Hillsborough River State Park

Thonotosassa, Florida

It was another warm sunny day yesterday so we decided to drive over to Hillsborough River State Park to visit one of our favorite old stomping grounds.  We camped there often when we lived in Tampa.  The park was crowded and the campground was full. 

The week between Christmas and New Years was always very crowded and we liked it much better once the campground emptied.

We took a short walk along the river and noticed the  water was very low.

It was finally shorts and t-shirt weather.

This picture shows some of the river rapids.  This portion of the Hillsborough River is not good for kayaking, so we usually don’t launch in the park.

This is the old suspension bridge that crosses the river.  It sways when you walk on it.  Kinda scary!

After we left the park, we got some groceries and headed on home.   Al watched some football and I was taking a nap until someone woke me up to show me some new rv’s on the 2011 Rv show!  Boy were there some nice ones!

There was some sort of activities going on in the recreation center yesterday, but we didn’t go.   Our activity calendar just said  “Drop by".  We are feeling a little like outsiders here and haven’t gotten involved in any activities yet.  The people are friendly but I think they mostly know each other from years of coming back hear every winter.  Plus nothing has really interested us anyway.  We’ll have to get involved soon though.

There are 4 rv parks right in a row along the road. They are only divided by fences and have openings that you can walk through.   It’s difficult to tell one from the other.

Ours (Sweetwater) and the one next door (Majestic Oaks) are both owned by Carefree Resorts.  The laundry in ours is $1.75 for both the washer and the dryer.  The laundry on the one at Majestic Oaks is $1.25 for the washer and $1.00 for the dryer!  Guess which one we’re deciding to use?  The one on the other side is $1.25, but there is a sign there stating for Sweetwater residents not to use it.  There is no such sign at the one at Majestic oaks and since it’s owned by the same company, we decided we could use it.  Mind you, we didn’t ask, we just assumed :)  That’s a big difference in cost and since we always have to scrounge for quarters, every one counts!

The weather was beautiful yesterday but it got a bit warm in the motor home.  We almost turned on the a/c, but I was determined not to have to use it!  We did keep on the fantastic fan overnight and the windows open.  Boy did we sleep good!

This morning we awoke to a rainbow.  We decided to go take an early morning walk, but it was cut short when it started to drizzle.

We’re having visitors today.  My friend Rhonda and I used to work together at USAA.  It’ll be nice to see them again.  They’ve brought their 5th wheel up to Georgia to visit us a few times.   We’re hoping the light rain will end so we can sit outside.