Forever and Everglades

I thought I was doing OK on time this morning, but I seemed to have left Naples a bit late.  Some guy at the motel kept asking me a million questions about my bike, and I just couldn't get out of there - hopefully I talked him into getting one, too.  I stopped in the southwest corner of Florida at one of the many roads to the "official" everglades by Ten Thousand Islands.  Every mile seemed like a guy with and alligator to pet or offering fan boat rides, but I didn't have time for one.  Plus, I prefer riding a motorcycle anyways.  Imagine one of these little islands everywhere (I'll hazard a guess that there are roughly 10,000 ;)

The actual road through the glades is pretty interesting.  I saw a sign with a large black cat; turns out there are a lot of panther crossings in that area (my reaction was "Awesome!" as soon as I found out what the sign meant, but there were none to be seen today).  I did see a few 3' alligators along the side of the highway - some alive, and some flattened.  There were also a bunch of vultures, and one...dead domesticated cat.  Maybe he fell out of a car?  Also, the bugs were slamming into me like a paintball match - cleaning the bike when I get home will be fun.  Why do the cutest little butterflies...leave the nastiest skidmark on my windshield?  Seriously, how does a tiny lace-winged insect have so much guts to share?