Entering Dinosaurland

Today was a much shorter driving day (only 3.5 hours - yay!).  Do you know what that means?  That means that I sit around waiting for Clare and Robin to get their act together even longer that usual.  It's not that they weren't up early.  I believe they were both awake by 7:30.  They just didn't seem to be in any kind of rush even though I was waiting to see things.  *sigh*

We said good-bye to I-80 (or I-1 as I like to call it) at Rock Springs, and headed south on a rather lonely highway that had beautiful scenic views over mountains and a gorge.  For a good portion of it, we didn't see another vehicle!  This would have been enjoyed more by Clare, I think, if she hadn't been watching the gas gauge drop and not a sign of a building in sight, let alone a gas station.  I began giggling as I watched her get excited at any downhill areas where she could just coast.  Good news, we got to a gas station before the gas light came on in the car (although none of us are sure how close we were to that happening).

A few more miles down this scenic route (and it was called that too - Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway) and we reached the Flaming Gorge Dam, where we had a nice picnic lunch by the lake.  Another hour of twisty roads (including 9 switchbacks going down the mountain behind a huge camper with its four-ways on), we reached Dinosaurland KOA in Vernal, Utah.  Yes, I wondered why it was called that too.

To quell my curiosity, once we'd checked in and got set up in the nice Kamp Kabin (we upgraded from a tent!), we headed into town to visit the "Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum".  Sheesh, I wouldn't want to answer phones there; "Hi, welcome to the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum, how may I direct your call?"  No thanks.  But I digress.  While it may be the longest museum name I've come across, it was a fascinating place, AND I learned all about why everything seems to have "dino" in its title in this town.

I'm not going to pretend to remember all the interesting stuff we learned about how the dinosaurs lived in this area millions of years ago, and then it was water, and the dead creatures sunk into the mud which became hard, and then blah blah blah... there are now tons of dinosaur bones constantly being found within a 80 mile radius of Vernal.  I know I've learned about dinosaurs before, at some other museum in Utah, but for some reason today, it took on new meaning.  Maybe it was because we had just driven through the very rock formations that they were describing.  Maybe it was because I was seeing it again.  Maybe it was just because I actually paid attention.  I don't know really.  I just know that there was a moment when it struck me that these giant creatures actually did live on this earth at some point in time.  It isn't just something from movies.  Strange.

After a thorough investigation of the museum, we headed out for dinner, simply because Clare had seen it on a map, and both agreed they had to check it out.  Apparently, its a fast food chain, but none of us had heard of it.  Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers (seriously guys, what's with all the long names!).  They enjoyed both the steakburgers, and the frozen custard.  I watched.

That ends another exciting day in the life of this little bear.
Whatever!