.: Dinoland- Day 2- Dinosaur National Monument

These are some pictures around the city of Vernal that we stayed in. It was a cute small town right on the edge of Dinosaur National Monument and it was completely themed around Dinosaurs!

We got up, got ready, and headed down the road to see Dinosaur National Monument.

When we first arrived, they have the Visitor's Center with some neat exhibits.

We explored there for a few minutes and then took the shuttle from there up to the Fossil Quarry. Here is where we explored THE COOLEST thing ever! A wall of dinosaur fossils partially excavated!

It was absolutely amazing! We didn't stay too long as we wanted to take the Ranger Guided Walk.

This was our Park Ranger Volunteer who lead us on a 1 1/2 mile hike around the Fossil Quarry and surrounding Area. He was very knowledgeable and an expert in Geology. I learned so much about how fossils form, how plate tectonics work, erosion, and about several different formations in the area. It was so interesting and we really learned a lot!

As we hiked along, we stopped several times. Here is Ryan holding up a small ocean fish fossil. Below was one of many rocks we saw with fossilized mussels/ clam shells on them.

It doesn't show up well in these pictures, but these are actually dinosaur bone fossils still in the rocks. As we learned what to look for, we started to be able to identify many different fossils- un-excavated- along the side of the mountains.

It was a long, hot hike.....but totally worthwhile! I learned so much!

Back at the Visitors Center, the boys completed their Junior Ranger Booklets and took their Junior Ranger Oath to get their Badges.

We headed to a campground/ recreation area along the Green River to eat our picnic lunch and relax for awhile. Chris and the boys skipped rocks in the Green River. They do Kayaking trips along here- we thought that would be fun to do someday!

Back to the Fossil Quarry to take our time examining the wall and really look till we were done! Logan was so interested in seeing everything and took TONS of pictures!

An Allosaurus Skull

Logan goofing around and "running" from the Allosaurus

Logan approached this Park Ranger to ask her something. She answered his question and then joked about how he must know alot about dinosaurs. Logan (of course...Mr. Encyclopedia) told her that he really did know ALOT about them! SO she tried to stump him by asking him to point out the T-Rex skeleton on the wall. To which he replied, "There is no T-Rex skull there because T-Rex lived during the cretaceous period and these dinosaurs here all were from the jurassic period." She was completely floored! She told him that all the years she had worked there, no kid had ever been able to answer that! LOL After that they spent a long time talking and sharing their love of all things dinosaur!

This was a book we bought that showed the outlines of the different dinosaur bones in their spot on the wall. Logan and I took a picture of the page and then the section of wall it was describing...for future reference for the young paleontologist!

This truly was one of the neatest, most interesting places I have ever been! It was perfect for Logan to see some real dinosaur bones rather than just casts and we all learned so much!

We headed back to Vernal and ate at a little restaurant there.