A Small Step Back in Time

Today was a beautiful November day.  The sun was shining and  the sky was clear.  In other words the day was calling us to a little adventure.   Ethan has been asking me to take him fossil hunting for quite some time now, so when I saw in the newspaper yesterday that the USU Department of  Geology was having an open house up at their museum on campus I decided  this might be a good opportunity, and one that wouldn't leave my muscles and creaky bones aching at the end of the day.  I met them at the Tranist Center next to Smith's and we took the bus up to the campus.  The kids wanted to ride the bus, and frankly I've been wanting to do the same, so the bus it was.

Here are Kate, Ethan, and Hayden "waiting" for the bus to come.  I was wondering just what to expect.

They actually behaved very well, even though they were full of energy and free from school for the day.

It was great to have Justin there with us. This was his first day off after 59 straight days of work with lots of overtime hours on top of it.  He works hard, is finishing up his degree in in economics and caring for his family.  Needless to say his kids and I treasured the time we were able to spend together.

                                                                  Ethan on the bus.

Fish fossils,  It's hard to believe these were swimming around near the top of a mountain over by Kemmerer, Wyoming about a million years ago.  Well the top of that mountain was then the bottom of a lake.  Times have changed.

We didn't see any woolly mammoths, but their bones have been found in this area.

Ethan being lectured, well, sort of, by one of the geology professors at Utah State University.

Hayden pointing out where we live on a geologic map of the area.

Did you know alligators used to inhabit parts of western Wyoming?  Well, here is the evidence.

Synergy,  this is the name of the statue on the Utah State campus.  It implies many hands working together.  I added one more dimension to it.  I put Etan's brain and smiling face right in the middle of it.

Here. is Kate doing exactly what the sign says toching the cast of a dinosaur track.

A couple of future Aggies.

A small part of the USU library.  I have two college degrees and a lifetime of experience, but I'm not sure I'm even smart enough to check out a book in these days.