After a lovely cereal type breakfast we walked a couple blocks into Fossil. We stopped at the General Store and bought a Fossil Digging Kit. We knew this wasn't necessary but it was so dang cute. Plus, it's fun to be tourists. Our kit contained a bucket, a screwdriver, a hammer, and a brush. We added a couple of pairs of workgloves to our kit and were on our way.
We walked a couple of blocks more to Wheeler High School. There's a sign at the front of the school that shows the types of fossils that might be found. The fossil plant deposits range in age from 1 million to 32 million years ago. While we were there the hours were 9 - 5 Tuesday through Saturday. There was a requested donation of $3.00 per person.The fossil beds are behind the school on the far side of the football field.
It didn't take long for Dave to find his first fossil.The interpreter (a lovely lady) showed us how to split the rocks to find the best fossils. She had putty knives that worked much better than the screwdriver in our 'digging kit'. The hammer did come in handy though. Our absolute best purchase was the work gloves.
We ended up finding quite a few fossils. Not perfect but pretty dang close. The interpreter said we were very easy to please. We got excited every time we found something remotely fossil-like. Apparently most people are a little pickier about their fossils. A group of grade school kids arrived for a field trip, so it was time to leave. We picked our favorite fossils (3 each), packed them in our kit, and headed back to the RV.
Fossil Digging Tips:
1. Bring water
2. Wear a hat
3. Wear sensible shoes (the hill is slippery)
4. Bring work gloves
5. Get there early (before the field-trippers).
No comments:
Post a Comment