Nebraska 3

The last day in Nebraska was spent at Ashfall with Kerstin's cousin Kelli and her sons, Alex and Brian. Brian is crazy for fossils and anything prehistoric in general and has been to this park so many times that he's able to give the tour. No really, the graduate student who was supposed to lead tours of the facility actually sat back and let Brian do his shtick. She was thoroughly impressed not only with the depth and breadth of his knowledge, but also his startling accuracy. I think she even would have offered him her job, if it wouldn't break all kinds of labor laws. These fossils are all that's left of a 12 million year old watering hole that was blanketed in ash by an enormous volcano eruption somewhere in Idaho. Brian could give you more details, but all I remember about the animals was that there were bone crushing dogs, bear dogs, barrel-bodied rhinos, and camel giraffes. Them's some crazy mammals in Nebraska. Alden's eying the three-toed horse the pictures above. Yes, we were dorks and dressed Alden in his adorable dinosaur onsie, even though Brian was quick to point out that these animals lived well after all dinosaurs were extinct. Brian and Alden had a great time at the fossil discovery display outside the barn. It was essentially an elevated sand box with a pea gravel and sand mixture covering some animal bones that were bolted to the bottom of the box. Brushes and shovels were supplied to help budding paleontologists unearth these treasures and there were reference bones on the display case that could be used to help determine the bone and the animal it belonged to. Alden was very interested in the brush. He was also delighted to discover that the sandbox continued on the other side of the display and when Brian went to the back side to find new bones, Alden delighted in a makeshift round of peekaboo under the display. It was seriously adorable.