Sun, Son and Bones (May 16-18)

Finally, a sunny day!  We went early to the Utah entrance of Dinosaur National Monument because we knew it would be hot later on.  As the actual Park Visitor Center is closed for repair, they are using a temporary one outside the entrance.  A short shuttle ride into the Park took us to the foot of a trail.  We climbed up to where the Ranger was waiting, past a few pictographs,

She was by a sheer rock face at the top of a stone stairway.  As she told us about the fossils in the face, and pointed them out, it became easier to find them.  My nursing background was actually pretty helpful in spotting them.  There were both land mammals and aquatic life there, as it had long ago been a freshwater river bend.  However, the bones were all jumbled together, no intact skeletons, as they had been washed to the bend in a flood and gotten caught up in some debris, then covered with silt.

We climbed down to the desert floor and continued our hike into the canyon, just to look. We heard the churring cry of a flock of sandhill cranes, and finally spotted them wheeling high up in the sky near a puffy white cloud.  Their calls echoed around the canyon and sounded rather eerie.  The wildflowers had started to bloom and were bright spots of color against the drab sagebrush, sand and stone.

By now it was 11 o'clock and getting hot so we went back to the car and drove farther into the Monument to Josie Barrett Morris' ranch.

This amazing lady came here by herself in her 40's and homesteaded it for 50 years, until she broke her hip (her horse threw her) and died in her 90's.  She lived without such "mod cons" as electricity, phone, running water, etc.  Her place was very remote; I wonder how she ever located it in the first place.  When she died in 1964 it became part of the Monument.  Her cabin has been restored a bit, and it was fascinating to see and think about her life.  The land was lovely, shaded and cool around the cabin, with a small creek and some grazing land and two box canyons she used as corrals.  We hiked out into one, and along the path by the creek was the largest tree (ginko)   I've ever seen, outside of the redwoods.

On the road again, we drove to Jordanelle State Park to camp for a few days while we visit our son, Kevin, who lives and works in nearby Park City.  It's lovely here, a lake in front of us and snowy peaks on several sides, but green and spring-like at this altitude.  Seeing Kevin was, of course, the best part of the day!

The next day we had Kevin's car to use while he worked, so we drove to Salt Lake City and visited the International Peace Gardens.  It was lovely, but too early for a lot of the plantings.  Many countries have small gardens here, and there is a Peace Pole garden which is from the Olympics of 2002, with peace messages from all of the participating countries.  The garden was first planted in 1968.

Then  we went to Fort Douglas, which has 5 different styles of architecture, from all the various military uses of the Fort since its frontier beginnings.  It is now part of the U of UT, after being used as the Olympic Village.  A fine use for it, we thought.  Hope the students realize that they are being housed in history!  I would like to live in the officers quarters, but not enough to go back to college!

Today has been a quiet day; rainy and chilly.  While Kevin worked, we "stayed put" for the first time this trip and it has felt good to take a day off.  He gifted us with an iPad so we have spent many hours playing with it and trying to figure out its many uses.  We have to do that while we are still in range of our family electronics expert!