Everglades National Park

I was able to visit the Everglades National Park just after the moratorium on the government shutdown went into effect. I found out the park was still open thanks to the volunteers who manned the Visitor's Center and offered guided ranger talks.  Although winter is the dry season here, there was plenty of water nestled in the fields of sawgrass, not visible from the road, but there nevertheless.  The highlights of my time there were the 3-hour bike ride through the pine forest, sloughing in knee deep water through a cypress dome, and a visit to the old Nike missile site.

Up close and personal

The stick is to beat off alligators and snakes

Cypress Dome--deciduous conifers

Refurbished Nike missile--Cuban missile crisis era