Jellystone Park
(I wrote this yesterday, sitting on my cabin’s deck while watching my kids go nuts on a jumping pillow. Pictures tomorrow if you’re lucky. TL:DR–go to Jellystone Park for a fun family vacation)
If you know me at all, you know I hate camping. You also know that I will do just about anything for my children. My son begs to go camping. . . . somehow I’m going camping.
Of course there is no way on god’s green earth that I’m going tent camping. Let’s not be ridiculous. I refuse to sleep on rocks and have a thin veil of fabric protecting me from all the ills of the world. How do campers get out of the experience alive? Or at least unbruised? I’m all about creature comforts.
Last year I scored us a deal on cabin camping at a state park. It was not awful but it was not exactly fun. There was nothing to do except camping type stuff. I didn’t think the nature was even all that pretty, but I’m from Oregon so I’m biased. The cabin didn’t have a bathroom or anything like that. It was just a couple of bunk beds and a couple of chairs. All cooking was done outdoors and the hike to the bathroom was about ¼ mile.
This year I found a deal for a place called Jellystone Park. I grew up on Yogi Bear so I got the joke, but didn’t really expect much. The deal was great so I just checked to make sure I could get a cabin with a bathroom and bought the deal—didn’t do much research at all.
Last night as we were driving here in the pouring rain, going about 100 miles on tiny little Virginia country roads I was cursing myself. Why were we going camping? Why were we going camping in the POURING RAIN? The weather had said scattered showers, not hours of intense downpours.
We got here at 10 pm and couldn’t see anything. We managed to get into our cabin, look around and see that it was pretty danged nice, and fall into bed. Elsa is my daredevil child and spent the whole night in the top bunk (it has rails). Erik won’t go up there for love or money.
This morning all was revealed! This is not a campground! It’s a family resort! I mean yes, it is a campground. You go can as primitive as tents or get a super deluxe cabin that goes well beyond ours (and we have a TV with a DVD player!).
There’s laser tag in the woods (bad idea on a wet day. Erik started off the day by getting a huge gash in his side), mini golf, a water slide, two pools, a splash park, two jumping pillows, arts and crafts, family kickball games, bingo and much more! Some of the things cost money (mining and certain crafts), but most of it is included.
Too bad it is freezing! We’ve been to the pools twice and it was miserable. The kids had a good time, but my legs were completely numb. Thankfully the kids couldn’t hold out long. Yogi, Boo Boo and Cindy (was she actually in the show?) have been hanging around various places. The kids have been having a great time. We’ve been having a great time. There’s not been a whole lot of nature to contend with, though we certainly could have went down some hiking trails or fished in the small lake (we chose paddle boating instead).
If you’re looking for a family friendly, low key family vacation I’d highly recommend Jellystone Park in Luray, VA. Cost varies greatly depending on your willingness to rough it. I found our deal on Certifikid or Groupon several months ago. I had no idea what I was getting us into!