The Incredible Everglades.

I just didn't have an image in my mind of the everglades. Like many people who live west of Florida, I was imagining it as a big, twisted swamp. I mean I just didn't know. So, when our friend Ralph invited us to take an airboat out with a friend of his, Jim and I, already eaten alive by mosquito bites, were almost hoping it would rain so we could just stay in and eat pizza or something.

Boy, was I wrong.

And boy, was I glad we went out. It was one of the most thrilling and beautiful evenings I've ever experienced. And I mean that seriously.

First of all, it was perfect weather. A little warm, yes. But there was a breeze blowing and it wasn't that humid (for Florida), and the sun was shining. (We'd had a big rain the day before).

I took a ton of video, which I'll edit later, but here are photos Jim took. It's truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. The everglades, as described by our boat captain, is a slow flowing river where the grass reaches up above the top of the water. What I saw was clean and beautiful, and we were able to glide over the water just about anywhere we wanted to go.

There are a few small islands that pop up now and again, but it's mostly just several feet of water which, I suppose, can get swampy if the water level is low. But just look at what we saw:

Vulture Island!