This week we experienced our first summer camping trip in Florida. All I can say is that it was hot. Fortunately we camped at Rainbow Springs State Park where the water temperature is 72 degrees year round. We took the grandkids with us and had a great time. We know they had a great time because they were so exhausted each night that they fell asleep by 9PM and generally slept in until 9AM (Chuckie woke up a bit earlier each day, but we grabbed him and put him in bed with us before he could wake the girls).
We camped there with our good friends Mick & Heidi and their girls Haley & Lola. On the day after arrival we piled in our cars and headed up to the main portion of the State Park known as the headsprings. This is where all non-camping patrons end up. The water in the swimming area at the headsprings is 10′ – 18′ deep and the rangers highly recommended that we not take our young grandchildren there to swim unless they were good swimmers. Therefore, we just took the hike to the nearby waterfalls and then headed back to the campground where we could swim in the river which is only accessible by registered campers and is only about 3′ deep. The kids had a great time and the girls’ swimming skills improved dramatically. They were very comfortable with their dive masks and snorkels and saw lots of fish. Unfortunately, word of the many fish scared Chuckie and he was very resistant to getting in the water. When we could convince him, it was only if he was attached to one of us. Even with that restriction, he had a good time.
During the times that we were back at the campsite, the kids had a great time riding their bikes and scooters, hanging out with Mick & Heidi’s family, and playing with their dogs S’more & Zuli. The highlight of the trip was Mick taking Penny’s training wheels off of her bicycle and training her to ride her bike. We were all very proud of her.
