Wekiva Springs, Site #27 April 2011

This has to be my favorite non-full hookup State Parks.

You can reserve these spots at www.reserveamerica.com. It was very hard to get into, as they were doing construction, but one that we will be visiting again as soon as we can, as it was only an hour from home!! Can't be beat, as well as they have the springs for the beautiful Florida summers. We had to have had one of the best sites, close to the restrooms, and next to a super large field, that we had a family baseball game in. They also have a book share closet with kids and parent books and games to borrow and check out. The kids are excited to bring back some of our older already read books to share with other campers...

This park had it all, camping, swimming, hiking, fishing, walking, so plenty to do over the next few days!
We started out Saturday with a trip to the Springs, which also had a Springs Festival going on! Some of the participants were the Sanford Zoo who had a live gator and snake to pet. The Orange County Water Conservation group where the kids learned first hand how water conservation worked. They got a shower water timer to save water, rulers and pencils for school, as well as maps of all the springs in Florida to visit and camp at, and lots of other neat groups to learn from. Then they got to swim! Which kid doesn't want to do that, oh yeah, that would be my 5 year old, who is scared of the natural springs. I enjoyed a little snuggling time, but he got to be heavy in the water, so we got to hang out on the shore catching some sun, while the others snorkeled and explored the amazing spring. (Which by the way is really cold ~ year round!) It was so beautiful, and clean, and not mossy bottom like some of them that we frequent, so mom was very happy!!!

We got to go on a bike ride around the park, a great long 3 mile hike the same day!

We even went to get a special treat ~ Sundaes at McDonalds (which my cell phone showed close) but sent us 20 miles away :)) The next morning, the boys went fishing and gator sighting while Janie and Owen joined me on a bike ride, which we caught a ride back with the boys, as the bike ride was too "hilly" for those two to make it all the way back!

 

This visit ended too quickly, as there was alot to do in such a beautiful park. We thoroughly enjoyed this trip and was in a great location in the Orlando area, and allowed each of the kids lots of the favorite things to do. The only problem we had was on the way out, everyone was leaving at the same time. We had drove separately so I took 1/2 of the crew home while he had to wait with the camper at the one and only dump station, which was almost a 30 minute delay. We will definitely go back and recommend to other family campers!

Elite Resort at Salt Springs, 2/27/2011

So it has been a while since we have blogged and I have three park reviews to catch up with before our next trip in a few days!  This adventure was a while ago, back in February. A park that we typically wouldn't have gone to as it was private. But trying to get into a State Park during Snow Bird Season wasn't likely, so very few choices... So we picked one across the street from one of our favorite ones... Elite Resort at Salt Springs
http://www.eliteresorts.com/saltsprings/index.html.  It was a full hook up park, with about 400 sites...
The first adventure for the journey was that we had to U-turn on the main road, with a travel travel attached to the vehicle, as the signage was not very visible and we missed it. Then we go to check in at the office, and it was closet... at 5:15pm. So we went to the front gate and paid the entry fee to get our assigned site, which we quickly found. Once we get settled in, we head for a bike ride around the massive campground. So big, that it took a little bit of time to actually find it on the return trip :) But the kids found the pool, which they were ready to head to first thing in the morning. We get to roast a few marshmallows before bed, which was a nice evening treat... (yes that is a boat that close to our site) as there is no extra rooms like state parks give you...

Mom heads out in the morning for a nice walk/jog to start the weekend, while the boys try their hand on the lake for some fishing from shore.
Once we get back together, we walk to the shopping center at the front of the park Yes they have a shopping center with a realty company, laundromat, travel agency and a restaurant... They also were hosting they were having a farmers market / garage sale /craft fair of some sort... And my kids if they have any money in their pockets, have to spend it before it burns that hole.. Well all but one, who hoards every penny that she earns :) We got some boiled peanuts to snack on at the pool, a book for one of them and little cars for one of the boys, who shared with the other 2 :)

Next stop is the heated pool, they have two, but only one opened right now. There were a few families there, not many, as the park is full of snow birds and permanent residents, which we quickly figured out.

The lady in site #328 didn't like the fact that children were there and yelled at the children to move out of the family pool area. As our kids are so rude and obnoxious (especially when their parents are there to watch them).
We figured it was about time to head back for lunch, and on our walk back, we ran into one of the ladies that I work with and her hubby who live there on the weekends, and then commute back to Deland for the week. It was a treat to bump into them and visit for a bit.

 We had a nice quiet evening and a bike ride. I came back to start dinner with a few of them, while the boys headed out for a longer bike ride with Dad, and were chased down on the river bank by the security guard, who apparently doesn't like children to come to the park. Enough at that point, and they came back to the camper to vent about the mean security guard. My poor co-worked also stopped by around this time, just to say hello, and got to hear all about the very non-child friendly staff members at the park that she resides in :)  What is funny about this whole thing is that I specifically asked when I called to book if children were welcome and if it was family friendly and was assured many times that it was!!

Our last morning we got up to spend some time on the beach, while the kids built aqua ducts and just played in the water. Oh well, you live and learn, we got to spend a fun weekend together as a family that was pretty close to home. The gas prices keep going up, so we are going to be finding close parks in the near futures....