We woke up in Everglades National Park. I have never been in such a quiet place— not a sound except an occasional bird.

We took a short walk with mosquito repellent, clothing to cover, and mosquito nets over our hats. Before I knew how bad the biting insects were here in southern Florida and covered up, I got over 100+ bites/welts. I look like I have the measles.

We took a small pontoon boat tour of the Everglades backcountry with an excellent guide. Everglades National Park is the third largest national park in the continental USA— 1,500,000 acres and was established in 1947. The vegetation is mostly mangroves with some Jamaican dogwood and pines. Everglades National Park is the second largest mangrove forest in the world. Most of the landmass is covered with water; there even was an elevation sign that said the elevation was 3 feet high. There are “hammocks” which are small areas never covered with water where trees and vegetation grow.

Crocodiles are saltwater reptiles and alligators are freshwater reptiles, but they coexist in the brackish water of the Everglades— the only place on earth where they coexist. We did see crocodiles, herons, and other birds, and Atlantic bottlenose dolphin.

Here are pictures from the park and our boat tour.

Until a couple of days ago, our trailer thermostat did not work. We had neither heat nor air conditioning. Steve was able to replace the thermostat and,thankfully, we had air conditioning for this hot southern Florida weather.