Vernal Trip

Oct. 19, 2011:  Today, Dad, Mom, Audrey and Aiden and I drove to Vernal, UT.  The first place we visited when we got there was The Utah Field House of Natural History Museum.  Hmmmm... can they make that name any longer?  Anyway, inside the building was a huge brontosaurus that was about to eat me.  Just kidding.  First, we watched a really long and boring video of what we were about to see.  Okay, it was really about how all the 
dinosaur bones got to Vernal.
  Next, we walked through the rest of the museum.  One room had a wall filled with leaf fossils.  I have to admit, that was pretty cool!  Another room had dinosaur footprints.  Outside, we alked around a bunch of dinosaur statues and saw a Diplodocus, a T-Rex, and my cousin, "Alli"saurus... just kidding... Allosaurus.

Next, Mom and I went to 

McConkie Ranch and saw a lot of amazing petroglyphs.  The scenery was awesome! The drawings on the rocks were well preserved.  Might I suggest not taking kids age 4 and younger on the Three Kings Trail, unless you feel confident about not seeing rattlesnakes and having no kids whine and complain for 30 minutes because the trail is not stroller-friendly.  The reason the trail is called Three Kings is because it is famous for some of the best preserved petroglyphs that look like kings.  The main king wore a chest piece and a suit of armor covered in intricate patterns.

 The second king wore a less intricate chest piece and a more ragged loincloth.  The third king wore a little bit of intricate jewelry and a loincloth.  If you want to see the Three Kings, then you will need binoculars because they are almost impossible to spot without them.  We never saw them until we finally tried the binoculars.  The Three Kings Trail was totally worth every rattlesnake (which was only one) and minute we spent hiking to it.

If you look REALLY closely at the middle of the upper rock, you may be able to see the petroglyph.         

October 20, 2011:  Today, we left for Dinosaur National Monument.  There was a wall in the quarry filled with real dinosaur bones that we could actually touch! After almost an hour of admiring the dinosaur bones and figuring out what kind of bones they were, we left for an old cabin built by Josie Bassett Morris in 1935.  When we got there, we ate lunch and took a tour of her cabin.  I don't think I could  stand living in that thing.  The house seemed like it was going to tip over at any second.  

After our little 5 second tour, we went on a hike in the mountains.  The hike reminded me of a fairy tale because of its gorgeous scenery.  The trees were beautifully colored, the mountains were a pretty grayish blue color, and the sky... OH MY GOSH! It was so pretty!  It was like the perfect sky blue with little wisps of cloud floating by.  Bringing a camera is a huge MUST. 

We also drove out to Fantasy Canyon, which is seriously in the middle of nowhere.  But, what I saw there was totally worth my sweat and the hour drive.  The formations were fantastic.  The view was fantastic.  The weather?  Not so fantastic...  But I guess that could be easily fixed by bringing a water bottle and a water gun next time.  The rock formations looked like fantasy characters from fairy tails, but they were just rocks that have eroded over time.  What you will need all depends on the weather, but you will want to bring a camera and good hiking shoes.  By the way, watch out for rattle snakes!

When Audrey and Aiden got tired, it was time to go home.  That is how I spent Fall Break with my family.