Cold at EG Simmons, Warm & Dry at Lithia Springs

I was hoping that I could finally go kayaking at EG Simmons Park right on Tampa Bay. I got the campsite I wanted on Sunday morning (12/29) but the weather quickly turned much colder. Temperatures barely got over 50^o F, and the winds in the bay were 20-30mph, not very pleasant for kayaking. So I caught up getting my programs loaded on my new computer.

On Wednesday I wasted the whole day trying to pick up the door handle I ordered from Amazon. I went to their outdoor locker a short 6 mi bike ride from camp, I thought I followed all their directions but my cell phone would not connect to the locker’s Bluetooth. I must of spent 3-4 hours there and on the phone with Amazon help. I gave up and came back to camp.

I will give it a try on Sunday when I leave for Lithia Springs only 45 min away where I will spend most of January. Good news on Sunday I drove to the Amazon Locker on my way to Lithia Springs and luckily an Amazon driver was dropping off packages and he showed me the only thing I did wrong was that I had too large of a font on my phone that prevented me from seeing the next button to click. “CLICK” the door opened and I got my door latch.

I chose campsite 35 since it had easy access to the Alafia River. I could paddle to my camp from Alderman Ford 10 mi upstream or paddle 8 mi downstream to Brandon Boat dock. But the river was practically dry and impassable since the winter was dry and the ¼” rainfall the past month did nothing to help.

Lithia Springs Campsite #35

Click Picture for a Large PDF copy of this map

This is a map I made a few years ago showing all the trails you could ride in the Fishhawk Ranch neighborhood and beyond. These concrete trails start right at our campground and you could plan many 15 mile trips with different routes every day on these scenic trails. The trails are very curvy low speed trails that go through the wooded areas and around retention ponds in the development. You barely ever see anyone on the trails.

I guess I should be happy that it is now warm and in the high 70’s and have fun exploring all the local trails. My reservations end on 1/26, however the campsite was already reserved over one weekend 1/17-18 when I’ll have to leave and find a place to park in the area, perhaps at another Cracker Barrel or Lowes parking lot.

                        Peggy loved seeing the Sandhill Cranes along the trails.

My Trip Schedule Changes Again

Thanking Paul for bringing my new computer to my campsite.

It’s been slow getting my new computer loaded with all the software I need but I did get MS Office Pro installed and working. I used up all my family’s internet data allowance for Nov-Dec and had to wait for the new data to be available on 12/22 to get my internet working again. 

I tried to finish fixing my broken door latch but finally decided I need to buy the whole assembly since it looks like the inside handle is not repairable.

I was going to have it shipped to my next planned campground, Lithia Springs, so I called the campground host, Chris, who has been a good friend for the past 7 years, to see if they could receive a package, I found out some bad news about my plans.

Peggy's favorite restaurant near EG Simmons

I have been camping at two Hillsborough County for years and since they never took reservations, I could always get a campsite, guess what, late this summer they changed their policy and now take reservations. I had planned to stay at Lithia Springs and EG Simmons Parks in January, but now there are very few sites that I like that are available to reserve. The good news is they are doing this without adding reservation fees and have not changed the prices.

See My updated 2025-26 Travel Plans for my fifth schedule revision.

Peggy at Lithia Springs campsite in the winter of 2020

It took a lot of work, but I was able to find campsites at both campgrounds for most of the month, until I head further south to the Sarasota-Venice area. However I will need to start at EG Simmons first after this weekend. When I get to Lithia after 2 weeks I will need to leave for a weekend before I can return to the same campsite until the last week in January.

On Christmas day I took a 26 mi round trip bike ride to Brooksville on the Good Neighbor trail and on Saturday before driving south to near EG Simmons, I took another 25 mi bike ride to Inverness. Then after a nice Mexican dinner nearby I overnighted at a Cracker Barrel.

Sunday morning was foggy, so I left a little later, the traffic was light all the way through Tampa on I-75. I needed to spend the night at the Sun City Walmart since EG Simmons Park didn’t have any campsites available until Monday. So I did a little grocery shopping and used Walmart’s free Wi-Fi.

On Monday I need to pick-up two prescriptions at a local Walgreen’s at noon, then I need to stop at an Amazon Fulfillment Center to get my new door latch. Finally, I can head to the campground to check-in for the next 6 nights.

Its been in the mid 70's for the past two weeks but a cold snap is coming.

I’ve been in Withlacoochee State Forest for a week

I haven’t really accomplished much but the weather has been nice and dry. Mostly in the mid-70’s, but on one day the low went to 38^oF. They are predicting a week in the high 70’s through Christmas.

Well, I got the Latchfix kit to fix my door problem but a second problem with the door handle prevented me from fixing it. I now am looking in to how I can fix that.

My friends who live in Inverness, Fl received my new computer that I ordered and kindly brought it to me on Wednesday. We met years ago in Mexico where Peggy and used to vacation at Xpu-Ha, south of Playa del Carmen. 

I found this picture of them when we were at a nearby restaurant with all of our campground friends.

Getting the new computer going was even a bigger problem. It started to load everything I was moving from my old computer to the new computer to the Cloud. Since there is no Wi-Fi in the campground, I was using my phone’s Mobile Hotspot for internet access and it quickly used up my whole month’s date limit. Now I can barely get any internet access and could not get the computer set up.

So, on Thursday I put the computer in my bike pack and biked 6 mi to the nearby shopping center for groceries and found out they had Wi-Fi access. I sat on a bench and uploaded all the programs I needed, however I was not paying attention when I loaded everything back onto the bike and left my phone on the bench. Of course, I didn’t notice until I got back to camp. I guess I’ll have to ride back and hope somebody doesn’t steal it. As I biked out of camp I saw a park ranger in his truck. I asked him call my phone number to see who answered it, luckily it was the store, someone had turned it in. He then offered to go and pick it up and save me a 12 mile bike ride and returned it to my campsite.

My campsite #48 on Silver Lake

I wasted most of Friday and Saturday trying to configure my new computer and updating my blog. The river is very low so I haven’t even taken my kayak off the roof to go paddling.

Sunday I took a rest and watched NFL football all afternoon.

Finally on Monday 12/22 my new data month started and my phone is allowing me to use the Hot Spot for the computer to use the internet once again. I now will go back to trying to fix my door and get more programs loaded on my new computer.

Moving on while having computer and RV problems

 Seven years ago I had a winter of RV problems. See this old blog: Old Failure Blog

Now it is starting again.

1. On our first day from home one of the cupboard latches failed, not a problem I carry spares.

2. I noticed my batteries didn't have the full capacity I needed while boondocking and since they are 7 years old I planned to stop in Gainesville, FL to buy 2 new deep cycle batteries..

3. The side door lock broke again but now an inexpensive fix is available and I can use the dead bolt to lock it until the parts are shipped.

4. My 6 year old laptop's SSD drive is running out of capacity, possibly an internal failure since it should only be half full. The battery has been failing but I mostly use 120v power and some keys on keyboard don't work so I am using a wireless keyboard. But it's time to buy a new one. I looked in Ocala and did not find what I wanted so I ordered a new Dell which should arrive at my friend's house in Inverness on 12/16.

Hopefully no more problems occur and I get the new laptop going and my programs working.

After I left Juniper Springs on Thur. 12/11 I camped at a Lowes for two nights, shopping for the computer and planning my trip. 

On Sat I biked the Marj. Carr Cross FL Greenway Trail, It is a very pretty, up-down scenic paved trail. The trail is 15.5 miles long so my roundtrip ride from Walmart omn SR200 was 32 miles long. It was a sunny cool day. The trail goes over I-75 on a land bridge that animals, like deer and bear, also use.

Peggy in 2020 viewing I-75 traffic from the Landbridge

After my ride I drove to Dunnellon, FL where Rainbow Springs and its pretty river is. Two year ago I paddled here with Erin Betha and her friend Kathy. The area near the spring was scenic but the rest of the river has homes on both sides and lots of other paddlers. So it is not a river I like to paddle. When we took out just before it joined the Withlacoochee River I noticed that they had extended the 46 mi long Withlacoochee State Trail by 9 miles with a connector trail that someday may even connect with the Cross FL Greenway.

Trail crosses the Withlacoochee River

 This short hilly trail goes over the Withlacoochee Trail on this new bridge.

 Sunday afternoon I settled down to my campsite #48 at Cypress Glen Campground near the Withlacoochee River and bike trail until Christmas.

On Monday the LatchFix parts arrived, so I biked 14 mile round trip to pick them up at the nearest PO. Today, Joan's package arrived with some cables to tranfer files from my old computer to my new one, so anothe 14 mile bike ride to pick it up. Hopefully the new computer will come to my friends Paul & Helen's house in Inverness.

Final Week of Steve & Anne's Trip

We left Stephen Foster Park Monday morning after the temperature warmed to around 60^o. It is a short drive to the Ichetucknee spring fed river. Of course our GPS took us down a sandy NF road instead of a nice paved road. There is a fee to park, pay at gate, but if you have your own boat keep going to the boat drop off on a narrow path, you then park in the big lot. There is a long wooden walkway to the put-in.

The river was beautiful with a strong current. It was a cool morning and not many turtles were out. I much preffered starting at the, now closed take-out, going upstream when you are fresh and then drifting back, than the opposite. 

Here is Peggy ready to launch at the old Take-out.

Steve and I were in my lightweight canoe and Anne paddled my old 14' kayak. 

We saw no other paddlers until we were back near the put-in where a large group had just launched on a downstream paddle trip.

We then split up since Anne needed to pick up a prescription in Lake City and I needed to buy 2 new 6 volt deep cyle batteries for the RV power system in Gainesville. 

We met up again at, Silver Springs State Park, our next overnight campsite #21. We headed to Silver Springs launch site on Tuesday morning. There were lots of private and rental boaters launching. New fees, $2 per person to launch but no parking fee if you camped at the park.

We paddled down the SS River a couple of miles and saw lots of turtles, a few alligators and one Manatee. We then paddled back since we hadn't set up a shuttle.

After we got back from paddling we drove to Juniper Springs campsite #16, next to our sneek trail. This once beautiful park in the Ocala NF gets more rundown each year. There are no boardwalks left, campers can't even see the river and the trails are overgrown

Erin Bethea in 2023 ducking under a tree

   The river has a fast  current but is partially blocked by fallen trees.

On Wednesday we decided to do a shuttle and leave Steve's truck at the Juniper Run take-out. We launched about 11:30AM for our 3 hour 7 mi trip. 

We saw no one on the river but met up with a paddling group from Upstate New York who we saw at Silver Springs yesterday. They had launched an hour earlier and had just gotten to the take-out before we landed.

Steve and Ann are heading back to the land of Ice & Snow on Thursday morning, so I'm on my own for the remainder of the trip. So anyone that knows me is welcome to camp with me for free, see my schedule. 

We had a nice last supper at a really nice restaurant, Drifters Riverfront Bar & Grill in Astor, FL on the St John's River off SR40.