Our Walk in the Woods Today

Every spring and every fall a public road in the Pine Hills in southern Illinois is cut off from traffic. The road is called "Snake Road". In the fall, the road is closed off to allow snake crossing from the slough on one side of the road....



...to the bluffs for hibernation...



Today was a perfect day for hiking. The weather was clear and cool. Eric and I with our dog, Gretchen went walking on Snake Road. So did a lot of other people with cameras. Normally, we only see snakes if I am not carrying the camera. It was unusual for us to see any when I have the camera. We saw two snakes today: A little garter snake that didn't stop for a photo and this yellow bellied watersnake. I think that's what it was. Herptologists, feel free to correct me!



Along the way to the Pine Hills we took this photo of Tower Rock on the Mississippi. You're looking at Missouri across the river. You can see we're still pretty green with only two weeks left of October. In a week or so we should be seeing a lot more color.

October 13, 2007. Happy 56th anniversary to Mom and Dad!

This is my son and niece on their way to homecoming dance with a group of friends yesterday.

And this is the water tower in downtown Western Springs where we visited last weekend. The tower was built in 1890 using Naperville stone. It's 112 feet high. It's a fairly impressive landmark and is now a museum.