Dinosaur National Park

The next morning we decided to go to the museum and fossil site. It was very cool. The kids really liked it. They could touch the dinosaur bones and see all of the skeletons in the museum. There also was a guided hike. We decided to go listen to the park ranger explain about the bones that were still embedded in the mountain. The mountain itself was amazing. It was called Split Mountain because there was a split right down the center of it. When you stood off in the distance it was very evident were the river had split the mountain right in two pieces and exposed the fossil bed. Water is very powerful when it wants to be. We walked about a mile and a half on the hike. The girls go thirsty because it was a little warm on the hike. We were the right in the sun the entire time it seemed. It was very pretty though. The ranger told us about how the river turned the riverbed up to expose all of the fossils, and how it split the mountain. We enjoyed looking at the fossils in the museum and the ones still in the ground. We were tired after the walk and looking at everything, but we still had enough energy to go for a swim. The water moved pretty fast, but it was fun. We went down to the boat launch where they put in the rubber rafts for the rafting trips. It was at the edge of a huge rock formation. The rocks went straight down into the river. They were very high. You could almost here an echo when you spoke. It was breathtaking. And, so was the water. It was very cold. I got in with the girls and Tom stuck his feet in. It was chilly though! We swam for a little while before going back to the campsite. We really liked the park and the campsite, but the no showers thing was beginning to get to us. We went back to camp and had a bite to eat. After dinner we went down to the ranger program at the amphitheater to hear them talk about the park some more. Carson was not very into it. I had to walk back with him. The girls had ridden their bikes down so Tom came back with them later. We all got tucked in and had a good night’s rest after an eventful day. The last day that we were there we went to the little store down the road. The girls each bought a dinosaur skeleton model to put together. They were very excited. We really did like it there. Our campsite was very beautiful. The scenery was better than you could ask for. We truly enjoyed staying there. The girls got to ride their bikes and we took hikes. We did drive around a bit the last day. We went to a small park at the end of the campground. It had been the farm of a woman who had lived there for years and years until her death in the sixties. She has lived there alone and built the farm with the help of two of her grandsons. She had used the natural formations such as canyons and rivers for her farm. She had corralled her cows and horses in the canyons, and she dammed up the river to flood her fields for crops. Even her small log cabin was still mostly intact. We enjoyed walking around and seeing how simple the life was back then. It’s hard to believe that someone could live in that small, seemingly, shabby cabin during the harsh winters that they have here.