The grandchildren had Friday (2/17) off from school so we took them to Alafia River State Park campground. They stayed Friday and Saturday nights. We managed to reserve Site #5 which is closer to the lake on the eastern end of the horse loop (unfortunately there were no horses over the weekend). The site is a pull through on the inner side of the loop. Unfortunately, one of the large trees providing shade from the afternoon sun fell during Hurricane Ian, but we were still able to find shade throughout the afternoon by moving our lawn chairs around. There is a bit of a marsh next to the site, so once the sun set on the first night, which was very warm for February, the mosquitos were formidable. We were able to place the Dish Network satellite antenna far enough behind the camper to pickup all three satellites on the Western Arc. Although we have had good experiences in the past with our AT&T Mi-Fi at this campground, our connectivity from this site wasn’t great.
On Friday we brought the grandchildren to the campground, unhooked the Expedition and unloaded the firewood and other items in the truck so that Beth could zip home and pickup the cats. The grandchildren road their scooters while I finished setting up the site. Our friends Cam & Susan live near the campground and had never met all three grandchildren so they dropped by for dinner. We cooked hamburgers and pork burgers on our grill.
On Saturday morning we hiked through the woods to the trailhead area where all of the mountain bikers park. While Beth and I rested the kids enjoyed the playground. While we were there we all re-hydrated and snacked and then hiked back to the campground. The hike was 2.8 miles round trip and the grandchildren did very well. Chuckie’s legs started getting tired with about 1/2 mile to go, but he gutted it out. When we got back to the campsite they immediately started riding their scooters and really never stopped other than for lunch and dinner (and Chuckie’s 90 minute nap).
On Sunday morning we took a quick 3/4 mile hike around another lake southeast of our campsite and then did some last minute scooter riding before I took the kids home. I got back to the camper just in time to watch Purdue’s basketball team defeat Ohio State.
On Monday we hung out at our campsite and grilled a nice steak over the campfire for dinner. On Tuesday we ate a late lunch at The Outback. I had a blackened chicken Caesar Salad and Beth had the Spicy Meatloaf. Beth had started experiencing a head cold on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon I was feeling it too. We both felt slightly better on Wednesday, but packing up to come home and then unpacking when we got home was exhausting.