Hidden River canoe and bike trips

Hidden River RV Park, near Tampa, might be filled with retired folks, but these retirees are always ready to have some fun.  They have bike rides every Wednesday, and they encouraged us to come along, so we did. 


Here‘s the gang getting ready.  Harry, in the blue biking shirt, and Jess, in the tan shirt and hat, organize the trip and make sure everyone knows where we’re going.


Today we were going to a biking trail and had to transport our bikes there.  We used trucks and bike racks on cars, and they built a special trailer to haul the recumbent bikes. 


That’s Doris, Jess’s wife, with final instructions.  Bob’s in the back paying attention.  I hope.  You can’t see everyone here, but there were about 20 to 30 bikers on this trip.


This time we rode a nice flat trail for bikes, runners, or hikers.  It’s nice to be able to ride without worrying about traffic.  Another great thing about Florida biking trails…..they’re F L A T!!


Where do the bike rides go?  To a restaurant, of course!  We went on three bike rides with the group, and all three had a lunch break.


Steak and Shake for lunch!


This is the bike cart Jess and Harry made for the gang.  Hidden River RV Senior Bike Tour.  (ORF’s)  I asked what ORF stood for and was told by  Doris that it meant Old Retired Folks.  Jess, on the other hand, said it meant Old Retired Farts! 
 

A few days later we were invited to go on another outing, and this time it was a canoe trip. The last time I was in a canoe was when Jaime and Beth were teenagers and they wanted to see how hard you have to rock a canoe before it tips.  Fortunately, Bob wasn’t as daring.  


Doris and Jess have their own canoe and knew what they were doing and where we should go.  We rented our canoe from Canoe Escape on the Hillsborough River, and followed Doris and Jess for four miles down the river.


Bob, Bob, what’s that over there????


There are alligators in this river!  I’m so glad I’m in the canoe with Bob and not Jaime and Beth!!! 


Except for the alligators, it was peaceful and calm.


Itr looks like Bob is enjoying retirement. 


Sometimes the river was wide and easy to negotiate.


There were tricky section of the river too, but Bob, in the back seat, was able to navigate us through them with no problem.




It’s the end of the trail and there was another one of the signs you see all over Florida.  Do you really think anyone would swim in a river with alligators?


Oh, I forgot to take a picture of our lunch break in the middle of the river!  This time we paddled to the bank, took out our sandwiches, and enjoyed the company and scenery.  We were really glad we were invited to join the fun on this trip and we’d definitely do it again.