Winter 2017--Lithia Springs Part 2

There will be a closed in foundation on 24 30-50 foot long posts driven into the sand. They can't insure anything on the first floor because they are so close to the shore and storm surge in a hurricane
could wipe out that floor. It is just for parking area and storage.

The living area will all be on the second floor with two staircases and
an elevator for access. It will still be 2200 square feet, but all raised!

As it turned out, the campground didn’t stay full the whole time we stayed. It had a few campsites that opened up during the week and then filled again for the second weekend. Some schools apparently had the whole week after Presidents’ Day off because there were kids around pretty much the whole time. We found plenty to do as we explored two other Hillsborough County parks that had camping, went to church at the very welcoming Faith Family UCC church where they insisted we stay for a potluck meal after the service, and we visited Brenda and John Sternberg in Tampa. That worked out very well because we could do some laundry at their house, and while I got my hair done at a stylist Brenda recommended, John and Marv drove over to the Beach House, which has been razed, and they checked on how the new construction of their Retirement House was coming (see above). 

Paddling our inflatable kayak on the reservoir at Medard Park, a Hillsborough
County Park north and east of Lithia Springs, 

We saw wonderful waterfowl on the reservoir water and the shore.

We think this is the biggest alligator we have ever seen in the wild. It was about 15 feet long.
We were sitting quietly about 20 yards away taking this picture when a helicopter went over
us, flying low. The alligator suddenly splashed into the water and looked like it was headed
right to us!! We have never paddled so fast in our lives!!

This is the view from the birding tower at Medard Reservoir.

E.G. Simmons County Park is south and west of Lithia Springs,
right on the shore of Tampa Bay.

There were no boats at the boat ramp, just lots of pelicans.

We had heard of this park in the past but never visited it. People warned us that
the bugs are bad because of the mangroves lining the shore line but we didn't
have any problems as we hiked around during out visit.