We started our full day in Dinosaur National Monument with a hike along the river. The trail was 1.5 miles (3 miles total), and took us up on top of the bluffs and then back down again, always staying near the water. We saw a few snakes, a hummingbird moth, and lots of interesting bugs and plants. The weather has gone from puffy jackets and sweatshirts required to hot hot hot. Everyone is drinking a lot of water. The hike finished at a small beach, but we only lingered a minute as we wanted to get back to the trailer before the hottest part of the day.
Once we were back we dropped the dogs off and hopped back in the truck toward the visitors center. It was a quick five mile drive and then we were looking at some dinosaurs! There is a very large stegosaurus in the parking lot. The lower visitor's center is mostly gift shop, so we did a breeze through and then boarded the tram that takes visitors up to the quarry wall. The quarry building is a large warehouse-like structure built over a section of rock where hundreds of different dinosaur bones are exposed. All of the bones are well mapped out via pamphlets and touch screens so you everyone can find their favorite. I'm partial to skulls but I know that femurs are popular in the paleontology crowd. Near the end of the exhibit a portion of the rock is available to touch so everyone who visits can get their hand on a real live dinosaur bone.
We trammed back down and then stopped at the petroglyphs for a minute. Based on some of the drawings we determined that the people who lived in this area had very long necks and lots of horns. Perhaps something was lost in translation.
Our last stop for the day was the river park, but first we had to head back to camp to grab the dogs and the ever important sand toys. At the river we relaxed, built a mine, made some potions, and watched a few of the rafting crews that were jumping out of the river at the boat launch just around the corner. All in all a wonderful afternoon.
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