Orlando

We headed towards Orlando yesterday morning to meet with Al’s cousin Jack and his wife Karen. 

They were supposed to be touring Epcot yesterday, but took the time to meet with us for lunch.  They took a cab to Downtown Disney (thanks Margie for the suggestion) and we spent a few hours together.

We had never been there but it’s basically a bunch of shops, and restaurants all along a boardwalk. 

Jack and Karen wanted to try Bongo's Restaurant for lunch.  It is a Cuban restaurant/club and it turns out is owned by Gloria Estefan.  There is another one in Miami’s South Beach.  It was relatively quiet yesterday during lunch but I understand it gets quite loud when the entertainers are playing.  Jack and Karen had a shrimp meal with rice and Plantains.  I had pork with plantains (yummy) and yellow rice, and Al had a Cuban sandwich.   Thanks Jack and Karen for treating us to lunch!  We really enjoyed visiting with you!

Karen, Jack, and Al

Another Restaurant-Fultons Crab House

Jack wanted to get a Harley t-shirt for a friend.

Jack, Karen, Al and me

Karen (the other one) on a Harley

Planet Hollywood

We had a good lunch and enjoyed visiting with Jack and Karen.  They live in North Dakota, so we don’t get to see them very  often and unfortunately, usually at funerals.  After we parted ways, they headed back over to Epcot and we took a drive to check out a few campgrounds in the area.

 

Since we just bought a Thousand Trails membership, we wanted to check out the park in Orlando.  It’s actually in Clermont, but they call it the Orlando Thousand Trails…???  With the discount they offered at the Rv show, this campground could be $6 a night.  We chose to add 6 additional Florida parks so it would cost us about $12.

Clubhouse

Pool & Hot tub

Both were heated and pretty warm! 

It was a very nice campground and we were impressed.  The campsites are pretty large and you’re not crammed in right next to your neighbor.  The people were friendly and there appeared to be a lot of activities.  The people seem to be a big younger than geezerville where we are now :)

This isn’t a good picture of the campground.  I felt funny taking pictures of peoples homes (when they were looking) and most sites were full.  The sites are spaced pretty far apart, but there is no privacy between campsites.  All the sites looked to be angled nicely for ease of getting into.  The lack of trees is a plus in January, not so much in July!

Cabins

There were other campsites that reminded me of state parks (our favorite).  They were wooded and there was a lot of privacy between sites.  There were a lot of them as well.  These would be the ones we would prefer.

Another Pool picture

With the Thousand Trails membership, we can stay up to two weeks at a time here.  After 14 days you have to vacate for 7 days before you can come back.  We definitely like this park and it is one of the nicest “regular” campgrounds we have seen.  We usually prefer state parks, but since we’ve been snowbirds and living in the motor home so long, we’re finding we really like sewer hook-ups :)

After we left the Orlando/Clermont Thousand Trails, we decided to head to the Thousand Trails park in Wildwood.

On the way we ran across Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont Florida.  It’s evidently a new park and has been designed very well.  The campground reminded us of Silver River State Park.  It was designed right and with the larger rigs in mind.  The sights are angled correctly so you can get into them easily.  I didn’t see a bad site there.  It’s a huge park, some 4500 acres, I believe.  Here is the description from the website.

A short drive from Orlando, this park is noted for its six beautiful lakes, rolling hills, and scenic landscapes. Lake Louisa is the largest in a chain of 13 lakes connected by the Palatlakaha River, which is designated as an Outstanding Florida Waterway. Lake Louisa, Dixie Lake, and Hammond Lake, the park's most accessible lakes, provide access for fishing, canoeing, and kayaking. Anglers can fish in four of the park's six lakes, but gasoline-powered boats are not allowed; only boats powered by trolling motors or without motors are permitted. Camping facilities and more than 15 miles of horse trails are available for equestrians. For hikers and backpackers, the park has over 20 miles of hiking trails with excellent opportunities for wildlife viewing. Dixie Lake has a fishing pier, canoe/kayak launch, and a picnic pavilion.The park also has a full-facility campground, fully furnished cabins for rent, and primitive campsites. Lake Louisa State Park is located just seven miles south of State Road 50 in Clermont on U.S. 27.

campsites

cabins on the lake

You have to drive a long way to reach the campground.

This part of Florida is in the main citrus belt.  There are acres and acres of citrus trees on rolling hills.  It’s a very pretty part of Florida and one where we had never been until recently.  It’s nearby where our friends Margie and Roger winter on their Rv lot.

Lake Louisa State Park is a great place to camp.  There are 20 cabins, and an Equestrian campground with a 4 horse paddock. 

There are 60  50/30 amp campsites and some have sewer hookups!  The campsites are $26.64 with taxes and no extra charge for the ones with sewer connections.  Since it’s a new park, there isn’t a lot of shade because they are trying to restore it to it’s natural state and have planted native trees/shrubs which are still very small.   It’s close to Orlando so it would be a nice location for seeing the sites.  The lake looked to be pretty nice to kayak.  I don’t think any site would be bad and they can accommodate rigs  up to 115 feet!  

After we left Lake Louisa, we headed to the Wildwood Thousand Trails park. It was nothing like the one in Clermont and certainly would not be our first choice.  The first impression was not nearly as nice as Clermont/Orlando, but once you got in, it wasn’t so bad.

We never did go to the clubhouse or even find the pool.  It would do in a pinch, but since it’s only about 50 miles from the other park, we would only use this one as  a last resort.

Phew…long post….sorry.