Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

From Wekiwa to Louisa

Wednesday April 6- Thursday April 7, 2016                              Most Recent Posts:
Lake Louisa Campground                                                           The Entire Rock Spring Run – It’s Great but Then….
Clermont, Florida                                                                      Last Paddle on Wekiva River                                                                   

 

WEDNESDAY

 

20160406_123149

This morning we go into the nearby town of Altamont Springs for David’s treatment at Florida Cancer Specialists.  We also stock up at the Whole Foods there since this will probably be our last Whole Foods possibility until we are back in Virginia.  To reward ourselves for all these life chores, we stop at Bruster’s, also in Altamont Springs, where they sadly do not have JMC.  We get 1 scoop of German Chocolate Cake, which does not appear to be anything but a version of non coconut tasting chocolate and one scoop of Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeye which was terrific.  Love the sign in their parking lot.

 

David checks out the menu.
No Jamica Me Crazy

20160406_123226

 

Pretty certain this is the end of our Bruster’s ice cream for quite a long time.

20160406_123909

 

 

20160406_154009

After lunch, we head over to the spring for our final swim.  I’m sorry to leave Wekiwa Springs, it has lots of things going for it in our heirarchy of importance.  A spring you can paddle each morning, a variety of hikes,  a variety of other put ins on the river,  the rock spring run for tubing or kayaking, near by treatment center, nearby Whole Foods, nearby Bruster’s.  Lots to like here.  I do think the river is too crowded for me in April.  I’d try March next time and imagine that May and later in the year might not be much better than April.  Perhaps September and October might also be good times. 

The water is wonderful
I love to just lay back and close my eyes.
20160406_154154

 

David agrees, he gives it two thumbs up.20160406_155502

After the swim and dinner we fiddle the rest of the evening away.  Our two weeks is over, we move tomorrow.

 

 

THURSDAY

 

IMG_3980

Today we move to Lake Louisa State Park which was chosen for a 3 night stay because it is only 20 miles from Disney World which will be our last stop in Florida before heading North.

We’re not in any hurry to arrive and the drive is only 33 miles so we fiddle around at Wekiwa Springs in the morning lazily packing up and in mid afternoon pull into nice long pull through right along the campground road.  It’s easy but not private.

Lake Louisa State Park consists of 4500 acres south of Clermont Florida on the southwestern shore of Lake Louisa and the northeast corner of the Green Swamp.  Lake Louisa is the largest in a chain of 13 lakes within the park. There is lots of potential for lake paddling here in the cypress fringed lakes.    

There is a beach on Lake Louisa as well as a canoe/kayak launch, 16 miles of equestrian trails and a primitive equestrian campground.  They have 20 miles of hiking trails, a short half mile nature trail, a fishing pier and two picnic areas.   There are 7 miles of paved roads in the park and 20 miles of unpaved.  Mountain bikes are recommended for those.  We haven’t done any hiking so I’m not sure if the 20 miles of hiking and the 20 miles of biking are the same 20 miles.  I hope not.  The park rents road bikes.   The park does not have a boat ramp for motorized boats, only a kayak/canoe launch.  The park does rent 3 person canoes and single kayaks on the Dixie Lake.  The swimming area is and playground are at the Lake Louisa Day use area.  Lake Louisa is the only lake permitting swimming.

 

Lake Louisa Campground MapThere are 17 cabins and 60 campsites with water and electric.  The campground has two bath houses and a dump site.  As you can see from the picture of our site above,  the sites are mostly open.  We do not have “lake front” but it is not far behind us and access via a viewing boardwalk is only a couple of sites up from us.

After dinner we go out to walk around the campground and check out Dixie Lake which is the one both the cabins and the campground face on adjacent sides.  Coming in Lake Louisa Drive you would go off to the left for the cabins and to the right for the campground.  Our site is marked with the red arrow.

 

The viewing boardwalk as the sun goes down.

IMG_4013

 

Shooting into the sunset of course darkens everything around it.   Still a lovely view.

IMG_4002

 

The cypress lined shores take a while before the colors in the sky reflect on them.

 

 

Once the sun is down the pink is mirrored in the still lake waters

 

 

 

IMG_4022

 

One last look before heading back to turn in for the night.  We have a big day of exploring to do tomorrow.

IMG_4026

14 comments:

  1. Beautiful sunset photos! Enjoy your 3 day stay.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a nice park! We'll be staying in one near Denver in a couple weeks, looks like it has similar pull through sites.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love those super quick travel days, we don't even hook up the Jeep. Unfortunately we have several longer drives and shorter stays ahead as we re-route back to Roswell to move Bill's mom. The cypress trees along the shore are just stunning - they look like crepe paper, they're so delicate. What a bummer that there was no JMC for your last hurrah at Bruster's :-(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Why is it that Brusters never seems to have JMC? You'd think it was almost illegal they way they are so stingy with having it on hand. At least they have some other choices for you, as poor as they may be. ;c)

    ReplyDelete
  5. The lake looks like such a pretty place to come and stay at.

    I've never heard of Brusters ice cream, let alone JMC.

    ReplyDelete
  6. To those who were not reading this back on January 8, 2012, I have come to understand that we just happened to be at a Bruster's in Silver Spring near Ocala with Bill & Nancy (on my 65th birthday no less) when "Jamaica Me Crazy" aka JMC was introduced as a promotional "NEW" flavor! I thought it was the absolute best ice cream I had ever tasted, bar none, anywhere, any time. One taste and Sherry agreed and I nearly had a fight to get it back from her. Of course Bruster's is a chain and they introduce NEW flavor mixes all the time with catchy names. Although every Brusters we have been to knows about Jamaica Me Crazy, none have it on hand as a regular option, although they will make it in advance if you call and request it. Only Sherry is organized and dedicated enough to do that, and thanks to her, we have enjoyed it several times since. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AND special thanks again to Bill & Nancy Mills who were actually treating us to this ice cream treat on the occasion of my 65th. I have MANY things to thank them for, but this is high on the list and can't be said too often. ;)

      Delete
    2. You are welcome, but if you keep it up, we will have to return to Florida to rescue you two from Brusters;o))

      Here is the link to the original visit to Brusters:
      http://nancyandbillblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/geocaching-and-birthday-party-sunday.html

      That day was such a special day and a wonderful memory!!!

      Delete
  7. We were at Wekiwa Springs State Park in February and it was wonderful -- no crowds and great weather. I agree with you, it has everything -- hiking/biking/and kayaking, as well as beautiful springs to swim in. We haven't tried Bruster's, so we'll have to remedy that on our next trip. You guys sure looked happy. :-)) Lake Louisa looks beautiful! Putting that one on the list.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love your kayaking pictures BUT and a big one. Are you sure the gators will not harm you? You are practically eye level with them. I just don't dare to kayak in FL. for that reason. This makes me nervous just looking at your pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Flowergirl, Thank you so much for your comments. Yours is a fear lots of people have. Actually alligators eat things much smaller than people. My kayak looks like a very big thing to them. They would be more likely to eat a little dog along the shore or their more normal foods fish, turtles, birds. But all of those seem to know when gators have eaten and are no longer interested. That said, if people feed alligators then they lose their fear of humans and may approach you for food. Not a good thing. I don't get close to them if I can help it and try not to surprise them although they often surprise me by seeing me first and making a huge splash diving into the water.

      Delete
  9. Great ice cream pictures! Sorry they didn't have JMC :( Love the water photos too..so clear and dad looks so happy! Pretty lake there...Florida really does have an amazing array of parks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your camp site may not look like much but all those lakes and trails sound very inviting.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are the best part of this blog for me.
I LOVE hearing from you!