Thousand Trails Peace River

We stayed at Thousand Trails Peace River in Wauchula, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We had some concerns about staying here, based on reviews, but were pleasantly surprised.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-03-02
Check out: 2025-03-09
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a little rain
High temps 68-82°F, lows 43-63°F
A little wind, gusts to 25 MPH

Noise:

Negligible road noise
No train horn noise
A little neighbor noise

Site:

#C50, back-in, grass
Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
Very level site, surprisingly; used hydraulic leveling
Grass site about 55 feet long by 40 feet wide
Just grass between sites
Picnic table
Fire pit
Tall trees
Somewhat clean site; a bottle and a few other bits of trash (TT doesn’t clean sites)
Elevation 40 feet, front facing North

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
45 PSI water, conveniently located
No sewer connection; pump-out service available (one free per week, $15 for extra)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 10-26 Mbps down, 11-16 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
T-Mobile: 290 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
AT&T: 435 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Pool
River

Our review on Campground Reviews is forthcoming.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site, in the non-sewer section; more spacious and quieter than the sewer section:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

A squirrel on our picnic table:

Squirrel

Towards the end of our stay the waste tanks were getting a little full:

Full waste tanks

We wanted to empty them for our travel day anyway, so we went to the office to schedule the free honeywagon pumpout; they gave us this sign to put in our window:

Honeywagon sign

The pumpout truck; quick and easy:

Waste pump

Aerial views of our site:

Aerial view of our site

And the campground; you can see the more tightly packed sewer sites closer to the road, and much more spacious non-sewer sites closer to the river:

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of bridge

Office:

Office

Playground:

Playground

Pool:

Pool

Courts:

Courts

Walking path by the river:

Walking path by river

Bridge, river, kayak:

Bridge, river, kayak

Kayak on the river:

Kayak on the river

There are a couple of dump stations, but on the wrong side of the road for non-sewer sites to use when leaving, weirdly (without looping around):

Dump station

Cabins:

Cabins

Other sites:

Other sites

As I said, we were pleasantly surprised. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

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.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-02-16
Check out: 2025-03-02
14 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a few rainy days
High temps 62-82°F, lows 38-61°F
Occasional wind, gusts to 31 MPH

Noise:

A little road noise
No train horn noise
Little neighbor noise
Distant fireworks from Disney most evenings

Site:

#6 Hurricane Road, back-in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
A little unlevel site; a little high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 12 feet wide
18 feet to neighbor on passenger side (a mobile home)
35 feet to neighbor on driver side
Just grass between sites
Picnic table on 22 by 10 feet concrete patio
Some shrubs
A bunch of small trash on site
Elevation 120 feet, front facing West

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
40 PSI water, conveniently located
Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 135-165 Mbps down, 16-20 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
T-Mobile: 50-67 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 20 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
AT&T: 26-49 Mbps down, 3-11 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters only in a central location
Package delivery to office, for $5 per package (we got a local mailbox)
Pools

See our previous stays here for our review on Campground Reviews.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Birds and other sites:

Birds

Bird

Other sites

We still enjoy TTO, and will no doubt stay here again next time we’re in Orlando, whenever that may be.

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground

We stayed at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground within Walt Disney World, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A magical campground within the Disney World bubble.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-02-09
Check out: 2025-02-16
7 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy
High temps 79-87°F, lows 59-66°F
Little wind, gusts to 20 MPH, but sheltered

Noise:

A little road noise (including bus on main road)
No train horn noise
A little neighbor noise (kids)
Fireworks most nights

Site:

#555, back-in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
Level site; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 55 feet long by 25 feet wide
30 feet to neighbors on both sides
Trees between sites
Picnic table
Fire pit
Tall trees
Clean site
Elevation 100 feet, front facing West

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
75 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (2 2-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 230-300 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 15-35 ms ping
AT&T: 155 Mbps down, 32-55 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Pools
Garbage bin near site
Golf cart rental
Boats and buses to Disney World parks

See our previous stay here for our review on Campground Reviews.

Campground map:

Map

Another map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site, with our rental golf cart out front:

Our site

Not quite as long as the site we had last time, but there was room to hang off the back of the pad:

Our site

Convenient utilities:

Utilities

We rented a golf cart, and decorated it a bit to be festive, and to be able to identify it in golf parking lots:

Golf cart

Solar-rechargeable lights at night:

Golf cart

Other nearby sites in our loop:

Other sites

A squirrel trying to get into a box left on a neighbor site:

Squirrel

Horse-drawn carriage ride:

Horse-drawn carriage

A bus stop near our loop, that we used to pick up our golf cart:

Bus stop near our loop

We could have used the shuttle bus to get from one end of the campground to the other instead of getting a golf cart, but the cart was more convenient:

Shuttle bus

Playground over the road from our site; not as annoying as the basketball court we had next to us last time:

Playground over the road from our site

Golf cart parking:

Golf cart parking

Meadow Swimmin’ Pool:

Meadow Swimmin' Pool

Meadow Snack Bar near the pool:

Meadow Snack Bar

Meadow Trading Post:

Meadow Trading Post

Definitely the best place to stay when visiting Disney World.

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

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.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-01-19
Check out: 2025-02-09
21 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a few rainy days
High temps 45-80°F, lows 36-61°F
Occasional wind, gusts to 31 MPH

Noise:

A little road noise
No train horn noise
Little neighbor noise
Gas golf carts going by (on the route for maintenance workers)
Distant fireworks from Disney most evenings

Site:

#49 Hurricane Road, back-in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
A little unlevel site; a little high on driver side and rear; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 55 feet long by 12 feet wide
25 feet to neighbors on both sides
Just grass between sites
Picnic table on 25 by 10 feet concrete patio
No trees, one shrub
A bunch of small trash on site
Elevation 120 feet, front facing South

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
40 PSI water, conveniently located
Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 140-180 Mbps down, 12-25 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
T-Mobile: 25-30 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 20 ms ping
AT&T: 0.7-38 Mbps down, 0.3-11 Mbps up, 60-180 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters only in a central location
Package delivery to office, for $5 per package (we got a local mailbox)
Pools

See our previous stays here for our review on Campground Reviews.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

After setting up our griddle and furniture:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Aerial view of our site:

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of a long line checking in, shortly after noon:

Aerial view of long line checking in

Aerial view of campground

The new section; nicely paved sites, but don’t you dare even think about putting anything on the scraggly grass:

Aerial view of campground

A line of RVs snaking around the parking lot and road by the tennis courts, waiting to be guided to a site:

Aerial view of campground

Another view of the entry road:

Aerial view of campground

Above our loop:

Aerial view of campground

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:

Waiting to check in

Check in line:

Check in line

Line to be assigned a site:

Check in line

Other sites:

Other sites

Most sites are back-in, but there are some pull-through buddy sites (that we’d avoid like the plague):

Other sites

Main intersection:

Main intersection

Pool:

Pool

Game courts:

Game courts

Group fire pit and benches:

Group fire pit and benches

Lake:

Lake

“Alligators and snakes in this area”:

Alligators and snakes in this area

Pond and birds:

Pond and birds

More birds roaming the campground:

Birds

Lizard:

Lizard

A nice thing about TTO is there is a Publix grocery store and pretty good Chinese food nearby:

Chinese food

And a Japanese restaurant:

Japanese food

Plus Chick-fil-A and pretty much any other fast food you might want within about 10 minutes drive:

Chick-fil-A drivethru

Back to TTO soon!

Rainbow Springs State Park

We stayed at Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A very nice state park campground.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-01-12
Check out: 2025-01-19
7 nights

Weather:

Partly sunny, some rain
High temps 57-68°F, lows 38-48°F
Little wind, gusts to 21 MPH, sheltered amongst trees

Noise:

No road noise
Occasional distant train horn noise
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#9, back-in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 75 feet long by 15 feet wide
40 feet to neighbors on both sides
Thick trees and bushes between sites, nicely private
Picnic table
Fire pit and charcoal grill
Tall trees
Clean site
Elevation 50 feet, front facing SW

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
40 PSI water, conveniently located
Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 50-140 Mbps down, 15 Mps up, 30-40 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5-10 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
AT&T: 1-4 Mbps down, 0.01-1 Mbps up, 86 ms ping
T-Mobile: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 750 ms ping, unreliable
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Beautiful state park

We enjoyed our stay here and wish we could’ve stayed longer. The sites were spacious and private, with good hookups. It was quiet most of the week, with just some noise from the weekend crowd. You do have to drive a bit to get to the Rainbow Springs headwaters area, but it’s worth checking out. The river access at the campground is nice enough on its own, with kayak rentals at the main store/ranger station. We camped at Rainbow Springs State Park in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: If you’re new to Florida and looking for manatees, this is not one of those springs. It is an easy daytrip down to Crystal Springs, however, where we saw tons of manatees….

Campground map:

Rainbow Springs

An interactive map:

Our nicely secluded site:

Our site

Can’t see any other sites from the living area of the site, though there is a path behind the sites that occasionally has a walker or bike:

Our site

Utilities:

Our site

Other sites:

Other sites

Bathrooms, with a washer & dryer just out there:

Bathrooms, and washer & dryer just out there

RV check in area:

RV check in area

Basic camp store in the building with the check-in office:

Office and camp store

Camp store

Picnic shelter:

Picnic shelter

A very moss-draped tree:

Tree

The Rainbow River:

River

Rental kayaks:

Kayaks

We’d be very happy to stay here again, and for longer.

Video

Video: a peaceful timelapse of one day from a waterfront site at Ho-Hum RV Park

Watching the sun rise and set while the tide comes in, recorded from a waterfront site in our favorite Gulf Coast campground, Ho-Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, on the panhandle of Florida.

Video

Video: a peaceful timelapse of a couple of weeks from a waterfront site at Ho-Hum RV Park

A peaceful timelapse watching the sun rise and set while the tide comes in over a couple of weeks, recorded from a waterfront site in our favorite Gulf Coast campground, Ho-Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, on the panhandle of Florida.

Ho-Hum RV Park

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.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-12-22
Check out: 2025-01-12
21 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, some drizzle
High temps 50-69°F, lows 33-62°F
Some windy days, gusts to 39 MPH

Noise:

Some highway noise
No train horn noise
Some neighbor noise: dogs, and some kids (this is really not a place for kids, but weekenders will be weekenders)

Site:

#45A, pull-in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
Somewhat level site; high in front and passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 55 feet long by 22 feet wide
Just gravel between sites
Picnic table
One tree
Clean site
Elevation 10 feet, front facing SE

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
30 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (less than 1 10-foot pipe needed)
Dangerously fluctuating power for a day due to a corroded connection; used generator until fixed

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 27-55 Mbps down, 11 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: 7-11 Mbps down, 0.5-3 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
AT&T: 6-28 Mbps down, 0.05-0.12 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Waterfront (gulf)
Package delivery to office

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:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

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):

Our site

View from our site:

Our site

View out our windshield:

View out our windshield

We enjoyed watching the various birds, including sandpipers, pelicans, cranes, ducks, and others:

Birds

Paddling:

Paddling

Gentle waves:

Waves

Foggy:

Foggy

Sunset:

Sunset

Night

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:

Electrical issue

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!

Electrical repair

The seawall and sandy strip in front of our site:

Beach

Other sites:

Other sites

Dog park and beach area:

Dog park and beach area

Entrance:

Entrance

Bathrooms and such:

Bathrooms and such

Laundry room:

Laundry room

Activity center, where packages are delivered:

Activity center, where packages are delivered

Fishing pier:

Fishing pier

You can see our coach near the center:

Fishing pier

We’d be happy to stay here again in the future.

Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey

We stayed at Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey in Ozark, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A one-night stop on the way south. KOA Journeys are usually an easy choice when we don’t want to untoad.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-12-21
Check out: 2024-12-22
1 night

Weather:

Sunny
High temp 51°F, low 30°F
A little wind, gusts to 15 MPH

Noise:

Some highway noise
Occasional nearby train horn noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#19, pull-through, concrete
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
Somewhat level site; high on driver side and back; used hydraulic leveling, since on concrete
Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 10 feet wide
16 feet to neighbors on both sides
Picnic table on concrete patio
Some tall trees
Clean site
Elevation 330 feet, front facing West

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
65 PSI water, conveniently located
Didn’t use the sewer connection, but it was conveniently located, with two ports

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 363-421 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
AT&T: 55 Mbps down, 1-2 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop

We stayed one night on our way from Red Bay to Florida. This was a very convenient in-and-out place to stay. The friendly and helpful staff guided us to our spot and made sure we were good to go. There was a bit of road and train noise, but not too bad. Our site was a long enough pull-through that we didn’t need to disconnect our tow vehicle or fuss with positioning. The only downside is if you’re headed south when you leave, you have to wait a while for a decent break in the traffic as there isn’t a merge lane across the divided highway. We camped at Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Other sites:

Other sites

A nice little pond area:

Pond

A decent one-night stop.

Red Bay Acres RV Resort

We stayed at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in Red Bay, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our fourth stay here, and third in 2024.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-12-15
Check out: 2024-12-21
6 nights

Weather:

Some cloudy days, and some rain and thunderstorms
High temps 51-65°F, lows 31-58°F
A bunch of wind, gusts to 21 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
No train horn noise
Hourly clock tower noise
Negligible neighbor and tech services noise, since the park was mostly empty

Site:

#32, back-in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
Level site; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 12 feet wide
Grass between sites, 15-25 feet wide on passenger side, 15 feet wide on driver side
Picnic table
No trees
Clean site
Elevation 660 feet, front facing NW

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
60 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, fairly conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 370-400 Mbps down, 45-55 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
AT&T: 110-125 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 75-95 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 125 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi (in Yacht Club): 6-8 Mbps down, 4-6 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage pickup from site
Package delivery to office
Onsite restaurant
Pond
Hometown of Tiffin; local RV repairs

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Still the best place to stay in Red Bay

We’ve stayed here several times while getting our coach serviced in the Red Bay area, and it’s still the only place I would choose to stay. The lake in the middle is pleasant and we love having the on-site cafe. It is a little disappointing that they seem to be cutting back on the menu there (pretty much only sandwiches now, when you used to get wings and other hot items). I also wish the concrete pads were a bit wider, as it rained nearly every day, and the infamous Red Bay mud was inescapable when hooking/unhooking for our service appointments. December is a bit of a mixed bag as the town closes the week before Christmas through the New Year. Having the campground to ourselves was nice, but services were harder to schedule. We camped at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: After several trips to Red Bay the big question is, why did it take me so long to discover the majesty of Big Star’s bakery? I’m still dreaming of their chocolate chip cookies….

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

On a frosty morning, you can see the framing of the coach:

Frosty

Our site

A thunderstorm rolling through:

Thunderstorm

Red Bay Yacht Club:

Red Bay Yacht Club

Pond:

Pond

Other sites, mostly empty throughout our stay:

Other sites

The week before Christmas was a good time to visit, other than being rather cold. We don’t have any current plans to go back to Red Bay, but it seems inevitable that we will in due course, and will stay here again when we do.

Sinclair Trails

The travels of David and Jennifer Sinclair, full-timing in their Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome.

campsite

Thousand Trails Peace River

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

Rainbow Springs State Park

Video: a peaceful timelapse of one day from a waterfront site at Ho-Hum RV Park

Video: a peaceful timelapse of a couple of weeks from a waterfront site at Ho-Hum RV Park

Ho-Hum RV Park

Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey

Red Bay Acres RV Resort