Trying to figure out what to do between summer seasons is always fun. And part of the challenge is trying to find ways to spend the winter where it's warmer than New Jersey!

This year we decided to try to volunteer at either Big Cypress National Preserve or at Everglades National Park....and fortunately, we were lucky to be asked to volunteer at Big Cypress. And so on February 6, 2012, Sara and Bruce left for Big Cypress National Preserve....to volunteer for two months. And it's been great, and we've had fun!

We "work" three days a week....helping visitors and answering questions at the Visitor Center and Welcome Center, giving short "talks" about alligators, manatees, and the ecology of south Florida, and helping on canoe trips.

On our days off, we've been exploring south Florida. Our campground is half an hour away from Naples, not far from Marco Island or Fort Myers, and a little more than an hour from Miami.....and so we are looking forward to visiting friends, seeing parts of Florida we have never seen, and learning more about the history and ecology of the everglades.