A Day of National Parks

We left the campground at about 7:30 and headed east across Hwy 41. Hwy 41 goes right through Big Cypress National Preserve and borders Everglades National Park. At our stop at Big Cypress National Preserve, we had a chance to see quite a few alligators, but this stop just proved a warm-up for our experience at Everglades National Park. We had just planned to stop briefly to get our National Parks "passport stamped," but once we got to the visitors station, we learned there was a 15 mile bike loop that went out to an observation tower that overlooked the Everglades. Since it was such a beautiful day, we grabbed our bikes and started out on the loop. The picture shows exactly how it was for 90% of our 15 mile ride - just Greg and I. It was very beautiful and we saw lots of alligators as well as many species of birds. I had bought a "Birds of South Florida" guide and had fun trying to identify the different ones we saw. (See next post). We just couldn't believe that we could feel so alone in this beautiful park!