Naples

We are now in Naples, FL. It is a bit warmer the further south we go. We've enjoyed two days on beautiful beaches here. There are more shells on these beaches than I've ever seen in one place. Piles of perfectly formed shells. To get to one of the beaches, though, we had to wade through a river -- many of us not prepared to get wet up almost to our waist.

We enjoyed watching the fishermen at the pier -- and the pelicans that were like scavengers fighting over the fish leftovers. The fishermen had to reel in their catch before the pelicans got it first. Quite a challenge -- and fun to watch.

One of the state park beaches had an environmental display for families last Saturday -- lots of fun contests and activities, including a man holding a snake and baby alligator. (photo) That evening we joined others from the RV park where we are staying for a "sunset at the beach night" -- gorgeous sunset. We ate pizza together at CiCi's -- an all-you-can-eat pizza/salad buffet chain in Florida for $5.59. They had lots of different kinds of pizza. It wasn't very good, really -- just cheap!

We walked the 2 1/2 mile boardwalk through Corkscrew Swamp, an Audobon Society preserve. Lots of different kinds of vegetation and wildlife. (Photo has a turtle, baby alligator and bird drying it's wings -- a common sight here.) Only saw a couple alligators in the distance... but wait til I post our experiences going into the northern part of the Everglades yesterday. More alligators than you can imagine!!!