) and there were lots of birds and some alligators.

Alligator on a log at Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary

The gators were just laying around soaking up the sun.

Alligator hugging a log at Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary

The birds were totally unconcerned about the gators laying nearby.

Birds feeding near gators at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

We watched these two anhingas fight for dinner (or maybe just for the seat on the tree stump).

Anhingas fighting at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

You can see why they are also called snake birds. Look at him with just his head sticking up from the water. Anhingas fighting at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

We’re planning to go back to Collier Seminole State Park with our bikes and kayaks. Have you visited Naples, FL? Any suggestions for things we must see/do?

John Pennekamp State Park, Key Largo

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We wanted to do one last camping trip before school started (anyone else think the summer flew by?). Some place that we could drive to in one day and then stay for several nights. Some place with lots to do – preferably swimming, hiking, and biking. We had visited John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo when we drove to Key West earlier in the year and knew that it was the perfect place to go. I managed to snag a site for four nights.

According to the description, the sites are narrow – maybe 16′ wide. So I measured our camper – it’s eight feet wide. Even with the slide and awning out, we fit. The site was plenty long, but we found a perfectly level spot close to the front and were reluctant to back up anymore. We just barely got our car off the road, but no one complained.

We didn’t have neighbors most of the time which was good since the sites are pretty close together and the kids sometimes forget to not cut through other sites. Honestly though, we didn’t spend that much time at our site.

Our campsite was right by the pond and we had lots of wildlife to keep us entertained. These crabs are such a pretty blue, but they don’t hang around when they see you moving!

There were lots of iguanas! We would come back from snorkeling and they would be scurrying back to the pond area.

Some of them were little, but there were a few bigger ones too.

I was surprised at the different colors!

One of the things we wanted to do was snorkel. John Pennekamp is the first undersea park in the United States. If you have an underwater camera, bring it! We don’t have one and wished we did the whole time we were snorkeling. We’re thinking about this one for when we go back.

Offshore is a replica of a Spanish shipwreck complete with more cannons and an anchor. The kids loved snorkeling out to it.

There are lots of jellyfish too. They mostly sit upside down on the bottom, but you will see them floating through the water too.

Even though bikes are not allowed on the hiking trails, we rode our bikes around the campground – to the visitor center, to the trail head, just around so the kids could burn some energy. The Grove Trail is a beautiful trail! Make sure you wear lots (and lots!) of bug spray.

It ends at an old citrus grove.

While we were walking along the trail it started sprinkling and when we finally got here, it decided to start raining a little more. We still took time to walk around the grove and made it back to our campsite without getting too wet.

The Wild Tamarind Trail is all about different trees. The tree you are to be looking at is marked with a ribbon which is nice. It’s always frustrating when you’re not sure which tree the sign is talking about.

We’re planning to go back again in the semi-near future – winter is a tough time to get a site! We’ll be taking a couple more snorkels and (hopefully) an underwater camera. 🙂

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Florida Caverns State Park

On our recent longer trip, we spent three nights at Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna, FL (in the panhandle). When we arrived, it had been raining and our site was pretty muddy. All the sites were back-ins and it took us a couple tries to get the trailer where we wanted it. Happily, it didn’t rain much while we were there and the site dried out pretty quickly. The main reason I picked this campground was because of the cavern, but it wasn’t open until Thursday (it’s closed Tuesday & Wednesday). There was lots to keep us busy and we were definitely not bored!

The kids wanted to go through here so I went along. It’s pretty low, but there were no bats.

These spiders (golden silk orbweavers) seemed to be everywhere! It reminded me of another camping trip. As long as they stay outside & don’t get in my path, it’s all good.

Can you see her? Just hanging out, waiting for some unsuspecting bug to come along.

All along the bluff trail were cypress swamps.

The kids had so much fun exploring and the scenery is beautiful. There were a couple geocaches too.

Any entrances to caves/caverns were blocked off, but we still tried to see inside. One nice thing – the air coming out of them was cool! It was really hot that day and it was like nature’s air conditioning.

The trail wasn’t all easy – there were a few spots that were steeper.

The cavern tour was definitely worth the wait and the money (admission really isn’t that much – $8/adult & $5/kid). Our tour guide was great! We learned about the cavern – both how it was found & excavated and how they occur naturally. For instance, the column in this picture is cracked because at some point in the recent past the ground shifted some. Eventually, the crack with fill in and the stalagmite and stalactite will become a column again.

There are just so many photogenic things in the cavern!

This is Blue Hole. There’s a path to it from the campground and you can also access it from the day entrance. We stuck our toes in – it was a cool 72. Every afternoon, there were lots of people swimming here! However, it’s 30 feet deep and I wasn’t comfortable letting my kids swim without any kind of floaties or life vests (I didn’t know there was swimming so we didn’t pack any swim stuff).

Just under the bridge, this little guy was swimming. He’s little – maybe two feet long. Apparently, for whatever reason, gators don’t swim in blue hole. I’m not totally convinced (besides, where there’s a baby, there’s got to be a mama!). There’s nothing stopping them except maybe the cooler water?

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Florida Caverns State Park! If we are ever in the area and need a place to stay, we will definitely stay here again!

An Inside Look at Our Shamrock Travel Trailer

We recently bought a 2011 Shamrock Camper. I showed you the outside; now it’s time for an inside tour.

When you walk in the door, this is what you see – our dining room slide. To the right is the front bed and to the left is the kitchen, bathroom, and kids beds.

The fridge (which seems huge to us!), to the left the boys bed and all the way in the back is the “door” to Kira’s bed. The closed door is the bathroom and to the right of that is a little closet. Above the beds is a shelf where the kids can store there things when we’re on the road.

This is the back bed. All beds are queen size.

The front bed – it’s so nice to have a space we can use after the kids go to bed. The table can be left up, there’s a sofa for relaxing. If we needed extra sleeping space, the sofa and dining room table do become beds.

I know this kitchen doesn’t look like much, but to me – it’s huge! I have a three (3!!) burner stove, oven, and microwave. If I need some counter space, I put the sink cover down (the white piece standing up beside the sink).

My kitchen with counter space. There’s even a shelf for a tv and a built-in radio/cd player!

The bathroom – just big enough for the essentials.

The bathroom is average as camper bathrooms go. However, for those of us who camped for years with no bathroom, it’s a wonderful thing! No more getting up in the night to take one of the kids to the bath house.

Can you tell we love our new camper? The absolute best thing about it? We don’t have to crank it up and down!

How to Find A Campground

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So, you’ve got your camper, you’ve done your shakedown cruise, and now you’re ready to hit the road for a real vacation…but how do you find campgrounds? There are several ways – I usually use a combination of them depending on where we’re going. Here are my top three, plus a few others.

Probably the easiest way is to google the name of the city or attraction and then the word campground. You’ll get a list of campgrounds in the area. Click through them to find out rates and availability. This is probably my least favorite method – I like to know a little bit about the campground.
Two big name campground chains are KOA and Good Sam Club. Both have memberships you can purchase which then allow you to save money on your stays at their campgrounds. When we had our pop up, we paid $24/yr to be a KOA VKR member (it’s now $30/yr). Typically the prices are higher, but when we were camping in a pop up, the extra cost was worth it because it meant that the bathroom/shower facilities would be clean. They also have books with all their campgrounds in them. KOA’s is here and the app is here. Good Sam’s is here and the app is here. Their book and app contain more than just Good Sam campgrounds.
Woodalls – They are connected with Good Sam, but they have a variety of books available so that’s why I’m giving them their own line. This is probably my favorite way to look for campgrounds. The website is full of information and they also have a book you can purchase. I like being able to look at a map and see what campgrounds are nearby, how they rate (based on a third party review) and then look up the website.

Here are a few other ways. I haven’t used them as much, but they may work for you.

Free and Low-Cost Campgrounds – All campgrounds in this book are $12 or less. To get the $12 or less, they use the cheapest price for a campsite – it could be a senior rate or a resident rate. The free campgrounds are normally primitive – no electric, no water, no dump station. I like the idea of boondocking, but right now it isn’t something we want to try – way too hot in Florida! However, in the future, we’re hoping to go on longer trips and staying somewhere free for a few nights would really help the bottom line! Please note that only 44 states are included. Make sure you do your research before heading out.
I came across a website for a family who was going to full time for a year. I started following them on Instagram and followed tags to other fulltimers. There are a lot of great campgrounds out there and these people find them! Plus, you can get ideas for future trips.
A website I have just recently discovered (again, through some of the fulltimers I follow) is campendium. They have a fairly comprehensive list of campgrounds that campers can review and upload pictures. You can register and add your own reviews too.
When we bought our camper, they told us about RV Parks app. We downloaded it, but haven’t used it much. It’s here for Android and here for Apple.

How do you find out about campgrounds?

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