After arriving at the National Reptile Breeders' Expo in Daytona, I spent some time walking around the exhibit hall and hitting the talks.

I had so much trouble deciding which talk I wanted to go to, that I ended up bouncing between all three: the annual turtle talks, which are a regular hit and very popular; the boa talks along with a legal chat by Bill Brant, Dave Barker and Andrew Wyatt; and the Gecko Symposium.

Afterward, Chris Law and I hooked up with Jason Hood, a friend from the Chicago Herp Society, for what we had hoped would be a night of herping.

But sometimes all you do is hope. A Vinegaroon later, we came up pretty with nothing more than a bunch of frogs bopping across the road. But hey, we hung out and I tested out my brand spanking new headlamp.

Maybe where we went wrong was I was actually prepared. Usually I have nothing more than my wits. This time I had everything: collapsible hook, flashlights, headlamp, and good friends. I guess I'll try leaving something behind next time -- but definitely not the friends!