In a nod to J.J. Walker...let the dinosaur puns begin!So on a balmy summer day, the Crawford boys and their mama made the trek to the foothills of Morrison to enter the alternate universe known as Dinosaur Ridge. As a Denver native, I can vouch for the many amusements on offer, but this may very well be the Mile High City's greatest hidden gem.
On entering the tour bus, our guide asked where the boys were from; he was clearly thrilled to find the boys hailed from California, because we were heading for the beach (!) that was Denver's front range some 70 million years ago (see the things you learn while blogging?). And the ocean? Denver, Littleton, Castle Rock and beyond...we've always wanted to realize Ringo's admonition to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade, and we probably are.
When Rooselvelt began his grand experiment in Socialism during the Depression (if I didn't word it in just this way, Dad would come from the afterlife and haunt the be-jeebers out of us), one of the projects used to employ thousands was the blasting away of this mountain face for a road, and all kinds of unknown goodies were uncovered: calcified bones, fossils, and a boatload of dinosaur tracks. Seriously, who knew?
You can always tell a bone in rock because it calcifies to a deep amber color. And having a plastic sign with an arrow mounted next to it doesn't hurt your identification efforts either.
Shane on the hunt. Fossils? Possibly another ladybug? You never can tell.
Me and the boys on the other side of the tracks. Oh, the punning fun need never stop when you're at DinoRidge!
On entering the tour bus, our guide asked where the boys were from; he was clearly thrilled to find the boys hailed from California, because we were heading for the beach (!) that was Denver's front range some 70 million years ago (see the things you learn while blogging?). And the ocean? Denver, Littleton, Castle Rock and beyond...we've always wanted to realize Ringo's admonition to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade, and we probably are.
When Rooselvelt began his grand experiment in Socialism during the Depression (if I didn't word it in just this way, Dad would come from the afterlife and haunt the be-jeebers out of us), one of the projects used to employ thousands was the blasting away of this mountain face for a road, and all kinds of unknown goodies were uncovered: calcified bones, fossils, and a boatload of dinosaur tracks. Seriously, who knew?
You can always tell a bone in rock because it calcifies to a deep amber color. And having a plastic sign with an arrow mounted next to it doesn't hurt your identification efforts either.
Shane on the hunt. Fossils? Possibly another ladybug? You never can tell.
Me and the boys on the other side of the tracks. Oh, the punning fun need never stop when you're at DinoRidge!The boys were slack-jawed over the unexpected brilliance of the place (even Shane, who tends to balk at anything that doesn't have a controller attached), and want to make this little trek a summer ritual. And that's what I'm talkin' about.
No comments:
Post a Comment