Happy road warriors again with our 2-hour, 76 mile trip northwest to Apopka and Wekiwa Springs State Park. With only 10 miles of the trip on I-95, the remainder on 2-lane state and county roads, one doesn’t zoom along at 65mph the entire time, but that’s our preference anyway.

Here’s a few stats- first, about our travels so far:

• Miles driven since Annie joined the clan: 3,150
• Gals diesel purchased: 383
• Highest fuel price paid: $3.79 in PA in Sept and CT in Nov
• Lowest fuel price paid: $2.76 believe it or not in the Keys on Jan 31 right as prices were about to creep up
• Amount of time driving in snow or rain: precious little and all of it prior to Dec 3

About Wekiwa Springs State Park:

• 42 million gals of clear water flow each day from the two fissures in Wekiwa Springs
• Wekiwa means “spring of water”; from the Creeks who were later called Seminoles
• The park covers 7,800 acres
• Miles of trails = 26+, for hiking, multi-use and horse
• The campground is small. Two loops, each with 30 RV/tent sites. All sites have water and 30amp hook-ups and all but 23 also have sewer. A dump station is provided.
• The park has a primitive youth camping section and youth camp cabins
• Visitors can rent canoes, visit the Nature Center, shop for trinkets and ice cream at the concession bldg.

Check-in could not have been easier: we pull up to the ranger booth; receive info packet and receipt. Done.

We usually have to ask where we can unhook Bonny and the answer is often accompanied by an odd look. No idea why; I mean we already said this was our first visit.

Unless we have a pull-through site (rare) we don headsets and I drive Bonny ahead then help direct Russ in. This time was easy; the Captain is quite the backing up pro.

We had booked nine nights here and the weather behaved in typical winter fashion: days of warm and mostly sunny, days of chilly and cloudy and some days of rain.

What makes a desirable site (for us):

• Wide enough for slide-outs and awning
• Space and/or shrubs or trees between sites
• Mostly sunny with no overhanging branches
• Level site with gravel, cement, grass or hard sand to park on
• Well marked so we can find it
• Not being directly across from the site across the road; some places stagger the sites a bit which is nice

Our site is #46 on the outside of the second loop.

The outer edge sites often seem wider and they usually don’t back up to other sites, just woods or empty space. Full hook-up and plenty deep and wide, but a lone pine kept the awning in. Enough tall trees provided dappled sun between 10am – 4pm. Sunrise at 6:46 which meant no light shone in until 7:15 and then we sprang ahead and boy the mornings were dark. Sunset moving to 7:30pm brought big smiles.

This shot is deceptive; the fifth-wheels, campers and tents outnumbered the motorhomes; at least on our loop. The weekend brought in a full house.

 

 

 

Raise your hand if you know about or have done a Volksmarch trail. Yes, I thought so. A new one on us.

 

All along the way up, we kept skirting along short mucky sections but we got to the river camp. The river had flooded its banks a bit thanks to the recent downpour before we arrived. We went on but very quickly came to this and I drew the line in the mud!  We could always come up from the southern end of the trail we’d hoped to take down to Sand Lake. In a few days.

 

Weekends mean Renninger’s Flea/Farm/Antique Market opens in Mt. Dora. Mount did I say? Yes! Hills really, but not the totally flat we have grown accustomed to while snowbirding in sunny Florida.

This weekend was Cars & Guitars Show too and how great to own a vintage auto in Florida- no snow, rust and all that crap that ruins a car before you can say, “back to the future.” A Delorean was there, but I didn’t take a photo.

The real reason we went wasn’t to buy stuff that we don’t have room for; it was donuts. Gee, how unusual. 🙂  and since we keep reading “you deserve a donut” we’ve come to believe it!

 Worth the 25 min drive, the tiny donut booth sells ‘em as fast as the machine makes ‘em.

The market itself reminded us of the market in Charleston, only more on the trashy side; no offense. Inside halls with everything, outside booths and stalls and more tables set up farther out.

Was almost too much and I was happy not to be collecting vintage plates, glassware and fabrics anymore. Vintage RVs are another thing and always fun to see.

 

Counties count in Florida much as they do in California; big state stuff. Florida consists of 67 governmental counties; the most recent creation being Gilchrist in 1925. In 1968 Florida gave the counties the power to create their own charters which allows them to levy taxes, provide public services and pass laws. A few counties have seen name changes; Mosquito County became Orange County in 1845 (wise move!) and Dade County became Miami-Dade in 1997- did you notice?

All the county talk can be confusing to a non-native nomad who is lucky to know the town they are in let alone the county or the neighboring county. And try to figure out the taxes- Florida state sale tax is 6% and it seems that the counties have optional taxes they can levy on a multitude of items, campground sites being one.

All this is background for my saying that Brevard County (named for Judge Theodore Washington Brevard an early settler and State Comptroller in mid-1800s) is a darn great county. Seventy-two miles long from Titusville, south to Melbourne Beach/Sebastian and covering the Indian River (AICW), Cape Canaveral, Merritt Island, Brevard is one-third the size of Rhode Island but 33% of its square miles is water.

The county has several county parks but I think only one includes campgrounds; Wickham Park, where we spent eight nights. Trees, but not too many, wide sites, full hook-ups, walking/biking trails, ponds, soccer field and working Wi-Fi!

Have you heard of Disc Golf? The park has a 22-hole course.

Have a horse? Bring it here to exercise on the track. Perhaps you and your best canine friend prefer to participate in a Barn Hunt Event. Guess it depends on the prize; a nice fat rat! Groups and clubs get together for Barn Hunt Trials where one dog at a time races through a straw bale maze and tries to have the fastest time at finding a boxed live rat; the aerated container is “approved” for barn hunting. Between this and all the country stations we listen to on XM or local radio I’m beginning to feel a little bit country.

The bird watching continues. Viera Wetlands we’d heard about from the photographer we’d met along the Marsh Trail. We stopped at the Melbourne (the locals pronounce it Melburn) Chamber of Commerce and picked up a few maps and booklets. The January Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville had leftover programs and from that we found several nearby sites worth a visit. Viera Wetlands was one and we came prepared with walking shoes, light jackets, water bottle, only to find it was primarily a drive through! Here is a seriously culled-down selection of our visit.

Cruickshank Sanctuary was guaranteed to produce sightings of the Florida Scrub Jay; the only avian species exclusive to Florida. Sure enough they were there in all the sanctuary’s scrubbiness. Later when we walked a favorite campground trail section, sure enough we saw scrub jays there too. Gopher tortoises every time. But no nine-banded armadillos; only the sign.

The park is only a couple of miles from just about everything; grocery, shopping, dining, gas stations and if you head a few more miles east over the Indian River, voila! The beaches.

If an app can get worn out, I believe Russ has several on his phone that would look very faded by now. Trusty TripAdvisor being one. This time it led us to Love Bug’s Bakery; I mean how could you resist the name?  We couldn’t resist the glazed Cronuts with chocolate drizzle; amazingly delicious and close to the longed-for and adored kettle doughnut made at Frances Pastry; my high school bakery job.

Sea fog crept in on little cat feet the morning we were to leave, but snuck out by 10 am. Today was fueling up day; never a simple drive in and fill up like with Bonny. As Good Sam members we receive a whopping 3 cents off fuel at Pilot and Flying J which exist primarily for trucks but we are allowed in too. The problem with these is the price is not exactly competitive and even with a 3 cent deal, we can do better at other places, and you have to pay inside not at the pump. Their upside is a flat, easy entry with plenty of fast pumps and friendly truckers.

When we can, we scope out a local station (like we did in Marathon) and that worked out well this time too. Diesel prices are up from our lowest $2.74 in the Keys and $2.89 at the nearby Shell was lower than most. Backed out of our site, I drove Bonny and parked her in the empty community center, then we fueled up. Most stations with diesel make them the outer row(s) which helps. But they don’t always allow enough room for a rig with a tow so this time we played it safe and left Bonny home. As usual, some guy stops to chat about fuel, trucks or driving.

That plan worked well and since we had a short 76 mile day, by 1pm we were pulling up to the gate house at Wekiwa (say Wa-kigh-va) Springs State Park.