JELLYSTONE PARK

While we were here, we wanted to take the 2 granddaughters for a weekend of fun.  So, we scheduled a stay at the Jellystone Park that is about 30 miles from Columbia, SC close to the town of Swansea, SC.  There is a Jellystone Park close to H-town that is the haven of campgrounds for kids.  It is expensive, but kids absolutely love it.  All of the Jellystone Parks have facilities and activities geared around kids so the kids are entertained and parents absolutely love that!

The girls came out on Friday after school.  The first thing they wanted to do was run over to the playground and swing.  The playground and most all of the facilities are in the middle of a very big rectangle piece of land.  The campsites are all along the perimeter of that rectangle.  Basically, you can sit outside your RV, let the kids run and play, and keep them in your sights without having to get up out of your lawn chair.  See why parents love this place?

They have a very nice playground with a rock climbing wall, slide, fort type structure, monkey bars, and swings.  There is a sand volleyball court, horseshoe area, pavilion, and pool.  All of the campsites are grass but level and all of the ones around the perimeter are pull thru sites.  They do have laundry facilities but they aren't the best.  They have 2 washers and 2 dryers.  One of the washers and one of the dryers works really well.  But, they are only $1 to use, so I can't complain too much.

Saturday was a fun filled day.  The girls made their own "sand candy" in a glow tube.  If you know what a pixie stick is, this is like a pixie stick but the lady said this candy had less sugar.  OK, whatever.

They then went to paint a ceramic piece of their choice (at a cost) as a souvenir.  The girls chose an owl jewelry box to sit on their dresser at home.  Once each child chose their ceramic piece, they got to pick 6 colors of paint that they wanted to use on their piece.  There were brushes on each table and some water.  Everyone immediately got busy painting their souvenirs.

The girls painting their souvenir

Curly's finished product

Popcorn's finished product

The weather had changed Friday night and it became cold and windy.  Of course, when has cold and wind stopped a kid from playing outside?  We even decided to have our lunch outside on Saturday.  It was beautiful but definitely fighting the wind was the order of the day.

The park has a jumping pillow.  It is sort of like a floor in a bouncing house but it is a large rectangle on the ground.  It is made out of a trampoline type of material.  It blows up and becomes like a hill with sloping sides.  Kids get on it a jump to their heart's desire.  They opened the jumping pillow twice a day for an hour.  This happened from 11:00-12:00 in the morning and 5:00-6:00 in the evening.  About 5 minutes before they opened it, kids started lining up and the line could get long. Every kid, no matter their age, wanted to jump.  One of the times, they had to let one group jump for 10 minutes, then the next group jump for 10 minutes and they traded back and forth because there were so many kids.

Curly jumping in her tutu.  You mean everyone doesn't jump in a tutu? :)

One nice thing about there being so many kids is they meet other kids and make friends.  The girls met another girl named Abigail and her "annoying" brother.  They played and played and had a blast.  Saturday night the park had a "glow" hayride.  The kids put on glow in the dark stuff and got on a hayride that took them around the park singing songs and doing yells. 

Waiting for the hayride

 Each morning Booboo Bear would meet the kids at the front of the park and would lead the kids in saying the pledge of allegiance to the flag.  Then he would kind of hang around to take pictures with the kids.  Of course, my girls had no idea who Yogi and Booboo were.  I guess I need to find some old episodes of Yogi Bear cartoons for them to watch.

Booboo Bear

This park isn't cheap but it is not nearly as expensive as some of the other Jellystone parks.  We did get a discount because we stayed for a week.  We got here on a Thursday and the park was already about 1/3 full.  Over the weekend, it was full.  Most everyone left Sunday and we have been about 1 of 4 other RVs here other than those that work here and stay here all the time.  We are leaving tomorrow to go back to the state park close to Daughter's house.  It will be interesting to see how many people start showing up before we leave. One of the workers here said they were booked solid on weekends for the rest of the year already.  The park is nicer than any other one we have found in the Columbia area.  It has full hook-ups, level sites, and very good wi-fi throughout the park. It is very peaceful and quiet since the crowd left.  It is a little bit of a drive to get to a grocery store or gas station but not bad.  I would definitely come back.

All in all in was an awesome weekend.