Two alligators viewed from the boardwalk at the Oasis Visitor Center along U.S. Route 41, about halfway between Miami and Naples, on our second state crossing.

Our recent trip to Florida was disrupted even before we arrived. We were supposed to travel from Fort Myers to Key West by ferry, but in the airport I received a phone call telling me that the run was canceled because of predicted bad weather, and likely would be the next couple of days as well. To make our stays in Miami and Marathon, instead of one state crossing and Keys length, we’d have two.

This worked out well! I-75 aka “Alligator Alley” had ZERO visible gators as we found out traveling west to east, but from east to west we took a more southern route and saw plenty of the critters. And it was delightful to drive the Keys end to end both ways; the views from the Seven Mile Bridge were particularly beautiful.

Possibly the biggest gator we saw at the rest area …

… and another large pair. This was around 1:15 p.m. Jan. 27 and they were absolutely unbothered by the people above, who were a safe distance away.

Along 41, I was spotting roadside alligators so frequently that I started saying “gator” every time to let my mate know how many there were, but it was every few seconds so I stopped about a minute in. This is at the Oasis Visitor Center off 41. See how nicely the big reptile blends with the dark water?

This turtle stayed rooted, but another slipped away when the gator started moving in.

A Broward County roadside rest stop, looking west. There are a lot of roadside boat launches.

The first time we crossed Florida – from Cape Coral to Miami on our way to the Keys – we took I-75, which is called Alligator Alley. This is Jan. 22 at a Broward County roadside rest stop, looking east. Note the lack of alligators.

Air plants sprouting out of trees.

Spanish moss, which I have a soft spot for because when I was a kid and we drove from northern Kentucky to Orlando and through endless Georgia, Spanish moss was our sign that we were almost done.

Cypress knees along the Kirby Storter Boardwalk in the Big Cypress National Preserve, off U.S. Route 41. Some parts were wetter …

… like this one …

… and others wetter still, like this pond that supported very small alligators.

Strangler figs.