MikeD Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 And not necessarily in that order..... and more fossils...... The week before the 4th of July, I took off on a trip north to central and northern Kentucky to visit family and friends. My oldest grandson is almost five, so I took him with me (too many logistics involved these days to get everyone synced up to go at one time). He is at the age where he is old enough to take places and do things that he will hopefully remember when he gets older. He has been wanting me to take him to hunt fossils. He has been eyeballing my recent finds and is fascinated by them. Most of my trips are not kid friendly, but this one would be. So we set out on our long journey (which was 2610.4 miles total). Drove up to Arkansas the first day. Along the way, I was reminded of the imagination of a child. Oh, to be young again. "Look! An alligator." The boy has an eye. Very cool. Got to our stopping point, got a room, watched TV and went to bed. Got up in the morning, ate, and set out for his first fossil hunt. Went to a nearby site to look for Cretaceous (I think) fossils. I’ve known about this area for a while, but did not know the access point(s). I was kindly provided an access point recently, so we went and dug and sifted many sifters full of gravel. Finally, pay dirt. We found one shark tooth. We didn’t have much time, so we went back to the hotel to clean up and get our stuff. Next stop was Ron Coleman’s quartz mine in Jessieville. We got there after noon and hit the piles. They had lots of fresh material, but we did not find much. I have done much better there in the past. It was quite hot and dusty. There was a good breeze which made it bearable. Still a good time was had. About 5:00-ish, we called it a day and packed our finds. Got a few good yard rocks. We passed some recent tornado damage on the way in and out. Headed east and stopped in Benton. Found a surprisingly great Chinese buffet to eat at. Then we headed east again. After we got to Memphis, I was feeling pretty good, so I headed for Nashville. Had a close call with a big semi truck as we entered Nashville. Construction narrowed the traffic to one lane at the bottom of the big hill as you enter Nashville. The truck was coming down the hill and as he got closer, I could tell he wasn’t going to stop in time. There was another big truck in front of me, so we were going to get squished. I shot out into the closed lanes as fast as I could. I heard three loud noises behind me, but I couldn’t see what he had hit. Don't know why he didn't take the same option that I did. After an adrenaline boost, thirty more minutes and we were in Kentucky. Got a room, enough driving for now. Got up and headed off to see some dinosaurs. Yep, you guessed it (some of you anyway), Dinosaur World in Cave City. Some of the dinos were a little cheesy, some were pretty cool, but it was entertaining and most important, the boy liked it. Lots of life size dinos and some mammoths. They have a sand pit with a Stegosaurus skeleton buried, so kids can “excavate” it. Also, a fossil pit, which was packed. It actually had some cool fossils seeded in it. The kids got to pick their three favorite ones. Crinoids, ammonites, shark teeth, gastropods, etc. were in the mix (most probably from Morocco). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Another dino, mammoths, and the "big guy" buy the Interstate. to be continued..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandomas Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Nice report, be careful on the highways Nando Erosion... will be my epitaph! http://www.paleonature.org/ https://fossilnews.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Cool report so far. Looks like fun! Glad you avoided being squished by the truck too. -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Fantastic, Mike! Great report. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Great report Mike! Thanks for sharing it. Good reaction time on the close call! :startle: Great memories for you and your grandson! Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racevw112 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Very Cool!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh-Man Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Cool~~!! What is geology? "Rocks for Jocks!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Great report! Thanks for the story! Roger Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down under fossil hunter Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I can't wait until my son is a few years older and can take him on our own fossil/dinosaur adventure! hope we have as much fun as you guys did!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foshunter Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Great report, start the young peope early it's a great hobby--Tom Grow Old Kicking And Screaming !!"Don't Tread On Me" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 This trip was a blast! I still have more stuff to post about it (and a few other trips), but just don't seem to have the time to get it all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossiladdict Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Mike- you need to adapt my policy- wash it and clean it as soon as you get home, take pictures of it and stare at it for a few days before you have to put it up for the next incoming batch. I'm sure though that you accumulated a lot since it was a road trip. Looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks! Fossils are simply one of the coolest things on earth--discovering them is just marvelous! Makes you all giddy inside! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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