Hillsborough River State Park

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Our plan for Florida is to run roughly down the western coast and then back up the eastern coast.

Our first stop was at Hillsborough River State Park. It's not strictly on the coast, but it's close. The Hillsborough River, which borders the park and from which the park takes its name, runs past Tampa into the Tampa Bay.

It was a fairly sprawling park, and much of it was unusable. It had an enormous pool, but it was closed on account of COVID-19. Of course. I guess this is the one place in Florida that acknowledges we're in a global pandemic.

Fortunately, the usable part included a few miles of hiking trails. We took full advantage.

There was a nice riverside hike on which we saw multiple alligators, a few large birds, and one very small snake that we only spotted because there was another hiker staring intently at it. We were curious what he had found!

Unfortunately, the internet situation was poor at the park.

As with Florence Marina, I had to commute for work. I spent one day downtown Tampa stealing Wi-Fi from hotels. Have you ever spent hours on a park bench right outside a very nice hotel taking Zoom calls on a MacBook Pro while wearing $300 headphones? People don't know what to make of that. I had one hotel employee stop and ask if I was Ok. I was not, but it wasn't in the way she meant. I just wanted decent internet at the RV! And I was sweating. I picked a white collar career so I didn't have to sweat at work.

I conducted an interview the following day from a picnic shelter in a park. But I took a short hike when it was over and saw a few alligators, so there's that.

This situation was particularly frustrating because there was a strong cell signal right outside the park. But in the park, nothing. At least Florence Marina didn't tease me like that. I had to drive 20 miles to get a decent signal there!

Oh, well. At least my temporary Tampa office had a nice view.

We were able to meet up with some dear friends from North Carolina while here. They were on their way from Orlando to the coast while on spring break. We met for strawberry shortcake, but no one managed to get their picture taken while on the throne holding the strawberry scepter. Maybe next time.

The first palm tree that we saw in Florida

It also rained poop. Literally.


Location: Hillsborough River State Park, 15402 US-301 N, Thonotosassa, FL 33592, USA

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