We left Eastbank Campground in Bainbridge, Georgia on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 and drove 245 miles to Rodman Campground in Palatka, Florida. We got there and initially had issues getting into the site they gave us. This campground is one I’m reasonably sure we won’t be returning to visit. Our “site” was just a patch of grass at the end of the campground. The ground was soft and soggy and the ranger had to show us where we could pull into on the grass to avoid sinking into the ground. It was like we were camping in someone’s backyard.
We set up and took Bella for a walk and then left to go into Palatka to get some dinner.
Our original plan was to spend three nights at Rodman, but just as we were finishing up our dinner Cindy got a phone call. Her ex-husband and father of her children had passed away. We decided to try and come into Orlando early to be available for any support her daughter might need. We got in touch with Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont where we have stayed several times before and they were able to put us in a site for 2 nights. Then we would move to our regularly scheduled two-week campground reservation at Wekiva Springs State Park.
So we left Rodman on Thursday morning and drove the short 2 hours to Lake Louisa and were set up there by 2:30 pm. We drove into Orlando and picked up our granddaughter from school at 4:30 and took her to dinner and then picked up some dinner for her mom Amber, who was dealing with things related to her father’s death. On the way we stopped and visited for a few minutes with Ann, Mikey and Charlotte at their home, then stopped to pick up some groceries for Amber. We left Amber’s around 6:30 for the hour drive back to Lake Louisa and stopped along the way to get some groceries for ourselves.
As would be expected, dealing with the death of a parent was hard and was taking a lot of Amber’s time, attention and spirit. We spent Thursday the 9th supporting her as best we could from Nomad by helping with tasks as we were able.
Friday morning we walked Bella on a nearby trail. It was hot and humid even though it was only 9am. We tore down Nomad and left Lake Louisa around 1 pm for the one-hour drive to Wekiva Springs State Park where we would be staying for the next two weeks, back on our original schedule.
That night we took Ann, Mikey and Charlotte to dinner at TGIFriday’s and enjoyed getting to catch up with them in person. Then I dropped Cindy off at Amber’s where she would be spending the next 7 nights while I “batched” it with Bella.
As you might imagine, things were pretty hectic for those three days so we neglected to get photos of our set-up at Lake Louisa or even with family, so the album for this post is pretty minimal. But I’m pretty sure I’ll make up for it in the next post.
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