Swamps, Day 1

It was rainy but that didn't stop us from going to look around a wildlife refuge with Grandma and Grandpa. We watched a really nice display with talking lifesize Cajun dolls about the history of the region and the importance of protecting the swamps and marshes. Well Mom and Grandma and Grandpa did, I was too busy eating to watch anything but I like listening to the Cajun speakers.

Me and Grandma looking for gators.

Me and Grandpa looking for Grandma.

A puffed up snowy egret.

I would have been really excited by this bright moorhen except I was asleep in the car.

Fort Smith, AR

 

Mom, Dad and me in front of the Fort Smith gate and barracks.

 

A very active gallows back in the day including a few Jacks. But not me.

 

Whee a big gun

Speaking of Omaha...the zoo

I'm almost macaroni size.

The sea cucumber moved slow enough that I could see it. And it was fascinating.

Yeah tide pools. Mom's happy that she now has someone to go watch anemones with.

Finally Mom fed me.

Dad is showing me some pretty little birds from Australia.

And a lizard. I like lizards and probably stressed it out some by oohing and waving my arms.

Mom and I said hi to a momma gorilla and her toddler.

Macaws. Dad apparently think that Mom needs a really soft focus.

Omaha

I'm so excited to be in Omaha.

Toadstools

While we were at the Mammoth Site, we saw a sign for the Fossil Freeway of interesting paleontological sites between Hot Springs and Scottsbluff, NE. So we decided to check out Toadstool geologic park.

Not sure it's the highest point in Nebraska but it might be.

A soddy the the Forest Service built in 1984. Looks pretty solid to me.

A remnant of the the river that formed the badlands. We got to ford this creek 5 times in our walk. Mom found out that the goretex in her shoes may be a bit old.

Pretty rocks

More rocks

Mom and I standing at the edge of a mighty waterfall.

We're on the top of the world. Or at least the top of Nebraska.

 

Mom and Dad really like rocks.

Big rhinoceros. Little rhinoceros. Really big scary pig. Fossilized tracks that is.

 

I think Dad was hunting for that crash of paleo rhinoceros.

 

We can almost see Omaha from here.

So many bones

Getting ready for a day of MAMMOTHS!

Mom and Dad looked at this wall and talked about stratigraphy - whatever that is.

MAMMOTHS!!!
As an aside, Mom used Microsoft ICE to make this panorama and thought it worked really great. Even if it is from the evil empire.

This place was so cool. They let Mom carry me down into the excavation pit so we could get up close to the bones.

Mammoths may have been herbivores but really Mom do you think that it's a good idea to put me in it's mouth?

This guy may not have a body or any skin but he still looks pretty hungry.

I think this short-faced bear is following me.

Me and Dad standing under a really big mammoth.

Hot Springs, South Dakota

Mom and Dad took me on a little trip to SD just to see the sights. The historic sandstone buildings alone are worth the trip even through the water wasn't warm enough for me to swim very long.

 

Mom and I in front of a big old veterans hospital. The hospital is up on a hill in and we walked down a ton of stairs to get back to the main part of town.

 

Here's the sign telling us about the town and the sandstone buildings.

 

How did a face get stuck in a building?

 

Then we walked up a bunch of stairs to see the mainstreet and the hospital from the east.

 

I think that I'd like to swim but this water was too cold and the hot tub in the hotel was too hot, I need to find water that is just right.

Dinosaurs!

We went to Laramie to the Wyoming geology museum. Yeah dinos! I was so excited I had to take a nap part of the way through exploring to regroup my energy.

Christmas at Grandmas and Grandpas

I'm decked out in my new Pokes gear. Go Wyoming.

I've started turning over.

And I met ALL of my mom's family.

Ogden, Utah

We drove from Vancouver to Richland, Washington on the first day then to Ogden, Utah the next day. We arrived in Cheyenne on the 16th.