Florida 2020 (part 3)

July 9, 2020

Big Cypress National Preserve

We took the slightly longer way on our return from the Keys. I had seen the "Loop Road" in Big Cypress on the map, but had missed the turn on the way south. Our friends had taken the detour on the way down and said they saw tons of gators. Since we were in no real hurry to get back to Naples, we took the long way home. 

Lots of gators, so many that the kids got bored and would not get out of the car :) I grew up in Florida and have seen tons of gators, but it had been a really long time.

This one was about 5 - 6 feet long

Another one in the 6ish feet size

Lots of gators honking, but I did not see any

The next two are the same photo, but I can't decide which crop I like better, so here are both and you can decide

I stopped at what looked to be a good spot and did not see any gators. Then I looked straight down and saw this, he is about 10ish feet and was right below my feet (I was standing on a concrete culvert). 

Photographer's shadow for perspective

Same gator, slightly better angle. 

At this point, my wife was ready to get out of the car and we had another 2 hours to go, so one last gator

We were back on the regular roads and heading for I-75 when I saw a lump in the road. This is the second turtle this summer that I've "rescued" from the middle of a road. A good way to end a trip.