Off in the RV again for a weekend. This time a short trip up the road from home for the CurbCrushers, to Kelly Park just north of Orlando in Apopka, Florida. Less than a year ago, in August of 2008, we took the short ride up to Kelly Park and had a great time, so we put it on our list for this summer.
Not a lot has changed, the springs are still there and pumping out water, and its a great way to spend a day. Take your tube to the head of the springs, and then just float your way down the run until you get to the end, repeat. There are about eight or nine lifeguards along the runs and the swimming area, so everyone should feel save. The park fills up fast with day visitors on the weekend, so it is great to be camping since you can avoid having to deal with parking and just get in the springs. Since this part of Florida (actually, I think most of Florida) features afternoon thundershowers, camping at the park means that when the life guards chase you out, you just head back to the RV for a nap. Then a couple of hours later you wander back over after the storms lifted. A large number of the day use folks flee the park when the storms come, so it is much less crowded in the afternoon.
The campsites are pleasant, there are 26 of them. All but about five or six have water and electricity. Access to water and electric can be just about anywhere on your campsite, so make sure you have an extension cord and hose with you. This last trip our water was on the passengers side toward the rear, and the electric right where you’d expect it at the rear on the right. The campground loop road and the campsites are packed dirt, but they seem to shed water fairly well in the rain, and each campsite has a concrete pad. The staff said they had cleared out the brush around the campsites since our last visit, and this may well be true, but I don’t think it changed the dimensions of the campsites, which is not a problem since most will accommodate at least a 35 – 40 foot rig. One thing that has changed is that you are no longer able to reserve a specific site. You make a reservation for a type of site (water and electric or water only) and a site will be assigned to you when you arrive. This wasn’t a problem as we fit easily in the site assigned.
Pictures of trip are here.