Blue Springs State Park - Second Stay

 Decided to go to Blue Springs State Park for a third time this weekend.  It was our second time camping at the park.  We got the same spot which was nice because we loved it so much last time!  It's a quick hour and a half drive from our house so we packed up after work Friday night and got there about 7:15 Alabama time (8:15 our time).  Set up camp and went to bed. 

 

 After we ate breakfast we hung out outside and the boys set up targets to shoot the bb gun.

 We headed into the springs around 830.  We texted all our Ohana that the weather looked like it was going to be good and they should head over!

 I've been trying to finish the "Handmaids Tale" book for about a month so I was able to read a lot while the boys played in the water.  Kennedie decided she would rather read than play in the water.

 We heard thunder for a while before the rain actually started.  We drug all the stuff we didn't want to get wet to a shelter and waited till it stopped (only about 45 minutes) and right before the rest of our Ohana showed up.  The kids played in the water until about 6ish (when the springs part closes) and then we headed back to the trailer with everyone.  We grilled up the second set of burgers and hot dogs and we ate again and made s'mores.

Two of the four families left around 930 and the rest of us got ready for bed. 

  Our camper was full again.  On the table bed there was at one point 4 kids.  Cale ended up coming to the bed and he slept next to me.  The rest of the other family slept in their car.  At some point Tim had a sinus headache "attack" and was outside trying to get rid of it, and Kennedie crawled into bed.  He came back in when his medicine finally kicked in and instead of moving the 14 year old he went and slept in my gravity chair outside.  When we woke up the next morning he said "it was actually pretty comfortable and the mosquito's and flies weren't attacking me".

 Since this campground has no WiFi and NO cell signal the kids are forced to come up with other ways to entertain themselves, and talk to each other. While the adults were cooking breakfast they were playing cards at the picnic table.

None of the kids wanted to leave without getting in the water one last time.  So we let them hop in and swim for about another hour or so.  We love this state park.  It's relatively inexpensive to stay ($55 for two nights, and if you are retired or active duty military you and your family get in for free!) and it's not far from our house!

Grayton State Park

Grayton State Park Beach

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of this great beach!  We didn't camp here but we visited while we were staying at Twin Lakes Resort Campground in August.  The park is free admission and LOTS of room for everyone.  We didn't feel like everyone was on top of us.  When we went it was cooler and had been raining the days before, so the water was cool.

The 13 year old taking a break from boogie boarding.

He loves to be buried!

This park had a smaller parking lot was small, we got there around 10 and it was almost full (on a Saturday morning).  There is a building with showers outside to rinse off, bathrooms, and some trash and recycling bins.

This is how two Alaskan born girls hang out in the sun! Under the shade!

Overall this was a great beach and we will return as it is a quick 3 hour trip from our house!

Blue Springs State Park - Blue Springs, Alabama

BLUE SPRINGS STATE PARK - BLUE SPRINGS, ALABAMA

We had found out about this park a few months ago when we visited another springs.  Everyone we heard had gone had had a BLAST.  We were supposed to leave Friday and stay until Monday.  That didn't happen.  We were going to forego the entire trip, but my BFF texted Sunday morning at 8am (because honestly we were just going to do a moms and kids trip to get them out of the house and enjoy the long weekend, because they were disappointed about not going camping.)  Once my husband heard that was the plan, we rallied the troops and got everything packed up and into the camper. We left not knowing if we wanted to stay the night or not but packed enough food for the possibility.  My BFF had thought she was going to just go up and come back home the same day, so she was NOT prepared for the decision she made later! :P  Once they made it to our house we made it to Blue Springs by noon AL time.  If you have urgent calls you are waiting on this is NOT the place to come.  Cell Service was BAD! I had Verizon 1x almost the entire time.

Their spots are about $25 a night with a one time $3 fee attached to your first night.

Entrance to the park.  It sneaks up on you we almost missed it.

The sweet older lady that was at the entrance was the sweetest little thing.  We showed up with a truck and trailer and an SUV full of kids.  She told us to just go and find a spot and then come back and let her know what spot we picked and we could pay then.  If you do decide to go, their internet/card machine was down so it was cash or checks only.  Bring a check incase you need one.  Thankfully I usually have a book in my purse.

Armed with a map we were driving to our spot.

My friend almost rented a cabin to stay in because they were only $86 for the night, but you have to bring your own linens and things and we didn't have ANY of that.

Found a great spot and backed it in!

TIP: Bring a big spray bottle of bug spray.  Both for the ground and for yourselves.  Mosquitos and ants are BAD.  Thankfully I had thought to toss the one we use around the perimeter of our house into the back of the truck.  My husband went around the camper and where the kids would be walking around towards the table and the fire pit and got rid of most of the ants.  I did forget the citronella candles though. DUH!  The spot we paid for was for water/electric - it was more expensive for a spot that had sewer with it. They do offer a dump station near the bathhouse so we were good with that.

This state park is a blast from the past.  Look at all these awesome play ground equipment from when we grew up!

We got the trailer all set up and changed into our suits and loaded up the coolers.  One thing I will point out is that there are signs ALL OVER that there is no Alcoholic beverages allowed in the springs.  You can drink all you want in the campground but not near the springs.

The middle section of the springs.

And the 3rd section.

 

They have some paddle boats available for rent.  I didn't ask how much though.

The bathroom is in that building for the springs, I didn't take a picture of the great park they had there. Our kids kept going back and forth between the playground and the springs. 

My sweet 8 year old in the water.  It was FREEZING but that didn't stop him!

If you guys don't have full face snorkels and do a good amount of snorkeling (our family LOVES IT!) they are the thing to have!  We brought our 4 and the kids and my husband took turns searching the bottoms of the springs for things people lost.  My husband actually helped an older lady find her RX glasses she lost while she was in the springs.

My 13 year old kept going in and out of the water.  She is never far without her paints, or art supplies.  One thing we DID forget was a book, so without internet service or cell service she got bored a little bit.

There was a great cement picnic table at each campsite.  Brushed the leaves off of it and ate all our meals on it. 6 kids and 3 adults (my BFF's husband wanted to sleep his birthday party off Sunday morning, and then was kicking himself when they decided to stay and how much of a blast it was!)

Earlier the BFF decided to stay and make a night of it.  We had to run to the next town to find a Dollar General.  It's important to know that Gas, Groceries and cell service is 6 miles away in Clio.  We drove to Clio before dinner to get some more hot dogs (I only brought enough dinner for my family), eggs, bread, a pack of tshirts for them to sleep in, and 3 blankets.  We had some games, cards, baseballs/gloves/bat, art supplies, BB gun, so we picked up football and another pack of paper because we STILL haven't gotten that TV installed in our trailer.  It was great watching them unplug for 48 hours.  But I will tell you it stressed them out when they first found out there was no internet/cell service and how they would "entertain themselves".  They now can't WAIT to return.

BFF and my husband searching for marshmallow roasting sticks.  In my haste to get out the door I forgot our collapsible metal ones.

He really did great being surrounded by 6 kids and 2 wives!

Our babies roasting marshmallows!

The bonfire still had some embers in it from the night before the kids were determined to revive it.  They all gathered as many sticks as they could. 

SUCCESS!!

He loves shooting that BB Gun.

Another view of the playground and our spot.

 MONDAY!

Because you know the girl life ;).  She said "I really wish I had brought a book!"

Anyone that knows me knows I can't WAIT for Christmas to come around again.  I can be seen reading Christmas books year round!

My husband and his "sister wives" We joke that BFF's husband is our "brother husband".  We love traveling and being a family and we are grateful that the Army brought these two families together.

Twin Lakes Resort Camp

TWIN LAKES CAMP RESORT

We recently just traveled to DeFuniak Springs, FL and we reserved a spot only a few weeks prior at Twin Lakes Camp Resort.  Yup you read that right in the SUMMER we were able to find a spot at a campground in Florida spur of the moment! (This a lesson we are unfortunately learning in the first summer of owning our own travel trailer. You have to reserve a spot sometimes a YEAR in advance! UGH!) (I didn't realize how bad quality my cell phone pictures would turn out on this post - so I apologize in advance!)

My kids love learning how to hook up and set up the trailer.  Which is nice for me because sometimes my husband might take them without me to visit family. I'm hoping to get my 13 year old good enough to back him up to the trailer.

We were given the spots in the H section - which is right as you come in and we were right across from the country store. The couple from Canada next to us shared this awesome deck and really long picnic table.  You can see the lake behind them. Kids under 16 can fish for free in FL, so we ended up having to go to Wal-Mart and get my son a fishing pole. (No my daughter isn't wearing winter headgear.  They are headphones that you don't have to stick in your ears :P ) 

Waiting for our friends to show up so we could start grilling dinner!

Another shot of the deck.

Their pool was HUGE, my son enjoyed going into it.  (I realize now that I have a TON of pictures of my 8 year old - apparently the 13 year old was playing the sullen teenager card all weekend!)

We made a trip to Ponce de Leon Springs State Park that is right in DeFuniak Springs.  The water was FREEZING! But this daredevil and my husband seemed to really like it!

He loves being the center of attention!

Another view of the deck.

I took these from our spot the morning we left.  This is the country store where you would check in - and they have a variety of "oh no I forgot to bring this" RV supplies.

This building right next door to the store is the Activity Center and the Bathrooms/showers.  The first part is the Activity Center and the part with the V part in the roof is the Bathrooms/showers.  There is a walkway between the store and this building that leads you to the swimming pool which is directly behind this building.

They have a few of these fields, just open places for kids to run around, play ball...There was one right behind us as well.

 

Their bathrooms are dual purpose.  They have (I believe) 4 of these for everyone to use. (also in the bathhouse is the washer/dryer if you needed one)

Just another view of the bathroom/shower

The gate that has a code on it. 

My husband thought this was an awesome work truck.

We left at 11am at checkout time.  WHEW it was hot!

This was a GREAT campground and we loved our weekend stay there. The cost was VERY reasonable at around $50 per night. The campground was small, but the camp hosts were super friendly, the property was BEAUTIFUL with it being surrounded by water (which is unswimable but that's ok), VERY clean and very well kept.  They also provided cable TV, which was a bummer for us because we haven't had a chance to hook up the TV we bought for the trailer yet, so we just kept hooked up to their WIFI and my kids watched movies on there Ipad/Iphone's at night.  This will definitely be a spot we return too. We wished they had offered military discount but they DO offer a Good Sam discount and we can get a discount card for free with Good Sam while my husband is active duty.  So I'm working on getting them the correct information to make that happen.