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.

Kayaking on the Hillsborough River

Zephyrhills, Florida

Happy New Year!

We are sitting here this morning with the windows open enjoying the sunny skies and warm temperatures.  We even kept the windows open overnight.  It’s a far cry from a week ago when we ran the furnace almost nonstop!

We finally got the kayaks out yesterday.  The Hillsborough River is only a few miles from our campground.   We put them in at Frank Sargeants park, which  off of Hwy 301.  There are several parks with kayak and boat launch areas nearby.  We chose this one because it is close to Flint Creek, which normally has lots of gators.

I know some of you think it’s dangerous kayaking with gators, but Florida rivers are full of gators and if you’re not comfortable being in the water with them, then you’d better stay out of the rivers. 

There are very, very few problems with gators.  The main reason people or pets (mostly dogs) run into a problem with a gator, is because people feed them.  Once they get used to being fed by humans, they lose their natural fear of man and that’s where the problems start. 

The gators we encounter are wild gators and for the most part, they get out of your way.

You also have to remember I have “stalker” zoom on my camera, so I don’t really need to get close to them at all. 

We got in the water about 11am and paddled a short distance down a little canal to the main part of the river. 

The last time we were here, we saw lots of gators, but we didn’t see many this trip.  Normally they like to sun along the banks or on a downed tree.

Notice the gator beside Al?

Lots of Cormorants.

White Ibis

 

Egret

I thought the reflection from the water was interesting here.

After we finished our paddle, we went over to Mom’s house to help her with some things.

We got back home about 5pm, took a walk and read awhile before starting our big New Years Eve “celebration.”  Our celebration consisted of a steak and lobster dinner cooked on the Nuwave oven.   

Before we went to bed, we started noticing a bad odor inside the motor home.  We finally decided it was because our gray tank was almost full.  Al had not hooked up the sewer hose since we’d been here , and we kind of forgot about it.   It was quite late by the time we figured out the problem was a full gray tank and  Al was in no mood to hook up last night, so we toughed it out overnight.  It seemed to help once I closed the overhead vent and opened the windows.  It was okay in the bedroom, but strong in the kitchen.  First thing this morning, Al hooked up the sewer hose and it appears that was the problem.  Lesson learned!

We’ve been learning a few lessons on this trip.  I guess that was the latest one!

We plan to do something fun today, but haven’t decided exactly what just yet.  It’s going to be another warm sunny day, so it’s  going to be something outside!  Stay tuned!