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 Everglades National Park

One word - nowhereland... 


well, kinda a word...  but the Everglades is really a National Park full of pretty much nothing...  Well, unless you are a Florida Panther, an Alligator or one of a dozen different kind of birds...  

And...   no cell service (actually AT&T only)... but we did have 30/50A electric, a dump station and a water spigot to refill our fresh water tank... and very quiet, dark at night...  a bit of a different RV camping environment... We liked it...

The Flamingo campground has sites that are large, and separated... 'course the West Indian Mahogany tree right above the trailer was shedding seed balls that would bang off the roof in the middle of the night...    but other than that, the campground was the quietest place we have ever camped...

There were a few Black Vultures flying around...  at least they stayed away from the windshield wipers.  Evidently (from more than a couple of YouTube videos) the Vultures are known to pick at the rubber and vinyl parts of your automobile...   we must have lucked out...


The Taylor Slough (pronounced sloo) is a shallow grimy swamp that is on the eastern side of the Everglades.  A slough is a few inches deep and miles wide..   It makes a great habitat for a number of animal species.

Including the American Alligator!!

And yes, the bottom right is a picture of my new best friend the alligator...  just waiting to say "hello"..   We scrunched to the other side of the trail and passed within a few feet of a pretty big alligator!!!


This is a Cardinal Airplant...   an epiphyte or airplant, is a plant that usually grows on the trunk or branch of a tree, and is not a parasite that depends on the tree for sustenance...  

it takes water and nutrients from the air and whatever it collects through its leaves... cool...   This one is a Cardinal airplant, one of a number of airplants native to Florida, and in this case is an endangered specie...


The "tourist tree" (officially the gumbo limbo tree) has an unusual red bark that peels back and looks like sunburned skin (thus the "tourist tree") in Florida.  Its wood is suitable for light construction and firewood, it was the traditional wood used for carousel horses before plastic.  The bark is used as a home remedy for a variety of skin conditions including sores, measles, insect bites and even sunburn!




 The last night, and steaks on the grill...


And a hike to the nearby Eco Pond...



And off to the next campground...

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