Gardendale, Alabama, Walmart for the night

This Gardendale Alabama Walmart at 890 Odum Rd was a great place to stay for the night.

We parked up from the gas station on the side of the driveway where the trucks were parked. Then we went in to ask where they would like us to park to stay for the night. They normally ask people to park on the other side of the building but they said if we were already parked here we were fine to stay where we were. Our slides easily opened up to the grass hill behind us as we only have slides on one side. The door did open up to the driveway so we did have to use extra caution when entering and exiting. We had cars passing us all night but it wasn't too loud and we had Walmart Wifi from here.

 This is our second time passing through Alabama and we still can't add it to our travel map.

Next time we really have to work on changing that. This time we were passing through to head straight to Mammoth Caves National Park from Florida. We only add to our map when we stay somewhere or experience something with in the state. Some people would classify staying at Walmart as done, or even just passing through but we like to have a memory of something we have done in the State before we add the State sticker.

As you can see there are many places on our map we have travelled through getting from one place to the other but if we just drove through it's still empty. Hopefully the next time we are in Alabama we can have time to actually do something here and check it off our map.

REVIEW Florida Caverns State Park Camping, Marianna, Florida

We enjoyed a quick one night stop at Florida Caverns State Park Campground at 3345 Caverns Rd in Marianna, Florida.

VALUE 4/5
At $20 a night ($22.20US) This was a great park. Florida parks tend to average around $40.

SITE QUALITY 4/5
Our site was large and flat. There was a fire ring, picnic table and small clothesline for towels. We had lots of trees surrounding us so it felt very private. With our tree huger straps we had a wonderful area for the hammock. The campground is way back off the road so it is also very peaceful.

FACILITY FUN 4/5
There was no playground here that we saw but there was a nice large picnic area by the Blue Hole swimming area, trails throughout the park. They had equestrian camping as well if you wanted to bring your own horse. The Cave Tour was great and they do special evening flashlight tours weekly as well. That sounds like a different experience.

NATURAL SURROUNDINGS 5/5
The campground had a lot of trees surrounding your site so even if you had neighbours your site still felt very private. Your in the middle of a State Park so there were lots of birds, and other small creatures nearby. The cave tours is a huge natural bonus here.

BATHROOMS 4/5
Bathrooms were very basic but very clean and bright. Laundry was also available outside of the bathrooms in an open, covered area.

STAFF 5/5
Both the staff and the camp hosts that we met here were very friendly and helpful. They couldn't understand why we were only staying one night and thought we should stay longer. Our tour guide through the cave was excellent as well.

LOCATION 4/5 
The park is located just over an hour from Tallahassee and slightly further from Panama City and the beaches making this a fairly decent commute time to various activities. Not to mention this location is made up a lot of natural beauty. It is also close to Falling Waters State Park so you can easily visit both parks on your stay.

OVERALL 4.5/5
We didn't spend much time here but overall we really enjoyed the park. It was a beautiful setting with nice walking trails. There was laundry facilities so I could catch up on some overdue laundry. The cave tour was enjoyed by all. It would have been nice to have a playground here and we can't wait to return when the Blue Hole is open for swimming.

Our site #12 (I think)

Map of the park

site 11 on inner row with site behind in distance

Site 29 

Site 24 with a small river behind it

Open laundry area

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Florida Caverns State Park, Marianna, Florida

We had a very quick one night visit to Florida Caverns State Park. We arrived and decided to do the cave tour right away, without even setting up the trailer in the campsite. We parked in the parking lot near the caves tours and bought tickets. Parts of the caverns were closed now due to flooding so we got in for $5 each instead of their regular fee of $8 (kids are always $5).

When leaving the parking lot you are greeted by this statue to "commemorate the young men of the civilian conservation corps who developed and preserved the nations natural resources for the pleasure of future generations. (CCC Worker 1933-1942)...May 2014 dedication".

Information about native species

We waited here for the tour guide to arrive. When he did we had him all to ourselves as no one else booked the same time slot.

Just as our tour guide showed up so did this Skink..

 And shortly down the trail to the caves we saw this...

 Rough Green Snake...my first time. He was so long and slender.

Columbine

 We entered the cave via a descending staircase. They keep the doors locked so people do not sneak in and get lost. This entrance isn't the normal cave entrance but due to the flooding we have to enter here.

 I'll let the cave pictures speak for themselves...even though the pictures really don't do them justice.

Some flooding in the cave

A cave salamander which I think he said was a Three Lined Salamander

Cave cricket Don't think for a minute that this guy is small.
They are HUGE!

The one and only column you can touch

A Cave Spider

 We all really enjoyed the tour. I thought our guide was awesome and very knowledgeable. We were able to use a flash so the pics are half decent and he did a great job of pointing out the wildlife to us as he knew we were interested in all the creatures that called the cave home. We saw so many different creatures(Including cave crayfish but no picture as they were too fast). I'd assume that due to the time of year it is less busy and therefore the creatures are disturbed less and can live  a more normal life when it's less busy.

After our tour we set up our campsite for the night.

The girls wanted to go swimming so we took a walk to the Blue Hole.

Picnic area near the swimming hole

 But when we arrived we were all very disappointed. Due to the heavy rain and flooding the area has had, the water is all stirred up, murky, and the swimming hole is closed. Instead of being a beautiful blue it was a murky gray green.

 Hopefully the next time we pass by we will be able to visit the Blue Hole and have a swim. Maybe we will stay at Falling Waters State Park for a change and just pop over here for a swim so we can stay somewhere new.

Back to the campsite for some time in the hammock because that always makes us feel better!

And well if the hammock a lone doesn't cheer you then making funny fish faces should!