Yesterday we traveled from Jupiter, FL to just outside Naples, following Florida's Turnpike south to West Palm Beach, then picking up I-75 to cross the state.  The highway took us through the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve.  We stopped for a lunch break at a rest area which was right along a waterway, and there were dozens of wading birds: ibises, great egrets, wood storks, tricolored herons, and moorhens.

We picked up route 29 south toward Everglades City, and then Route 41/Tamiami Trail.  Along 41, I noticed an alligator sunning itself along the canal that ran parallel to the road---then another---then another!  There were dozens of them!  We'd better keep Ranger close while camping here.

We are now at Collier-Seminole State Park. It is a very small park and the campsites are very close together--not much privacy and there's noise from the road that runs directly behind site 39.  We went to a program done by a ranger about pythons in the Everglades.  I guess people buy them as pets, then let them go, and they thrive in this jungle-like environment, growing up to 20 feet long.  There's a contest going that gives a bounty for killing them, as they are throwing off the balance of the environment here, eating almost anything they can find.  (Nice comforting thought as we camp out.  Glad we're not sleeping on the ground in a tent!)