Marianna Florida

We did 3 back to back camping trips.  Week 1 was our typical Blue Springs (which the boys went days before us girls), weekend 2 was back to Marianna Florida.  We went to Marianna 2 years ago on a whim and found great caverns and a second blue springs recreation area!  We stayed at a different campground than 2 years ago.  The ONLY draw back I found of this campground was it was just a field with sections for pulling in campers.  Not many trees so not much shade for the trailer which means the A/C was on over drive and didn't get a chance to rest - it felt like it was constantly running!

Tim found a gold dollar coin right a we parked!

This is the office right when you first pull in.  We got to the campground around 2pm Florida time so we just hung out at the camper, got in the pool, then we went to eat dinner at "The Wharf" (which was DELICIOUS by the way), and finished off with some frozen yogurt.

We got up bright and early Saturday morning to try and get to the springs as early as possible.  When we got there I believe we were like 5th in line to get in.  We set up at a pavilion that wasn't reserved for the day.

I was a little upset I didn't bring another book or even realize how close I was to finishing my new Debbie Maccomber book.  I finished it within an hour of being there.

I found a great deal on a Lilly swimsuit at TJMaxx and was so excited to finally wear it!

This was a great book.  A little different from the typical romance novel she writes but it was still great!

The boys loved this slide!

Sunday morning we asked the  campground if we could have a couple hours extra after check out time and they were more than gracious!  We didn't have to leave until 2 pm!  We went ahead and rented kayaks from them (first come first serve) and went exploring on the property.  Merritt Pond was on the property and it was GORGEOUS!  

Because it was Sunday morning most people weren't out on the water (we saw maybe one or two boaters and a sprinkle of kayakers).  We almost had the whole place to ourselves.

I mean ya'll the water was crystal clear!  I couldn't believe it!

We found a dock that wasn't attached to a house and stopped.  The boys got in the water and snorkeled for a bit.

Ya'll know I don't typically get in the cold water but this water wasn't cold and it was clear had there been a way to get into the kayak easily I would have gotten in the water too!  

There were two tree stumps in the water that Tim realized he could use to get back into his kayak.

He found another downed tree stump that he could hop on to get back in on our way back so he got into the water again.

This is when I realized I hadn't taken ANY pictures of the campground.  It was hit by a hurricane 18 months ago so they are still rebuilding a bit.  The swimming pool was right across from our campsite.

There was also a small dog park.

Next to the pool was the activity center, laundry room and bathrooms with showers.

They have a small café attached to the gas station that is right in front of the campground.  We walked over to it Saturday night and ate dinner.

 I wish I had gotten more pictures of the campground, the service and people that run it are amazing!  We will definitely be back Marianna is only 2 hours from our house and it's quickly becoming a favorite of ours.

Alaska Day 4

We had a packed day the day before so we planned on kinda just relaxing and not really be on any time schedule.  We had decided to go to Seward Alaska that day.  I remember Seward only being a quick hour and a half drive from Anchorage.  Well I was wrong by an hour!  It was a two and a half hour drive!! Oops!!

Most of the trip is driven right along the coast.  This part is called "Turnigan Arm" when I was younger and looking at a map - I told my dad it should be called Turnigan Elbow because it didn't look like an arm, more like an elbow.  So he called it Turnigan Elbow from then on!

A glacier in the mountain.

Our bathroom stop.  Cale didn't like how bright it was outside!

The drive is very scenic and beautiful.

We were ready to get out of the car!  We started at the Alaska Sealife Center.  This is a small "aquarium" and I don't know that it is worth the $99 we paid to get in for all four of us.

We left the Sealife center and decided to walk around (it was about 1030 when we were done with the center), and check out some of the local stores/restaurants.

Cale wanted to go into EVERY souvenir store!  But I did find some awesome Alaska PJ pants.

Only my kids would use their souvenir money for wolf claw gloves!

This is where we decided to eat lunch at.  The halibut Kennedie and me shared was DELICIOUS!  

Kennedie bought this cute beluga whale with her money.

A lot of cruise ships port in Seward.  We saw a lot of tourists milling around.  One that made me laugh was a lady walking around in snow style pants.  First their isn't any snow for another two months there and it wasn't even cold enough to wear them.

I don't know if people live in these gorgeous houses, or if they are hotels/B&B's.  But you'll see a lot of the lots we drove by that RV's were camped out and camping.

We hopped into the car and drove down to the docks, and did a little sightseeing down there.

Lots of tour companies and more gift shops, of course Cale had to visit each of them.

Looking at the boats.

But is it cold?  YES!

So the second the kids touched the hooks for the picture alarms started going off (I was snapping the picture and caught Cale coving his ears) we honestly thought we were getting in trouble for touching the hooks and they were warning us to back away.  These were alarms that ALL of Seward could hear, SO LOUD!

It ended up being this tower/emergency alert system that was right above our heads.

So loud!

Finally got my picture!  Kennedie didn't want to touch the hooks because fish are hung there and she would have to touch possible fish guts!

Stopped at a bakery.  This wasn't a cinnamon roll (insert sad face) - but it was a really good apple filled "pie".

Kennedie got a huge brownie.

Cale wanted ice cream from the store he spotted down the street.

This was on our drive home.

We had a great time in Seward - we took a LONG nap when we got back to Anchorage.  I was still so stuff from lunch/donut I don't think I ate dinner that night!