Milton/Gulf Pines, Florida

Here we are at our first KOA Kampground. Free WiFi at our site, electricity, water and a huge soft sand pit in which to stake down our tent. There is also a covered picnic table area with lights right next door, a grill, and firepit. 20 yards away is a kitchen station... a covered sink and stove top work station, just in case you didn't bring a camping cook stove. The bathrooms are spiff with hot showers and flush toilets. Two different reasonably priced laundry rooms are right beside the showers. There is a camp store with all the basics plus free continental breakfast each morning. The pool is large and heated (but only 4 feet deep so no diving!). A large new playground, and a rather older mini-golf course (but free!) and a big assortment of hula-hoops round out the attractions. As Joe pointed out, "This doesn't really feel like camping." Nevertheless, we have enjoyed teaching the kids how to putt and hula. They, in turn, have enjoyed making friends with all of the other kids who are around.
Since we are here for three nights, slowly making our way west, we decided to spend the second morning at Blackwater State Park (whose closed campground led us to this one) which is just 10 minutes down the road. This is a beautiful park with a slowly flowing "black" river. The shores and bottom are completely sand. And let me tell you, this is soft sugar texture white sand. The combination is breathtaking. We collected our junior ranger workbooks at the welcome station and headed off down the nature trail looking for various items to jot down and birds to draw. After about ten minutes we came out onto a wide swath of beach slooping gently down to a bend in the river. For a good hour the kids took turns running in and trying to swim upstream only to give up and float peacefully back the way they came. Nate and Savannah filled up bucket after bucket of sand and splashed at the water's edge. I thought the nature trail was only 1 1/2 miles long. So we packed everyone up and continued on our way. Two poisonous snakes and 1 1/2 HOURS later we completed the circuit and were back at the van. The kids were great, completed their ranger assignments and got their badges. I, meanwhile, learned another lesson. Never throw a stick at a water moccasin to see whether it has a white "cotton-mouth." Especially, don't throw a stick at him from only three feet away. Those things can move faster than a raccoon with cookies. Fortunately, he struck the stick while Kev and I wisely backed on down the trail.