On the winter solstice, we took the family out for a 7-mile winter hike. Luckily it was winter in name only, as the temps got up to almost 50 degrees.  We found a nice trail near Roanoke, Virginia, that took us into the Appalachians. As the kids are still excited about our giant fossil hunting trip out west this summer, I decided to pick a location where I knew there were fossils to be found. All I know is that these were Paleozoic formations, where 450mya it was swampy mud flats. So I could tel