On the Road Again travel blog

We visited Shark Valley today, one of three entrances to Everglades Natl...

This male Anhinga guards the nest while mama is away

A rare sighting of a Great White Heron - cool!

We must have seen a hundred alligators today

And here's a female Anhinga

Our tram tour took us on the 15 mile loop through Shark...

A group of birds including Wood Stork, egrets and ibis

The Wood Stork is on the endangered list

The tram dropped us off, and we climbed up this observation tower...

Charlie on the ramp of the observation tower

Looking down on another large gator

View from the tower

Looking down on the trail leading out to the observation tower

I love the white plumage on this Yellow Crowned Night Heron

A Blue Heron and his reflection on the water

We were lucky to see several of these beautiful Purple Gallinules

A beautiful Snowy Egret showing off its yellow "slippers"

We stopped to check out some of the federal campgrounds along US...

This is the smallest post office in the country at Ochopee, FL


From Ortona Lock COE Campground near La Belle, FL …

Monday, February 13, 2012

We didn’t get a real early start this morning. As we were getting into the car to leave the campground, a lady walked up and introduced herself as being from Bedford, Va, which is very close to where we live. We ended up having a nice conversation with she and her husband. She also told us that her brother and his wife were camping here as well, and they live right off of the same highway we do. What small world this is.

We stopped in La Belle and had a very, very good breakfast at Log Cabin BBQ. We have eaten here many times, but this was our first breakfast visit.

We then headed south on S.R. 29 driving through Immokalee. Then we took US 41 east, also named Tamiami Trail. As soon as we turned onto US 41, we were driving through the Big Cypress National Preserve. We then went to the Shark Valley Visitors Center of Everglades National Park. This is one of three entrances into the Everglades NP.

We visited Shark Valley last year and enjoyed the wildlife and area so much, we decided to return. We walked along the Shark Valley Loop and then took the 2 hour tram tour which takes you along the entire 15 mile loop road. The birds and alligators were even more plentiful than last year. Plus it was only 70 degrees today which made it very nice for sightseeing. We enjoyed the day very much.

Tonight we are back home relaxing and having left over Chicken and Dumplings. Life is Good!

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