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Greetings everyone, this is Trevor. This is the second edition of my quests into the Cretaceous streams of New Jersey. As before, I will tell you the stories that go along with each of the five trips in every episode. Each trip has a unique title that I feel best displays the overall sentiments of the expedition. I am going to college in Ohio in late August and will only be able to fossil hunt in New Jersey during summer's and winter breaks. Additionally, I may begin to post Ohio episodes throughout the coming years. Well, thank you for coming here and let the stories commence! Viaje Numero Uno: "Fossil Intoxication" My friend Spencer inquired, "Worm, why do you enjoy fossiling so much?" (stupid nickname given to me for past eccentric tendencies and introverted personality). The natural answer was a pause and then ultimately me saying "I like fossils." So, on May 26 Spencer decided to take me on a short hunt since I do not have my driver's license, due to me revoking my permit and never taking the driving test. Fortunately, Spencer stayed in his car and texted away. (I was scared he would come with me and steal my fossils). This turned out to be my most productive fossil hunt in New Jersey ever, though not the best. In 2.5 hours I surpassed the most finds I had ever found on a single hunt. This was partially due to a very large storm system having entirely changed many of the existing streams in Monmouth County. Although I was too late to take advantage of this storm for Ramanessin, this small stream had not yet been touched. I was finding teeth left and right and the stream was completely altered. We got to the stream at 5:30 PM so it got late fast and I did not have time to finish searching all the gravel bars. We finished off the day by heading to Burger Bros near Big Brook, an excellent burger establishment if you ever have the chance to go there. I was "intoxicated" on fossils on this hunt. Trip 2: "Picking Up the Scraps" Naturally, if you get this lucky, then why not take advantage of it? After mesmerizing her with the finds, my grandma agreed to take me out to the stream again to pick up what I had missed the day before. (Now it's the 27th) The fact there was nothing spectacular was disappointing, there were merely leftovers; I was in essence picking up the scraps. The trip turned in a more positive direction when areas that had been covered by water the day before started drying up and exposing whispers of the prosperity from the day before. To compliment my surface finds I decided to do some sifting. The sifting was productive; however, most of the finds were heavily worn. At this particular stream fossils have very very poor preservation, but the trade off is that the fossils are abundant. I left after 3.5 hours and came away with a slightly less than I had yesterday. Still a great amount of fossils for such a short amount of time, too bad they are worn. Trip 3: "Decay" After getting permission from some property owners awhile back I went to a small stream that I knew was good for invertebrates. The entry point was someone's driveway (don't worry they were enthusiastic about fossils being near their house and allowed it ). I got into the stream and Voila! invertebrates! Many, many broken invertebrates! Some unrecognizable and complete destroyed. I held up against the 98% humidity for awhile but before long my shirt was completely drenched in sweat. On top of that I clumsily fell and an annoying amount of water poured down into my feet. Throughout the trip there was a deer running around in the stream and I kept coming across it and it would snort and then run off. Sadly I came to know the reason for its troubles; in the stream was a dead fawn partially decomposing. Sad though the sight was, it is one of infinite calamities in nature. After doing a double jump backwards from the entirely unexpected scene, I went back and decided to venture to Ramanessin Brook. My waders started to leak and then eventually explode at Ramanessin, and this is following a 30 minute walk in blistering, humid heat. I was in the water and I felt a trickle at my feet. More and more water started to come in and eventually I felt myself sinking. I got out and emptied my waders and walked back to the car. The two hunts lasted 2 hours and very overall unproductive (June 18th). Trip 4: "Walking in Circles" This trip was not consoling after the previous one. Happiness equals reality divided by expectations, with the latter being excessively great and the former being in the nether regions. I went for 1.5 hours with my grandma who slept in the car. I went back and forth between sifting and surface scanning but neither seemed to be working out. I kept walking to one spot then to the next then back to the spot I was at, all hoping that I could come away with something to make the trip worthwhile. Any fossil at all really makes a trip worthwhile but that was not my mindset then . I gave up after 1.5 hours (this was on June 20th) and decided to call it a day. I had not eaten breakfast, horrible mistake, and was probably dehydrated. I was "walking in circles" in the stream and in my head. Trip 5: "Sweat or Streamwater?" Imagine wearing a blanket in the middle of summer while also getting sprayed with hot, salty water. Then on top of that there is a warm sheet of water in the air. Hey, now you got it! That's were I was. Wearing some lovely insulated waders for 6.75 hours in 90o F heat. My shirt, pants, and forehead were a river of sweat in themselves and soon I didn't know if it was sweat or stream water that had splashed on me. Anyway, it was a very popular day to go to Ramanessin or fossiling in general, just a smidge too hot. My dad had great nap though. The rate of finds coming in were average throughout the day. I chose to do some surface scanning about 2 hours in despite the obvious bootprints scattered across the gravel bars. Fortunately who ever had been there must have been distracted or a noob because I found some nice teeth on the periphery of the bars. Luckily, my waders allow me to crawl for extended distances and get my face right down with the gravel. After some surface hunting I went back to sifting and continued excavating a massive hole in the middle of the stream. Having to push the gravel back in was a hassle and I ended the day in exhaustion. Fellow forum member Vasili was in the stream when I left but unfortunately we did not get to greet each other, alas. I may have seen forum member Brad past the first bridge from the parking area of Ramanessin. If it was you Brad sorry I didn't say high I was too tired (July 2).

Hello fellow fossil forum members this is Trevor. This is the first episode of hopefully many displaying my hunts into the Cretaceous streams of New Jersey. Within each episode there will be five stories (in this case four since I was too impatient) that are five of my hunts. I will title each hunt according to how I felt on it and I will title each episode based on my expectations or what I desire to find. Mechanized Depression (Hunt 1): Duration, 3.5 hours. My grandma and I drove up to a small cretaceous stream on April 22nd. The forecast predicted rain and the forecast was correct. While my grandma read in the car, I sifted and surface scanned and came away with a considerable amount of finds for such a short time. I almost sifted continuously throughout the entirety and it seemed as if I was working on a production line. The rain and loneliness caused the situation to feel very dreary and I eventually went back. I also had a bad blister. My best finds were a Meristodonoides sp. (hybodont) tooth and a fragmented hadrosaur tooth. It's a Trap! (Hunt 2): Duration, 5 hours. Date, April 23rd. I went with my father to Ramanessin Brook and walked for about 25 minutes before finding the spot I had sifted at a few weeks ago (where I found a decent Ischyodus bifurcatus plate). The spot yield little but I did come out with some nice condition shark's teeth. In a futile attempt to find a better place to sift I just keep digging in a bunch of random spots. I finally decided on a place and told myself that I will stay in the place till I find some good. After about 6 sifts I called my father and said that it was going really slow. He wished me luck and hoped that I find a mosasaur. I hung up and in the next sift I found a small, half inch mosasaur! I instantly called him back up and told him the pretty cool story. I stayed for a little longer craving more but I did not find anymore, well next time I said. My best finds were the mosasaur tooth and a 5.5" bone I found. Bright Exploration (Hunt 3): Duration, 5.5 hours. Date, April 29th. My father drove me to Ramanessin Brook again and I went to the same spot I had found the mosasaur. I did the exact same thing as I had done before: I dug some random holes in the stream and surveyed the area. It was after a little while that I noticed there were finds on the gravel bars. I have continually been so unfortunate as to have someone always search the bars before me. I don't typically surface scan because I never think I will find anything. This time was different and I was the first one there. I walked upstream and continued. On one gravel bar I spotted what at first I thought was a weird piece of rubber but upon further inspection I noticed it was a 3" really worn Ischyodus bifurcates plate. I was overjoyed because I had not found one this large before. After exploring a little I decided to turn back and sift some more. The day was slow other than some bones or teeth. I went back to my dad and he showed me a mosasaur tooth he had found. Since he never really searches and never really cares much this was incredible. He said it was just sitting on the surface. I was so angry for not having searched them. Well alas, it was okay. Hearing Noises (Hunt 4): Duration, 6.5 hours. Date, May 10th. I went to Ramanessin again with my father. I was really tired since within the two days prior (Mon. and Tues.) I had three AP exams that made me extremely stressed and tired. I had gotten little sleep and had not eaten breakfast. I went to where I found the mosasaur on trip two and after about half an hour I found a mosasaur tooth with about half the enamel on, okay I was confident. My confidence plummeted with time as I found less and less. There were bumps such as when I found a small piece of cartilage. I decided to move on and sifted haphazardly. I kept finding worn teeth and enchodus jaws and then I found a worn baby mosasaur. I was surprised I had spotted it. I looked in the water since the day was clear and sunny and found some nice goblins. I ended up at a larger gravel bar and decided that is was where I would spend my time. I was tired and decided to eat some food and lay down. As I ate I had the urge to roll on the gravel bar as a soldier does and I came away with two larger goblin teeth by seeing them on the ground. They were right next to someone's footprint. I thought I hear someone call my name and kept looking behind me on this ridge. Two or three times gravel sloshed into the hole I dug and made me jump; I thought someone was behind me. After this I decided to leave. At the end I found a really nice Xiphactinus tooth and a really worn mosasaur tooth. Trip four is on top and trip one is on the bottom. Various Bones Larger Bone Ratfish Jaw Pieces Enchodus Jaw Pieces