REVIEW Yogi Bear's Camp Jellystone, Madison, Florida

We spent a week at Camp Jellystone in Madison, Florida and loved every second of it.

Jellystone Florida is at 1051 SW Old St Augustine Rd. It is the only Jellystone in Florida. With it being in Northern Florida I wasn't sure if it would be warm enough for swimming but thankfully it was.

VALUE 5/5
We paid Spring Rates of $55 weekdays and $75 weekends. However there was a special for the Spring as well where if you bought 5 nights you got 2 free so we stayed for 7 and got two free nights. They had this special because not all activities were open. There was still more then enough fun to be had and we appreciated the savings. We also joined Club Yogi Rewards where you accumulate points for free nights or discounts on merchandise.  Most activities are included with campsite fees too. See Facility Fun below.

SITE QUALITY 5/5 
Our site was, hard packed gravel and level. We had a large lake front view/lot in site RV1 with electric and water only. There are limited full service sites on the lake too but we loved the location of this site in proximity to the playground and water park.

FACILITY FUN 5+/5 
This place had so much to do that we easily stayed here a week and we can't wait to go back again someday. Water slides, lazy river, splash pad area, pool with water play area (downpour derby), kayaks, mini golf, jump pad and bouncy castle which are included with your camping fees. You can fish without a license in the lake (catch & release), movie night, wagon rides and so much more. There are a couple things which cost: arcade, water wars and you buy your gems to do gem mining. So much to do.

NATURAL SURROUNDINGS 5/5 
This campground has a lake to fish in, trails to walk on, trails for ATV's to ride on, many large beautiful big trees and a very natural feel.

BATHROOM 5/5
There was a large washroom/shower house with very clean bathrooms and showers. There was even a large handicap shower.

STAFF 5/5
The staff were plentiful and always friendly and helpful.

LOCATION 3/5
Maybe this is an unfair rating as I didn't actually leave the park to go anywhere but my husband said town was small. I am not sure if there is much close by.

OVERALL 5/5
We were totally impressed with this resort. Some reviews I read said it was dirty and old looking. Either they made improvements or the people were complaining about the old tractor parts etc being stored up by the road. After entering the park you never see them so they didn't bother us. We also like natural settings so having fallen leaves on the ground doesn't bother us. If you like a pristine campsite then your rating would be lower here as there were leaves everywhere on the ground, sites, roads, and beach area.

Wifi was free and decent. It didn't work the greatest in the RV but up by the playground and the pool it was fine. Laundry was 24hrs.

We look forward to returning to this park again sometime and really have no complaints about the park at all; even running on Spring activities and having "less" to do.

Our site RV1

View of our site from the walking trail on other side of the lake

Another RV site

Map of the park

Washrooms/shower house

Water slides and lazy river included in camping rates
Water wars on the right side is a fee item

Arcade area

Down Pour Derby at pool which is
wheel chair accessible

Some of the limited weekly activities for Spring season

Jump pad and bouncy castle

Yogi Bear Camp Jellystone, Madison, Florida

This was our first time staying at a Jellystone park and we LOVED it!!! I read a few reviews that were less then positive for this location and I am so glad that I didn't let those negative comments stop us from going and seeing for ourselves. We are now Jellystones newest fans! I mean with this wonderful setting how could you not love it!

We spent a week here and it flew by! I didn't even leave the resort once. Ian left to get a few groceries  and solar parts but other then that we were quite content here. We spent our week on the Lazy River...

 Meeting lots of new friends. One girl and her family even stayed at Bushnell Walmart the same night we did and they parked right beside us! Such a small world. Somehow I did not get her picture though.

We tried out the water slides.  Aayla tried them too with the help of staff walking down behind her for most of the way...but when she said she had to do it herself she stopped.

There was also a pool with a water play area which Aayla enjoyed much more then the slides.

We would stay by the beach area for lunch and lounge in the sun.

When we wanted a break from the water there was still lots to keep busy. The bounce pad and bouncy castle of course were fun. This is where they spent most of their time when they weren't in the water. There was also a playground, mini golf, Ga Ga ball and more. All included with the cost of the campsite. The only things that cost extra was gem mining, the arcade and water wars. Even the mini golf was free. All supplies like golf clubs and basketballs etc were available for free rental in the office. You just needed to leave your drivers license as a security deposit. I love not feeling nickled and dimed here. You pay more up front to get more overall.

There was face painting and hula hooping.

There were free kayaks to float around on. You did need to leave your drivers license as a deposit for the paddles but there was no charge for these either.

 Last but not least there was Yogi Bear and wagon rides.

There were also many trails to ride your bikes on and if you have ATV's you can ride them on their acreage. This place is great!

Glowing review to follow :)

Overnighting at Walmart in Bushnell, Florida

Thank you Walmart! We love to use Walmart as a quick overnight spot.

It drives me bonkers to have to pay $20-$50 a night to just park and get up and leave... I much prefer to go to Walmart for free and then go in the store and spend that money plus usually more on groceries and supplies as a thank you! More and more towns are creating bylaws that do not allow this but I am ever so thankful that the majority of Walmarts still allow us to overnight. Thank you Walmart!

REVIEW Gulf View RV (Encore) Punta Gorda, Florida

We booked here for two weeks. This was our second two week booking with Thousand Trails so it was free for us with our Florida (South East) zone pass. Normally this is not a resort that is included but we have six extra Florida resorts over and above the three included with the pass and therefore it was free. Also normally with a zone pass we would get about 20% off this resort as it is an Encore resort if we weren't booked in as part of our first 30 days are free.

Gulf View is located at 10205 Burnst Store Rd in Punta Gorda. It is near everything you could possibly need.

VALUE 5/5 for us as it was free. It would be $3 for us after our free 30 days. Regular rates here are between $50-$60 I believe which is expensive in my books and the rating would be a lot lower if full fees were paid.

SITE QUALITY 4/5 We were in site 40 and it was fairly level. It had a cement pad for the picnic table but we parked on grass. There was a huge rainstorm our first night here and the road in front of us flooded but the site stayed basically dry. It did get a bit mucky where we parked the truck. We were fairly close to the seasonal mobile home beside us, and their large air conditioner facing but we still felt we had enough room. More room then some RV parks we have been crammed into in the past.

FACILITY FUN 3/5 There was a nice heated pool here with extra pool noodles and floats for people to use. Lots of lounge chairs/seating and sun umbrellas at the pool. Activities included shuffleboards, bocce ball, community fire pit, boat launch and a meeting/activity building. There wasn't a playground and the hot tub was adult only. There were no children's activities for the Easter holiday so I felt this wasn't very family friendly. The girls were however allowed to ride their electric jeep around as well as their bikes.

NATURAL SURROUNDINGS 3/5 The site were about average and had some grass around the lot. There were mature trees throughout the park. The river running behind the campground was a wonderful place to watch the sun set or go fishing or have a kayak ride. There was a large grass area near the meeting/activity building with large trees and a very peaceful setting along the river. My girls liked to ride their bikes here to play bocce ball and hang out.

BATHROOMS ??? Can you believe I forgot to go in them? We were out and about so much. My husband did say that he felt they were quite clean.

STAFF 4/5 We hardly spoke with the staff at all but when we did they were very friendly and helpful. We ended up leaving a few days early and they were very accommodating in returning our days to us that we left without using.

LOCATION 4/5 This location is very close to the town of Punta Gorda as well as being 10- 15 minutes away from the town of Port Charlotte. It was also fairly close to North Fort Myers and it was an easy area for all our various beach day trips we took while here. 

OVERALL 4/5 Being a Thousand Trails member and staying for free boosted this rating. If we had to pay $50 plus a night my rating would be lower. Although this place isn't on the beach it was close enough to take numerous day trips to various beaches and nature filled hiking areas like Peace River Wildlife Center and Charlotte Harbor Environment Centre. I really liked that the pool had noodles and floats for everyone to use. A playground and allowing kids in the hot tub would bring this rating up too. Overall we were happy with our stay at this park and would stay here again.

Our site #40 beside a mobile with room between

map of park

Shuffle boards? in excellent condition 

Heated pool and hot tub

The activity building, community firepit and bocce ball court in
the back ground. All along the river in a beautiful natural setting.

The river, dock and community fire pit

Caspersen (Shark Tooth) Beach, Florida

One of the beaches we have been looking forward to going to was Caspersen Beach otherwise known as Shark Tooth Beach.

However we had no luck finding any teeth, or shells, or much of anything at this beach. Luckily too I guess as it wasn't until our way out that I saw the sign that said no disruption or removal of anything from the beach. This sign I find odd as their county website lists this beach as a great place to find shells and shark teeth (see link above). So I am a little confused as to if it is OK to go shelling here or not.

We spent a couple hours here. Ian thought the best way to find shark teeth would be to dig a hole... but he didn't have any luck.

I did my usual walk of the beach with mom. The sand here is a dark grey colour instead of the sandy white.

I found some interesting egg sacs which I put back out in the water as they were a live still. I have no idea what they are but I hope they survive.

Aayla enjoyed sitting and watching the waves, going for a swim, playing with some sticks and watching the waves some more.

Interested in looking for shark teeth? Some tips for finding them HERE. Also if you do find some here is some info on shark teeth identification HERE.

Have you visited Shark Tooth Beach? Did you have better luck finding anything? Next time we go to Florida we will be buying one of those metal sifters for sure.