Adventures in Utah (1)

We had ourselves a nice little adventure over the weekend. We decided to head toward the red deserts of Moab and see how far we could get. We got a late start and it was slow going so we didn't make it as far as we wanted. We decided to turn around and take the scenic route back home. A few minutes down the road, Nicholas saw a sign for a Dinosaur Quarry. Thirteen miles down this road. In the middle of NOWHERE, Utah.

You may or may not know that there is a large well known Dinosaur Quarry in Utah. It's a National Park visited by hundreds of thousands of people a year. This is not that park. It is an active Dinosaur dig in the middle of a dry dusty desert. Open range land. It was really beautiful in it's own way. There were places along the road that branched off for 4 wheelers, campfires from campers who like to go out in the middle of nowhere and "boondock."


This is one of the buildings open to the public. It is still a very active dig and we saw many bones in various stages of being excavated. There are still many bones waiting to be discovered in the hillsides and under our feet as we walked the trail. I swear Nicholas was ready to grab a shovel and start digging.

Most of the bones belong to this kind of Dinosaur. They have no idea what happened and why so many of this one kind of Dinosaur ended up here.


Jamie and Nicholas goofing around. They were trying to push the boulder over. I was worried about rattlesnakes.

Getting to the Quarry was quite the adventure. We didn't see a single soul on that dirt road for miles and miles. Finally a truck came over the hill and kept on going. We were encouraged to see signs of life. But, you know, when we got there it was really nice. There was another couple there looking around and a couple people working the desk and answering questions. They looked like Paleontology students and were very helpful and friendly.

I'm thankful we found it on a whim. We probably would never have planned a trip out there to see it. We would have looked it up, seen it was small and out in the middle of nowhere and probably decided not to bother. Following the occasional rabbit trail and being OK with a change in plans or a spontaneous decision can lead to grand adventures and fun discoveries. If it hadn't been getting late, we would have spent more time exploring the grounds and walking the trail. We definitely plan to go back.

Nicholas has a renewed interest in learning about dinosaurs and asking to go to the library. All in all, I'd consider the late start on the road and the spontaneous side trip a success.