This is my first born son. He likes reptiles, amphibians, and all things that slither. He is a budding herpetologist and recently turned into a teenager. Even though he likes to spend inordinate amounts of time with snakes. . .we still like him. As a part of my fatherly responsibilities I like to take each one of my kids on a trip of their choosing. Caleb picked a place called “Snake Road”. We were blessed that Scott Ballard (Herpetologist / Illinois Department of Natural Resources) asked us to come along with him to “tag” endangered Green Water Snakes. 
This is a Cottonmouth. We saw a bunch of these guys as we walked along Snake Road.
That is not a stick in the water. It is also a Cottonmouth (about 4 feet long).
This is Scott showing us what we came for. . . a Green Water Snake.
This is a Green Tree Frog. Pretty huh? 
The day would not be complete without seeing a baby Cottonmouth.
We saw 20 snakes, a bunch of frogs, one toad, an empty turtle shell, walked over 4 miles, got a one day biology lesson from Illinois’ leading Herpetologist, and basically had a GREAT day.
With 27 miles and a whole county behind us we were able to smile in the knowledge that God’s people donated over $7,000 to our local Crisis Pregnancy Center. We are already planning for next years “Run Pastor Run” event. We are praying that we can top the $10,000 mark, include at least 5 more ministers, and focus more attention on the vital ministry of Tomorrow’s Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center.
