The last two days have been mild and sunny; beautiful days for hiking and biking. The park literature says there are bears, panthers, and alligators in this park, Being a safe hiker, I read up on what to do if you encounter one of them. The bear and panther directions are the same except for with one you are supposed to make eye contact and the other one you are supposed to avoid eye contact. Unfortunately, I can't seem to remember which is which! So, before we head out, I  read it again and tell Denny, hoping he will remember. Luckily, we have only seen an alligator so far and he was in the water and we were up on a boardwalk! The first day, we weren't thinking and had packed a picnic lunch so couldn't leave our bikes for any of the trails  due to the bear warning. We were smarter the second day and took only water!
The scenery on the boardwalks through the cypress swamps was breathtaking. The water was so calm that everything was reflected. Of course, pictures don't do it justice, but we try anyway :)

Denny and the 1000 year old Live Oak

At times the boardwalk was a little narrow...

This picture is taken into the water. It looks just like the sky if you couldn't see the dead leaves floating!