Wekiwa Springs State Park

Sunday morning, we packed the family into the old beater caddie and drove up to the woods. To our surprise, we had to talk our way into Wekiwa Springs State Park. As it is a spring and it is hot as hell down here in the south, many people flock to the springs of Wekiwa and Rock Springs for a cool afternoon. Plus, with so many people staying close to home for Memorial Day Weekend, they needed some place to go. A carload for $5 sounds like our kind of outing. Either way, once we convinced the park ranger that we were going up to Sand Hill Lake to do some hiking and not to the "touristy" section of the park, she took my $5 and off we went for the two-mile drive into the park.

Upon our arrival, just as we expected: Only two other cars. So the park was closed due to overcrowding eh? Our adventure began following a trail north. It was kind of exhilirating considering our hiking backpack had somehow swallowed our trail map from our last adventure and well, my husband never received a sense of direction and since we were on a new trail, I had no idea where we were and what direction we were headed. Oh well. We have a four year old and a dog in a wooded area where there are bears and snakes. We stick to marked trails.

We saw a large, soft shelled turtle, a very cool tree that grows like an umbrella and of course, our mushroom hunter found a mushroom. I would have a ton of pictures however, the camera has decided it is going to be fickle. But right after our first rain storm in over a month, everything was green, smelled great and this sweet little breeze would rip through the trees and push you along.

Our four year old did much better than our now, 9 year old weimaraner. After about mile 6, he would trot to the end of his leash and lay in the sand under a bush. Waiting for us to take the three steps to catch up. So we finally decided to give in to him and head back the mile and a half to the car. We had already acquired our fair share of hitch-hikers (fleas, ticks, bugs)... the peanut butter and jellies were gone and the water was down to it's last sip for each of us. The dog had finished off his jug.

Upon arrival home, we all bypass the house, strip to our skivees and jump into the pool. Even the dog got a swim in this time. After a final hitch-hiker patrol, everyone was allowed into the house...

It was a great weekend away from the computer and if you live in the area, Wekiwa Springs State Park is a great place to go!