While staying in Crooked River State Park in Saint Marys, Georgia, we enjoyed frequent walks in the park.
Trail map:
Info sign:
Alligator country:
River:
Trail:
Tortoise:
Another trail:
Nature center:
Boardwalk trail without a boardwalk:
The trail was somewhat flooded, but we did it anyway:
Observation tower:
Swampy:
The boardwalk has been removed:
Pond:
A nice park.
We stayed at Crooked River State Park in Saint Marys, Georgia. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A pleasant stop on our way north.
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Our review on Campground Reviews:
Lovely state park
Not all campsites here have full hookups, but we were lucky enough to get a reservation for one. Our back-in site was plenty long enough for our 40-foot motorhome and tow vehicle. All the connections were good, and the campground hosts were on the ball, cleaning sites as soon as they were vacated. The campground is peaceful, with lots of nice, easy trails to enjoy. Note that the boardwalk has been removed from the loop behind the nature center, and we had to hop around some very large puddles to get around. Despite signs warning of snakes and gators, we saw neither, but we did see an armadillo, which was exciting as I’d never seen one that wasn’t roadkill. We camped at Crooked River State Park in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Jekyll Island (Driftwood Beach) and Fort Frederica National Monument are both worth a daytrip. Locals Dockside had excellent seafood, and historic St Marys is a cute little town.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities:
Pollen on our truck:
Other sites:
Bathrooms:
The first time we’ve seen a live armadillo:
Venomous snake country:
Little library:
Mini golf:
Cabins and screened picnic area:
Shelter building:
Dangerous cliff:
A nice park; we’d be happy to stay here again.
We stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A fourth visit to TTO, the flagship Thousand Trails park. The second of two stays here this year, totaling five weeks, separated by a week in the Disney bubble.
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See our previous stays here for our review on Campground Reviews.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities:
Birds and other sites:
We still enjoy TTO, and will no doubt stay here again next time we’re in Orlando, whenever that may be.
We visited the four Walt Disney World theme parks again this year.
I’m doing a separate post for each park visit, starting with a half a day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park, which is part theme park, part zoo.
Some posed photos:
Avatar land:
Avatar ride:
Lunch:
Heading to the safari ride:
Tree of Life:
Snack:
Expedition Everest ride:
We stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A third visit to TTO, the flagship Thousand Trails park. Actually the first of two stays here this year, totaling five weeks, separated by a week in the Disney bubble.
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See our previous stays here for our review on Campground Reviews.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
After setting up our griddle and furniture:
Utilities:
Aerial view of our site:
Aerial view of a long line checking in, shortly after noon:
The new section; nicely paved sites, but don’t you dare even think about putting anything on the scraggly grass:
A line of RVs snaking around the parking lot and road by the tennis courts, waiting to be guided to a site:
Another view of the entry road:
Above our loop:
TTO is very strict about only allowing checking in after noon. They don’t even let you line up on their entry road before then. So some people wait for noon on the highway turn lane, which risks getting ticketed by cops:
Check in line:
Line to be assigned a site:
Other sites:
Most sites are back-in, but there are some pull-through buddy sites (that we’d avoid like the plague):
Main intersection:
Pool:
Game courts:
Group fire pit and benches:
Lake:
“Alligators and snakes in this area”:
Pond and birds:
More birds roaming the campground:
Lizard:
A nice thing about TTO is there is a Publix grocery store and pretty good Chinese food nearby:
And a Japanese restaurant:
Plus Chick-fil-A and pretty much any other fast food you might want within about 10 minutes drive:
Back to TTO soon!
Some clips from three viewpoints at Three Sisters Springs in Florida, with hundreds of manatees gathered around the springs.
We visited Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River, Florida, to see manatees. These fascinating creatures spend the winter gathered around warm springs connected to the gulf, as the springs maintain a temperature of 72° F year-round.
Here’s a map of the springs:
A map on the wall of the visitor center:
350 manatees counted:
Entrance sign:
Manatee manners signs:
One of the springs:
Lots of manatees:
The nearby Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center:
While staying at Ho-Hum RV Park, we did a few drives along the Forgotten Coast, in the panhandle of Florida. Amongst other things, we saw all four of the lighthouses on the coast.
A pamphlet for the lighthouse driving tour, with information about each lighthouse:
The first drive was west of the RV park, with lunch at the Blue Parrot Ocean Front Cafe (they have a live cam you can view, too), then St George Island Lighthouse.
Here’s the route on an interactive map:
Bridge to St George Island:
Blue Parrot for lunch:
St George Island Lighthouse; unfortunately the museum was closed when we visited:
St George Island beach:
Further west, the Cape San Blas Lighthouse in Port St Joe:
The second drive was east of the RV park, to St Marks National Wildlife Refuge, St Mark’s Lighthouse, and Publix groceries on the way back.
Here’s the route on an interactive map:
St Marks National Wildlife Refuge:
The refuge visitor center, with info about the lighthouse too:
The wildlife refuge:
The third drive was to have lunch at The Fisherman’s Wife restaurant in Carrabelle, then visit the nearby Crooked River Lighthouse.
Here’s the route on an interactive map:
The Fisherman’s Wife; we wanted to eat here last year, but they were closed for the holidays. They were closed again most of the time we were at Ho-Hum this time too, but opened a few days before our departure:
Crooked River Lighthouse, the tallest of the four:
The old lighthouse keeper’s house, now a small free museum:
Fascinating stuff. We really enjoy this area of Florida; much more laid-back than the more touristy and populated parts.
We stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Our second stay here, again over the holidays. Still one of our favorite RV parks.
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Our review on Campground Reviews:
Hidden Gem on the Forgotten Coast
This was our second stay here, and I would happily come back again and again. There’s no better view than watching the water and gulls from the front of our coach. The atmosphere is laid-back and inviting, and the staff is helpful and friendly. There was a power issue part of the way through our stay, but they kept us updated on the status of repairs and understood when we needed to run our generator during the outage. This is not the beachfront place for partying and carrying on; it is the beachfront place for quiet contemplation and chilling. We camped at Ho-Hum RV Park in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
With RVs on either side, as it was most of the time (often a trailer on the driver side, which is preferred over a motorhome, since their living area is away from us; fortunately we didn’t have a trailer on the passenger side, which would have been facing us):
View from our site:
View out our windshield:
We enjoyed watching the various birds, including sandpipers, pelicans, cranes, ducks, and others:
Paddling:
Gentle waves:
Foggy:
Sunset:
Partway through our stay (on New Year’s Eve) our Power Watchdog reported electrical issues, saying the voltage was dangerously low or high (actually both), and neutral reversed:
I wasn’t sure if it was just us or a wider issue, but talked with some neighbors who also had the issue. So after further diagnostics and talking with the RV park owners, I unplugged the power, and we used the generator. The next evening (New Year’s Day), the electrical company came out and repaired a corroded pigtail; hazards of a waterfront RV park!
The seawall and sandy strip in front of our site:
Other sites:
Dog park and beach area:
Entrance:
Bathrooms and such:
Laundry room:
Activity center, where packages are delivered:
Fishing pier:
You can see our coach near the center:
We’d be happy to stay here again in the future.
We stayed at San Antonio / Alamo KOA Holiday in San Antonio, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A one-night stay on our way east, but a nice campground; we’d be happy to stay here longer.
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Our review on Campground Reviews:
Nice and convenient
We stayed here only one night on our way through San Antonio, and it was quite pleasant. There is easy access to freeways and anything you could want to do in the city. Since it was a short stay, we enjoyed having the on-site cafe available for dinner and breakfast. The staff were all friendly and helpful. We would stay here again and for longer. We camped at San Antonio / Alamo KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Goose:
Other sites:
Pool:
Camp store:
Patio area:
The Patio Cafe, which serves Hunt Brothers pizza and wings for dinner, and cooked breakfasts:
We got pizza from the cafe for dinner (and leftovers for subsequent lunches):
And breakfasts the next day:
Event hall:
Playground:
KOA sign and concrete cornhole:
We’d be happy to stay here again in the future.