Alexander Springs, Florida / Kai's First Camping Trip
"We have food. We don’t have plates, we don’t have silverware, we don’t have a trashcan, or a trash-bag, we don’t have something to put lot’s of water in…” This was the start to Kai’s First Camping Trip to Alexander Springs, Florida with her mom and dad. That would be me, and Jon. Don’t worry we ended up fine, but it was definitely an adventure, and so MUCH FUN!! We can’t wait to take our little girl camping again!
Alexander Springs was about an hour drive from where we live. We got to Alexander Springs in the early afternoon to enjoy the day. We recommend getting CAMPSITE 40. Another group snagged it about two minutes before we asked for it — Our week was odd where you couldn’t reserve the campsites…Usually you CAN!
Meals for our camping trip were very simple:
Lunch: PB & J Sandwiches
Dinner: Tacos
Breakfast: Tacos with scramble eggs
If you’ve ever met Jon you may have discovered he could live off Tacos. I also packed:
Grapes, Apples, Snack Bars, Water Bottles
After we set up camp, we enjoyed the SPRINGS! I HIGHLY recommend Alexander Springs, especially if you have little kiddos. Kai could walk around in about 1/3 of the Spring. It was perfect! Most Springs I’ve been to are very deep all the way across. The water is a refreshing 72 degrees year round. We also explored one of the many nature trails in the park.
After swimming, we headed back to our campsite to enjoy the evening. They did have nice amenities (bathroom, hot showers) that I used to wash Kai off with before bed. It was so special to watch Kai take in the fire. She loved rocking in the hammock, and playing in the sand around camp.
We set Kai up in her own tent next to ours with her favorite BIG FROG Ichabod, lot’s of blankets and camping mats, and a fan. SHE DID AMAZING!
Us on the other hand….I forgot my sleeping bag (my dad who is an Eagle Scout/ grew up doing MAJOR deep backpacking trips would be so ashamed haha) Growing up “Being Prepared” was a running joke, and TRUTH when planning for trips in my family!
Basically we FROZE!! Jon had a sleeping bag—that was left in the car until 3:00am- don’t ask us why- haha. LESSON LEARNED. (I’d also like to say this was the first time I wasn’t prepared or decided not to bring my sleeping bag—it wasn’t—-multiple times camping in college)
After pretty much being in survival mode throughout the night with our body heat, Jon made a nice fire in the morning. Kai and I snuggled in the hammock. She slept so well! Her tent was also a lot warmer than ours, because of the cover on her tent—That we also didn’t put up all the way on ours (we were playing cards, and watching the stars).
We packed up our campsite and then enjoyed some more time swimming in the Spring before we headed home. It was so much FUN! I loved being out in the woods with my family. BEST PART- NO CELL SERVICE! We can’t wait to go again!
