This morning after breakfast we went over to the Hillsborough River to walk on a couple of the trails here.
The first one we took was the River Rapids Trails that follows along the river. Here we were able to see the Class II rapids in the river and the many bald cypress trees.
There were places on the boardwalk we were able to get a good view looking down the river.
Tinker had a great time "hiking" on the trail and was eager to see what was around the next bend.
After the River Rapids Trail, we crossed the stationary bridge to the Baynard Trail.
We had more view of the river and saw the interesting ways some tree trunks had grown.
We had a great time on the trails, but we were beginning to feel the heat by the time we left. For quite a while we were the only people on the trails, but as the morning got later we started to meet walkers on the trails. We were glad that we had come earlier in the morning and were going to miss the July mid-day heat.
After getting back to the RV, we fixed lunch and then prepared for our departure tomorrow. Our next stop is going to be Winter Quarters Pasco RV Resort between Lutz and Land O'Lakes.
This morning I washed clothes at the laundry here at the park. I paid $2 a load for the washers & dryers. I had 4 loads of clothes, so it took a while to get the laundry done with 2 washer & dryers.
Mike made reservations this afternoon for John Prince Park in Lake Worth for a week's stay beginning Oct. 20. Mike has a 50th high school class reunion that week.
He also made a reservation for Little Manatee River State Park at Wimauma, FL for a week starting July 29.
Last night after I posted yesterday's blog, I got a call from my brother, Cyril, and we had some mail delivered to them on Saturday.
We had planned on going to the ranger guided tour of Fort Foster today, but I made a trip back over to Kissimmee to pick up our mail. We had hoped that the mail would arrive before we left Kissimmee, but it was delivered yesterday.
I left Hillsborough River State Park mid-morning and met my brother & family at Cracker Barrel in Orlando for lunch. I paid a $2.50 toll on the Osceola Parkway - a big difference from the $7.50 we paid for the RV & car last Thursday.
After lunch I went to my brother's house for a short visit before returning to Hillsborough River State Park.
While in Kissimmee I stopped at Petco for pet supplies and at Wal-Mart Supercenter for a few groceries.
While I was over in Kissimmee today, Mike took a few photos of the campground.
Hillsborough River State Park opened in 1938 and was one of the first Florida State Parks. It was originally established by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) during the Great Depression in the 1930's as a public park.
In 1835 Fort Alabama was built to protect a bridge over the river during the Seminole Indian Wars. It was soon abandoned and then destroyed by fire. In 1836 Fort Foster was built on the same site and there is a reconstruction of the fort in the park.
There is a ranger-led tour of Fort Foster on the weekends and we plan on going on the tour tomorrow.
There is a huge swimming pool between ranger station at the park entrance to the campground. The pool has been very busy every time we pass by it. Hillsborough River State Park isn't just for camping and a lot of people come here just for the swimming pool.
We had a short travel day today - only 71 miles from Mill Creek RV Park in Kissimmee to Hillsborough River State Park.
Before we left Mill Creek we stopped by the office to pay for our electricity usage while at there. The total bill for our electric usage was $126.46; we paid a $50 deposit toward the electricity when we checked in and that was applied to the $126.46. After saying goodbye to Gordon and Chris at the office, we left the rv park at 11:30.
We drove north on Michigan Avenue to Osceola Parkway (a toll road and we paid $7.50) and then west to I-4 south. We stopped for lunch around noon at a rest area on I-4 near Polk City. After lunch we continued on I-4 to McIntosh Road which is about 6 miles west of Plant City. We took McIntosh Road north to US-301 and 3 miles north on US-301 to arrive at Hillsborough River State Park at 1:30.
After checking in at the Ranger Station and getting our campground map, we drove to the campground. We are in site 51C - a pull-through. We are on a corner site and we decided to pull into the site the opposite way it's laid out.
If we had pulled in the "correct" way, our door would open toward the street and the picnic table would be on the other side of the RV.
Site 51C is a paved site and we have 50 amp electric and water hookups. We put out the portable satellite dish so we can receive TV - the rooftop dish is blocked by trees. We will be here for a week and with our Florida Senior Discount we're paying $94.08 for the week.
We got the Vue back today from Starling Chevrolet. They replaced the ignition housing and cylinder and hopefully this will have taken care of our problem with the key not turning in the ignition.
We spent the rest of today getting ready to leave tomorrow and head over to Hillsborough River State Park.
We've had a great time visiting with my brother and family this last month. We didn't do any sightseeing here this time - we've been to Disney World and Sea World before and decided to skip them this time.
Last night I was going to drive over to my brother's house for a visit and I couldn't get the key to turn in the ignition. We've had this problem before with the Vue and by turning the steering wheel back & forth and turning the key in the ignition we've been able to get the car started. Not last night! Both Mike and I took turns trying to get the key to turn and even switched keys, but it wouldn't budge.
This morning both Mike and I tried to start the car and the key still wouldn't turn in the ignition. Last night I "googled" our problem with the ignition and found out that a LOT of people had the same problem and it wasn't just with the Vue - there were a lot of car models with the same problem.
Mike called Starling Chevrolet here in Kissimmee and told them our problem and that we were going to have to have the car towed in. Then he called our roadside service and told them our problem and the address of the rv park and that he had already spoken with the Chevrolet dealer. They said they would contact a towing company for us. About an hour after our call to the roadside service, a tow truck showed up and then loaded our car onto the flat bed.
Mike rode over to the Chevrolet dealer in the tow truck. After talking with their service department and explaining to them that we need the car fixed in a couple of days (we're leaving here Thursday), he called my brother, Cyril, to pick him up at the dealer and bring him back to the rv park. We're supposed to have the car back by Wednesday.
I called my sister-in-law, Elaine, tonight to ask her to pick me up tomorrow morning to go grocery shopping with her and her daughter, Kathy.
