Photos of Key Largo and the Everglades

 

Yesterday I worked from home and was a little pokey getting outside for lunch and again for my afternoon break, and both times trains went by just before I got out, so that I would have seen them if I hadn't been pokey. Today the weather was terrible, so we all worked from home except one intrepid coworker of mine, who actually did go in but said it was an awful commute. The bad weather is supposed to continue until at least noon tomorrow, so we'll probably all work from home again. I did go out for a walk at lunch but didn't leave the house again, not even to go to Mass and get ashes. I can't remember the last time I missed Ash Wednesday Mass - once I even went while very sick with a cold, and then I saw a coworker at Mass when I hadn't been at work. Busted! But he was like, "You gotta go to Mass on Ash Wednesday." Unless the weather is bad, apparently.

Here are some photos from the resort we stayed at on Key Largo.

I really wanted to post this one on Valentine's Day.

I don't know what bird this is, but it's cute.

This old general store was part of the resort complex.

This is the actual boat from the movie The African Queen!

Then we went to John Pennekamp State Park, which was a bit north of the resort. Here is a mangrove swamp in the park.

This is one of the beaches at the park.

There was this tiny island visible from the beach.

Here we are on a boardwalk near the beach.

This is a trail in the woods at the park.

This is me by a gumbo limbo tree.

We saw a small lizard.

This is the other, larger beach at the park.

We saw a cormorant hanging out on a buoy.

And a bigger, more colorful lizard.

And this really colorful tree.

On the drive to the Everglades, we passed a couple of groves of silver palms.

And when we stopped for gas, we saw this very odd tree. Is it a ponytail palm?

These photos are from the Shark Valley Visitors' Center in the Everglades. We saw lots of alligators and birds.

This is a cattle egret.

This is a tricolor heron.

Another tricolor heron.

This flower is called a Florida swamp lily. Sounds about right.

And another tricolor heron. I have never seen one of these in Wisconsin.

This is a snowy egret.

And this is a female anhinga. The all-black ones are males.

I think this is a great blue heron.

Here we are on another boardwalk.

I guess this is a wild magnolia...?

After that we went back to the boardwalk just off the highway where we had seen so many birds on the way down. We saw plenty the second time too, like this crow.

The juvenile anhingas were still hanging out.

And of course we saw alligators.

Here a male anhinga is on a nest.

Here are two female anhingas and a male one right near each other.

This is a female anhinga.

Another alligator.

Tomorrow I will try to post photos of Hannibal, Missouri that Travalon took. Now that we are back home, Boethius my computer is behaving like a gentleman. I guess he got tired of being on the road.

Famous Hat