April 8, 2012

Started the day by prepping materials for next week's art lessons, some laundry, and cleaning. After lunch Ed took me out to a couple paleo sites, Ryan joined us for one. As park law enforcement, it helps him to know what to look for when people are stealing or damaging fossils. The second place we went to, known as skeleton hollow (or was it skull hollow?) was near the castle trail, but off in the other direction. Ed was disappointed that we didn't find any intact skulls or skeletons, which is what the area is known for. We did find plenty of fossils though, and an ant hill. Those are important because the ants like to collect little fossils, so you can often find quite a number of interesting things in them. And we did, mostly tiny shells and rabbit teeth. On the way into skeleton hollow, I saw my first rattlesnake. He buzzed as we walked past, and then Ed investigated, wanting to find him. I was a little nervous, but he knows animals and grew up around these snakes. My ears told me he was in the side of the rock formation we were next to, and indeed, he was coiled up tight, hiding in a shady little opening a couple feet off the ground. For dinner, Ed offered to grill steaks. It was perhaps the very best steak I've ever eaten. We sat with neighbors for a bit, watched part of a movie, and had rhubarb pie.