We left Colt Creek State Park and Bigfoot at 12:45 pm on Saturday, December 20th and drove approximately 60 miles to Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont, Florida for a 14-night stay. This is always one of our busiest stays as it includes the Christmas and New Years Day holidays and lots of time with family and friends.
We were back in campsite number 2, the same one we were in during our last stay in November.
We also had a little more setting up to do this time since we were preparing to host our daughters and their children for our Christmas Eve dinner. Since Ann and her children are moving out of state during the first quarter of 2026, this will be the last Christmas we get to spend with what has been our “Florida family” the past four holidays. But this is what happens when family is spread out across the country and now we have them in the Pacific Northwest, the Southeastern, and soon to be Mid-Atlantic parts of the country.
After setting up and getting some things cleaned up around Nomad, we headed out to grab some pizza for dinner. Then it was back to the campsite to feed Bella and take her on a short walk around our loop.
Getting Ready For Christmas Eve
Sunday we drove into Orlando to the storage room to drop off some things and pick up some others. Then it was over to Amber’s to pick up several packages and mail we had received, as well as an extra table and chairs for our Xmas Eve dinner and…oh yeah, Abby, who will be staying with us a few days until Xmas Eve.
Monday morning Cindy and I got up at 5 am, snuck past Abby in the living room, and went outside in the hopes of seeing some of the meteors from the Ursids. We stood outside in the chilly weather for about 20 minutes. I saw four and Cindy saw three, but they were all fast and faint. Then we went back inside and back to our warm bed.
After breakfast we had errands to run and things to pick up at Costco and Publix for our Xmas Eve dinner. While on busy Highway 27 we saw a car in the next lane over that was covered in Xmas lights. Abby grabbed a photo of it for me. Both Costco and Publix were madhouses, but that’s expected a couple of days before Santa’s annual visit.
We got back to the campsite around 11:30 for lunch and to set up the second screen room we had picked up from the storage room. Combining that one with our Gazelle screen room gave us enough covered dining room outside for the Xmas Eve dinner. Which was good, because the leaves were falling so heavily that our plates of food would have looked like a Euell Gibbons feast (You may have to be of a certain age to get that reference, so I provided a link) without the screen rooms to block them.
Anyway, you can see how the two screen rooms looked joined together in the photos for this post.
Getting the older screen room from the storage room reminded us how grateful we were for our Gazelle screen room. That old one required both of us and about 35 minutes to get set up. The Gazelle we’ve been using for the past 3 years takes just ME about 3 minutes to set up. What a difference!
But using the Gazelle at almost very stop like we do means it is wearing out. We may have to get a new one for 2026.
Tuesday was Festivus For The Rest Of Us! I wrote a blog post about it here.
Christmas Eve
Wednesday was Xmas Eve. Cindy, Abby, Bella and I went for a two-mile hike in the morning. I hadn’t shaved in about two weeks and was wearing a red shirt. A woman walking toward us on the trail asked me if I was ready for my ride that night. Har Dee Har Har.
Ann, Mikey, Charlotte, and Amber all came over in the late afternoon. We FaceTimed with our West Coast family and it was nice to, in a way, have all of us together. Afterward, we watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, enjoyed our Xmas Eve meal and then exchanged gifts between Ann, Mikey, and Charlotte from/to Cindy and I and Amber/Abby. I got a book I wanted and the movie Thunderbolts on DVD from Ann and the kids. Sadly, I was so caught up in all that fun that I completely neglected to take photos of the gift exchanging, but I did remember to get a photo of all of us together.
Ann, Mikey, and Charlotte had to leave around 5 pm to get poor Seth from work (this was his first job and he learned the hard lesson of needing to ask for holiday time off weeks in advance). Then Cindy, Amber, Abby, and I watched the first half of The Christmas Chronicles before we went out to drive around and look at Xmas lights on homes near the state park. We didn’t stay out long because they had to get back to Orlando quickly as Amber was watching her neighbor’s dog. He’s an old boy who can’t hold out long before needing to go relieve himself.
Cindy and I were exhausted, but it was the good kind of exhaustion of enjoying holiday time with our kids and grandkids.
Merry Christmas
We were back up at 6 am and left at 6:30 for our Xmas morning drive to Amber and Abby’s for Christmas Day breakfast and opening of gifts, then stopped by Ann’s for a few minutes to see what else the kids had received for Christmas. You can see photos from the gift opening at Amber and Abby’s in the photo album. I got some more cool stuff; some new shirts, a journal, a dashboard phone holder, and a pack of Superman playing cards, among other neat things.
A lot of what I got Cindy was off her wishlist, but I did manage to surprise her with a completely unexpected gift; a stained glass lamp in the shape of a cardinal. She loves cardinals and her late mother told her before she passed away that if Cindy saw a cardinal it was just her visiting. Cindy cried when she opened it and that made my eyes well up with tears.
Then we enjoyed our annual Christmas tradition of meeting our friends Kirk and Laura for lunch. This time it was out at Olivia’s in Disney’s Old Key West Resort. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be Olivia’s. The reservation was messed up, then rescheduled for a later time, and then they told us we’d have to wait 20 minutes past our later reservation time.
I’ve got to say, there is a distinct and pervasive lack of the old Disney cast member customer service behavior that they used to have. You might as well go anywhere else because Disney no longer stands out in their attitude of making their theme park the happiest place on earth like they did so many years ago. These days, it’s just like any other hackneyed tourist trap.
We ended up driving over to Port Orleans and eating at Riverside. Same dismal attitude, but at least we were able to get some food. Then we walked around, for as long as I could with my knee and foot, and chatted while enjoying the scenery. We always have such a good time visiting with Kirk and Laura.
By the time we got back to the campsite it was around 3 pm and we were exhausted. Discovered, sadly, that the cardinal lamp I had gotten as a complete surprise for Cindy, did not work. It would not light up. I contacted the company and they promised to send a working replacement. We shall see. We watched the rest of The Christmas Chronicles while eating Christmas Eve leftovers and then went to bed with smiles on our faces.
Pack It Up and Tear It Down
Friday morning we hiked about a mile on a trail near the Lake Louisa beach. I woke up with my inflamed right foot just throbbing and the “hike” for me was more of a slow shuffle. I know I overdid it the day before, but you get caught up in the moments of fun with family and friends and forget that you’ll pay for it later, lol. I spent the rest of day with it elevated, iced and with a good healthy dose of pain reliever. Cindy took down the Christmas decorations and repacked them away for transport back to the storage room.
Saturday we hiked 1 1/2 miles on a different trail. Thankfully my right foot wasn’t hurting nearly as bad as it did the day before.
We came back to the campsite and took down the old extra screen room we had put up for the Xmas Eve dinner AND took down the old Gazelle screen room that we’ve had for the past 3 1/2 years. It’s seen better days.
I had ordered and received a NEW Gazelle screen room so we put up the new screen room. The new Gazelle screen room is exactly the same as the old one, but we also added a detachable floor this time so that we can stop using the old, mildewly plastic mat we’ve been using the past 3 1/2 years.
But, most importantly, Cindy LOVES her new Gazelle screen room. No patched holes or worn parts.
We also put aside the extra chairs and tables we used for the Xmas Eve dinner as well as Xmas decorations to either be returned to Amber or the storage room when we go back sometime next week.
Sunday was spent packing up stuff in the truck to either be returned to the storage room or to Amber’s.
We also started watching a 7-year old series called The Good Place that was recommended by Kirk. It’s a humorous morality play starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. So far we’re enjoying it.
Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News
Monday was my annual physical with my Primary Care Physician. He was excited to hear about our trip to Michigan in the summer as he spent about three years in Traverse City, Michigan.
Told him about my year-long left knee problem and recent right foot issue. He wanted me to get an MRI done on both, as well as an x-ray of the foot. Surprisingly, I was able to get an appointment with an imaging center on the following morning as well as a lab appointment he ordered for the following afternoon. I was having to do these quickly because I would be changing my heath insurance coverage on the first day of the new year and wanted to get these done before the year ended.
Tuesday morning I had my MRI’s and X-ray done.
I don’t know what my doctor ordered and I don’t know what they did MRI’s of, but I DO know I passed it with flying colors. Something YOU couldn’t do…and neither could YOU. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Also, final lab test of 2025. Whoo Hoo!!!!
We continued watching and enjoying The Good Place.
Wednesday, Cindy had her final medical appointment of 2025. Afterward we dropped off lots of things at the storage room and I dropped Cindy off at Amber’s for their lunch date.
K-Pop Demon Hunters and Spotify
Then I picked up pizza and drove to Ann’s to have lunch with Ann and Charlotte while watching the K-pop Demon Hunters movie. I’m not a fan of K-pop music, but the movie wasn’t bad. Mostly it was fun getting to spend time with Ann and Charlotte.
Ann also graciously gifted me a premium Spotify account.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, Cindy wanted to listen to Xmas music while we were driving. She didn’t like what I had downloaded on my iPhone (it’s my iPhone that’s connected to our truck’s sound system) and asked me to download Pandora so I could play their Xmas music radio channel. I did and she was happy listening to their music selection over the holidays.
After Xmas, I was planning to simply delete the app and go back to listening to the 3,000-plus songs I have on my phone.
BUT, Cindy then told me they had a 70’s-hits radio station. I found it and she lamented later “I created a monster” because they had songs I remembered and DIDN’T have on my phone so I was playing the shit out of that thing, lol.
But if you use the free account you must listen to ads that I swear come up after every second song, and are limited in your ability to skip or replay songs. I did not like that, but I’m also too cheap to pay for something I DON’T REALLY need.
So, I was telling Ann about this and she said, “Dad, I asked you over a year ago if you wanted one of the premium Spotify accounts I have available and you said no. I still have one available and you should use that.”
Well, like Cindy, when she’s right she’s right. So I humbly accepted the free Spotify account and now I crank that thing up and listen to music hits from my youth when I’m driving.
After lunch and the movie I picked up Cindy and we returned to the campsite to spend the rest of the day relaxing and getting ready to stay up until midnight to welcome in the new year. I also uploaded a blog post to The Word Of Jeff website listing the books I read in 2025.
Then, at the stroke of midnight, we toasted with champagne and kissed to the hope and wish that 2026 would be a good year.
Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to the Bestest Brother
Thursday was the first day of 2026 and the birthday of my younger brother, who is known across the world as the Bestest Brother.
We knew we would have leftover champagne, with just the two of us having it for a toast the night before, so we had bought some orange juice as we do every year around this time to have mimosas at breakfast, brunch, lunch…whenever.
And I’m glad I had the mimosa(s) because later that day I had to use the poop tote to empty our black tank.
I mean, I knew I would have to do it before we left because we had Abby with us several days and then people in and out over the holidays. There was no way to tank could go the whole two weeks without getting close to being filled.
But it was no fun and I wasn’t in the best of moods. Sorry, baby.
We watched quite a few more episodes of The Good Place.
Friday was spent getting ready to leave the following day for our next stop in Florida.
It was also World Introvert Day, which I wrote about on my personal blog.
And Science Fiction Day, which I wrote about on my reading and writing blog.
Amber and Abby stopped by with the last of our mail (for then, at least) and some fresh strawberries they had just picked from a nearby farm. They were SO sweet (the strawberries, I mean. But come to think of it, so were Amber and Abby for sharing the fruits of their labor).
That night, we finally got to have dinner at Olivia’s at Old Key West Resort with Kirk, Laura and Laura’s mom Royda who had flown in from Michigan at the end of the year. We were glad to get to see Royda before we left town, as well as Kirk and Laura one more time before leaving. I wore one of the new shirts Cindy gave me for Xmas and it was a big hit with both servers and customers making mention of it.
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