#339 Hillsborough River State Park

We arrived at Hillsborough River State Park at a decent time of day rather early I guess about 1. We got checked in and they told us that we would have to wait until 3 to go to the RV site so we went forward a mile to the parking lot. I thought to myself a lot of times you know it's just a matter of asking, so I took the bike off the back and rode it into the campground.

I saw these folks with their babies as I was unloading the bike

I noticed there was one heck of an RV traffic jam. there were about 6 to 10 RVs all piled up trying to use the dump station on the leaving side of the road and on arriving side of the road there was a couple trying to get in too. Then it gets really stupid somebody's parked their RV trailer in the middle of the road blocking all everybody and they're not even in the driver's seat. That's what we call a really bad person. I rode my bike past all that and went into the campground and I noticed that my site was empty. I saw a campground host in his golf cart. I asked if would it be possible for us as soon as the traffic jam players for me to go on into the site and he said that would be fine I've already cleaned it so you can go ahead and move in. l felt good about asking as its a lot better than sitting there for 2 hours. It was really cool because there are like a couple of hundred acres. I got leveled up and we let Bert out to do his initial exploring and I walked him back behind the RV over into the woods where all the tall grass is. I like to show him where he should go, he always needs to christen in the area with pee or poop. I guess he's marking his territory.

After we had been there for a short time maybe that night or the next day, he found it necessary to go next door across the street to the neighbors. He's always leaving and going somewhere that might be inappropriate and it just bugs me that he can't just go back there where a thousand acres are. We're always concerned someone else say why is your cat running free doing what he wants when my dog has to be on a leash.

When I saw what he was doing I went up to RV owners and said I hope my cat doesn't bother you. He seems to think he needs to come over here next to your rig and hide in the weeds. They said don't worry about its cats are crazy and it's okay.

We've been spending some time just organizing a bit and going on walks and enjoying the hiking available at the Hillsborough River.

The kayaking if we do it as a double will be on the weekends because India was able to get a gig volunteering with the elementary school system in Zephyrhills.

About a month prior I told her I said it might be a good idea to go ahead and apply for your volunteer application now so when we get there you'll be approved. That's what she did and it worked out fine but my only part in it was reminding her that would be a good idea. She's really enjoying volunteering and I'm so glad for her because it's good to be able to help children learn what she loves doing it his or her big sense of purpose we all need that

There is a UU in Tampa only the east side of Tampa at least and I looked at what they were going to talk about Sunday and it just didn't turn me on it was like a sing-along and the history of hymns. We looked and it was another UU in Lakeland Florida about 45 minutes away. We went there and I think it was a really good service. A young couple spoke a little bit about the culture in China during the Lunar New Year and how big of a deal it was. It was a good service we went to the discussion prior to service and found out about something called Medcure which is where you donate your body and then they send you the ashes. It's all free and that sounds like a pretty affordable funeral it was interesting enough to where I think we're going to sign up.

Bert

When Bert wanders into other sites he's not doing anything wrong because cat values are definitely not the same. We do try to pick woodsy-type sites so he will not be so anxious. A good example would be the Keys where everything was just a slab of concrete and he had nowhere to explore. I felt like he was going to bother the neighbors but we didn't get any complaints. I always thought he was going to be a problem here at Hillsborough River State Park. We got the best site for us and him it's spacious and there is a lot of acreage behind the RV like a thousand acres.

When we first got here, I walked him around back and showed him all of the wilderness around and said do anything you want. Almost immediately I was surprised that he preferred being in a little clump of palmetto over across the road at the other guy’s site. This really drives me crazy because I'm trying to keep him from getting us in trouble with the ranger and with the other campers. Instead of just going around back to this thousand acres he's out laying in the middle of the road and wallering all over their car windshield and up under there crawling up inside their rig. I'm really bothered by this and it's been giving me stress and he's actually becoming weirder and weirder while we stay here. Now goes back and forth from that or sometimes he stays in his own yard but then we came home the other night and he was 4 or 5 sites away coming towards us. We were walking on the trail and I got a phone call and someone asked if I had lost my cat. I said he was in a group of palmettos when we left. They said well he seemed unattended so we thought he was lost. They obviously got our number from his cat tag which is good. Later I was talking to them and they said not only was he looking a little lost but he had come up to them in their site rubbing all over their legs and meowing and I still can't figure all that out. He's usually a little more off to himself and they had a dog which usually he's spooked about dogs. I can't explain exactly what's going on with him but during the day he's been wandering into people's sites more than I like. We don't want any problems with our neighbors and the lady who called said do you mean you just let him run wild? I kind of felt like saying yes because this is about the first time it's caused any trouble. I imagine the real problem is people are required to have their dogs on a leash and so why am I letting my cat run wild?

One afternoon when we got home a neighbor said oh did you ever find Bert? He had walked up to us as she approached and said yeah he's right there. She said a park ranger came by earlier asking questions about how much he's running about and whether is he running at night. Now I know I'm kind of in trouble. They seem to be mostly concerned about a coyote eating him. It seemed I'm not in trouble they were just concerned about his safety. We felt like he needed to be reined in a little bit. Until it's good and dark which is about 6:30 we are requiring him to stay indoors. He protested but mostly he's just tried to sleep while waiting it out or whatever

We enjoyed being here for 14 days then they require you to leave for 3 then you can come back for 14.