Dinosaur National Monument

Nic and Shannon were going to be gone from the 29th of June to the 2nd of July, serving as ma and pa for the youth conference pioneer trek. This left us with Connor and Payton so we made the most of it. We took them camping and went to the Vernal area and Dinosaur National Monument. The Monday we arrived was very hot near 100 and the camp site did not have that much shade but luckily we found a spot that turned out to be great though we did not know it at the time. The first thing we did was go down to the Green River and  skip stones... or tried to.
 

From there we did a drive and looked for petroglyphs along the canyon wall.

That evening we had tickets to see a play that was held in the outdoor theater in Vernal. It was Beauty and the Beast and was really well done. The kids fell asleep during the second half of the show but it was really good.

The next morning it was off to the visitors center to see dinosaurs. On the way we also saw lots of rabbits.

Then on to the center to learn about what we could do and also to get a couple of dinosaurs for the kids. It was the best purchase because the toys kept them entertained during hikes. It is amazing to see the wall of bones of all sorts of dinosaurs.

The building is a new building replacing the one that had been there for many years but was removed because the ground underneath was not stable and the building sank and was breaking apart.

We then did a ranger lead hike to see some more fossils out in the open.Here Payton is next to a rock with lots of little sea shells.

The day was so hot we decided to spend the afternoon swimming at the Vernal Recreation Center. It was a wonderful time and they have a great facility for all ages to enjoy.

After that we drove around town to see the sites. They do a wonderful job with flower pots along main street.

  We stopped and looked at the temple also.

We then went to a cultural museum in town and they had a bingo game for the kids to find things and mark them off on their chart. It was a good way for the kids to enjoy the museum.

 After that it was back for dinner and then we went and looked at some more Indian rock art.

 There was a full moon that evening







We ended the day with a camp fire and smores.

The next morning we played games in the camp ground like soccer and football and then it was time to head home. First we stopped at the dinosuar welcome sign

We then did one more hike to an area northwest of Vernal called Dry Fork Canyon and to a private ranch called the McConkie Ranch. They allow the public to walk along the canyon wall and look at the petroglyphs on their property.