Wauchula, FL-Peace River Thousand Trails Week 1

This was our first week to stay at a Thousand Trails park since we became members (we stayed at one in Texas to check it out). My feelings are mixed. It is a nice campground. There are many trees, so it doesn't just look like a parking lot, and there is plenty to do here. We have played...

miniature golf,

Foosball and board games. They also have shuffleboard, pickle ball, horseshoes, and molkky (whatever that is).

We have gone swimming in the HEATED pool and ridden our bikes through the park.

One of the guests brought this fun labyrinth that the kids loved to run through.

There are a number of social activities including ice cream get togethers, community bonfires and

the “Kids Cool Club” where the kids have played games (like pass the grapefruit and bean bag toss),

painted,

and had a banana eating contest. (No, he did not win.  You can just tell he was not in devour mode).

They also have some short nature trails and the park is next to the Peace River, where you can see a couple of quite large alligators sunning themselves.

So you may be wondering “What else could you possibly need?!” Well this particular park is located in Wauchula, Florida. The population is just under 5000, which is not tiny, but there just isn't much to do here or near enough to here. At least, I haven't found anything YET.  For me, one of the draws for this adventure was to get out and see natural beauty, historical sites, etc. So in that respect, I am a little disappointed.

On the other hand, the break from running and doing is kind of nice. There is really so much to do at the campground to entertain the kids that I have not had to be creative at all!. We have been here a week already and have not taken advantage of it all yet. So I should just relax and focus on the positives. Right? The park is really growing on us with each day! :)

At the end of the week, we went to Myakka River State Park about an hour's drive from the campground. It was a great park and I think we would have really enjoyed camping there but when we started making all of our reservations, all of the state parks were full. It is a CCC park teeming with a variety of wildlife and many outdoor activities.

There were soooo many Alligators! They were not very active but they were very BIG!

Another cool thing about this park was a suspension bridge, built by volunteers, through the tree canopy. You climbed up a few flights of stairs and then crossed through the trees. The bridge was 80 or 85 feet long.

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At the end of the bridge, was another tower of stairs. You could go down or continue to climb to the top at 76 feet and look out over the park. What a fun addition to the park!

We had a picnic lunch out by the lake and watched the alligators. The park offers tram and boat tours as well as bicycle rentals. There is also a cafe and a gift shop. Instead, we took a ranger guided walk. These are often quite interesting. For instance, I learned that alligators completely devour what they eat; bones, teeth and all! They leave nothing behind. I must say I have never really thought about it before but it also explains why their scat is white (It's not like I knew that either). But enough about that...

The kids were pretty tired and fell asleep on the way home. Yay for the peaceful drive!! But we still had time for swimming and bike riding when we got back.

We will stay here one more week. The kids are enjoying it and Jacob said this is the “best place ever!” I love to hear that! We have met a few more fulltime families and are enjoying the stories of their journeys and the kids are enjoying playing together.

Until next week...