Hiking - Sand Lake, Kayaking - Mt Dora Canal

2.2 miles, 58 minites

 The weather was predicted to be a bit cooler and rainy. We didn’t want to do a long paddle and be caught in it so we started the day off with a short hike around Sand Lake which is inside Wekiva Springs State Park and only a few minutes from our campsite. It wasn’t a spectacular walk, but it was enjoyable. We saw a man doing an oil painting which was cool. Apparently, there are several painters around the springs this week. We only walked 2 miles and headed back to the trailer. Rain was now forecast for later so we changed and headed over to Mt Dora Canal.

3.8 miles, 2.4 avg speed, 1:41 elapsed time, slightly overcast and then got warm

The launch here is in a very small park with small mobile homes lining the canal. The park has huge cypress trees with Spanish moss hanging down - very southern looking! It’s an immediate left to head down the canal. The canal had a mystical feeling to it as the trees bent down towards the middle forming an arch most of the way down. There were small Cypress knees sticking up, ferns everywhere and beautiful plants all around. The water had reflections making it even more appealing. We passed a few small motor boats and several paddle boats. The passengers often oohed over our cute doggie passenger. Fortunately, they were oohing at a time when BenjiBear wasn’t whining. Benji is making progress. He was quiet going down the canal - probably tired from the morning walk. He did whine done on the way back so we switched him in boats twice.

Tourist - Lake Apopka & Mt. Dora

 We realized that weekends on the waterways here are absolutely crazy so we decided to drive over to Lake Apopka and be walking/driving tourists. There is an 11 mile drive that goes around Lake Apopka through the wetlands and around the lake, Northshore of Lake Apopka.  Apparently there are hundreds of varieties of birds and so much other wildlife to see. The dirt road is open to cars hikers and bicyclists. It was truly amazing to see the hundreds, possibly thousands of birds and alligators right out our window. It was a pleasant surprise, a beautiful drive. We were able to pull over and get even closer to take photos. I’ve learned my lesson and will pack my big camera on future trips. This is a birdwatchers paradise and there was  no shortage of photographers with huge cameras around. 

1.7 miles walked, 54 min walk

We then Headed to Mount Dora, a quaint little touristy town. Our first stop was in a dog bakery where we bought BenjiBear treat and he had some samples. We ate at the Magical Meat Boutique British Pub with lots of British decor inside. We sat outside and had Fish and Chips. It was delicious. We walked around the town and saw the lighthouse from across the water. Another ‘magical’ day. 

Kayaking - Rock Springs Run

 8.7 miles, 2.7 avg speed, 6.3 max speed, 4:00 elapsed time

I can’t post told us that the kayaking around here it’s very crowded and we had also read this online. So we got up early and headed up to Kelly park where we got a pass to go into Joy camp. If you launch from Kelly Park it’s $10 a person and dogs were not allowed. But if you go into Joy camp it cost us three dollars for the two of us and then she was allowed. I’m not sure why more people don’t go into Joy camp. It could be the long walk down to the river, about the distance of three football fields. Once you get to the water there’s a heavy growth of water lilies where you kayak through and then out into the river. We actually paddled through heavy greenery. The river reminded us of a cross between Juniper Springs and Silver River. It was a Windi twisty river, but not unmanageable. Unlike Silver River beautiful reflections. We passed a few alligators, turtles and birds. At one point I heard heavy breathing and it turned out to be to snapping turtles fighting with each other near the bank of the river. We stopped at the first campsite and had a lunch there. It was about this time that we started seeing other paddlers on the river. We passed two other campsites but did not stop at these. as we got within 2 miles of the takeout, we started passing more people in kayaks. They didn’t look like long distance kayakers, and we suspected that they hung around here Wekiva island. The last mile is a paddle upstream towards Wekiva springs. We got out and carried our boats up the hill. At the top of the hill is the Weekawah Springs park, and there happened to be a big Cub Scout gathering. Scotty rode his bike back to the truck while Benji and I hung out with the Rugrats. Scotty texted as he waited in line just to get back into the park. This is obviously a very very popular place to be on the weekend. We loaded up the boats and headed back to the camper where I probably gave BenjiBear a bath as he was pretty sandy.

Camping - Wekiwa Springs State Park

 BenjiBear and I took a nice long walk around the campground. We hung out for awhile and had lunch before getting the trailer ready to drive. It was less than a 2 hour drive over to Wekiwa Springs State Park. The most obvious difference is that the campground is smaller and from our site, we can hear traffic (not disturbing). We were immediately greeted by the campground hosts walking their dog, along with another host. This time, I set up the trailer. I’ll need a lot more practice before I can drive off without Scotty. (Shhhh) It was still early in the day so we drove to see Wekiwa Island. It was very busy on an early Friday afternoon so we think it will be really busy on the weekend. From there, we drove up to Kelly Park. We noticed that there’s a sidewalk all along the way so Scotty should have a safe ride. Still early, so we looked for microbreweries in the town. We found Three Odd Guys and sat out front. We ordered a flight of beers before deciding on two favorites. I got a white cheese pizza that was fantastic. Scotty got a meat pizza that seemed loaded with meat. I noticed a lot of people entering and one guy told me that the place was a hidden gem. I would have to agree. 

Kayaking - Salt Springs and Silver River

 2.4 miles, 2.1 avg speed, 4.7 max speed, 1:17 elapsed time

We headed over to salt Springs first thing in the morning knowing that it would be a short paddle. The launch is on a lake there and the springs is to the left. The water around the springs is very shallow and like all of the springs, it’s very clear and very beautiful. We kayaked away from the springs out towards the lake then headed back towards shore. We’re not big fans of lake paddling and this lake was not too exciting as the shoreline looked all the same.

3.4 miles,  1:36 miles paddling

We headed to Silver River as it was also short paddle and nearby, but we could not take the dog in. Boo-hoo. We decided to go back to the trailer as it was getting towards the heat of the day and we had lunch and hung out for a while. I went to Walmart to do a little grocery shopping.

We then headed over to Ray Wayside Park and launched our boats to go upstream. This was about 4 o’clock and the lighting was absolutely beautiful as it was  just before the sun is going down. We passed many peddlers coming back down the river and less wildlife. After almost an hour of upstream paddling, we turned around and floated/paddled back down stream. What do you have for dinner last night. We had leftover pork chops for dinner which is great because paddling upstream is hard work and we were tired.