dinosaur valley = dinosaur awesome

Not too terribly long ago, Grant and I ventured into a land of dinosaur tracks and poorly marked trails known as Dinosaur Valley State Park.

This magical land is less than two hours away from my house, but sadly I had never visited. The day included over six miles of hiking, encounters with dinosaurs (See Exhibits J-O) and poisonous berries (see Exhibit C), crossing a river by jumping from rock to rock (and subsequently getting my feet wet), fruit snacks, a guy in an Indiana Jones hat, and a few dinosaur tracks (created by the government I am sure).

I have included photographic evidence of the day-trip below, so you can share in the awesomeness.

A.

We were disappointed to see that fire was not allowed in the woods. I cannot fathom why they have this ludicrous rule. We put our Zippos back in the car, defeated.

B.

Rules were everywhere. No fire allowed. Keep out. Pish posh. We hopped the fence.

C.

We soon realized why they were trying to keep us out. They didn't want anyone else to know about their collection of brightly-colored poisonous berries.

D.

Behind the fence, they were also hiding beautiful, fall-colored leaves. One of my favorite things about fall.

E.

In hiking down the river, we saw a group of fellow hikers at the peak. We immediately decided this was our destination. Once we got there, the view was great. But the fruit snacks and M&Ms were better.

F.

On the way back down, we stumbled upon many paths that looked like maybe one or two other people had ever walked down them. If I had had a compass on me, I would have been using it at this point. I am not Eagle Scout. Luckily for me, Grant is.

G.

And sometimes taking "the road less traveled" does end up making all the difference, because you find little secluded areas that may have been a secret hang out spot for only the hippest dinosaurs. Or maybe it was where the T-Rex Kiwanis Club held weekly meetings. Who wouldn't want to hold parties at a hidden pond?! (Note the reflection of the trees in the water. I loved that.)

H.

Surrounding the pond was a short wall with tiny waterfalls and stalactites. It was pretty cool. I think "stalactite" is Latin for an ancient, gooey, hangy-down thing.

I.

We heard this path was "chock-full of dinosaur sightings", so we were excited to begin our journey down this trail and back to the truck.

J.

First, we came upon the Brontosaurus. Edgar was a friendly dinosaur, but he was too big to capture in one frame, though I tried.

K.

Edgar did not like the angle of the first shot, being that it wasn't his "best side", so I took another photograph to appease him. When you are around something that big, you generally do what they ask. He still didn't fit in the frame, though I believe the side angle is far more slimming.

L.

I was trying to capture Edgar's charming smirk when, out of nowhere, the mighty T-Rex appeared. When I stood on Edgar's back to shake hands with the T-Rex (because my mother taught me the importance of social manners), he introduced himself as Francis.

M.

When I laughed at his name (not meaning to, but a T-Rex named Franis?!?), he got very angry. Not cool.

N.

Francis began to growl and throw punches with his tiny T-Rex arms and I knew I had to act fast. Grant was hiding behind Edgar. Edgar had his tail whipped around, covering his squinty Brontosaurus eyes. So, still on Edgar's back, I leaned in incredibly close (I know it was a stupid, dangerous move) and took a Polaroid* (it came out far too blurry to post). The flash threw Francis off and in all the chaos he lost his balance and toppled over on his side. I had single-handedly taken down the T-Rex. I was filled with adrenaline (and probably sugar from the fruit snacks and M&Ms), but it was still, by far, the scariest moment on our trip to Dinosaur Valley.

O.

Or so I thought. About 3/4 of a mile later, we ran into this monster. I can tell you right now...you have never experienced this kind of fear, and I pray to God you never will.

P.

As we peeled out of the park, we saw this large yellow sign. At first, after what we had seen on our trip, I wasn't sure we should ever return. After all, it was pretty treacherous at certain points. But Grant assured me that with a high-powered camera flash, a state of the art taser gun and maybe a machete, we can most definitely take on an army of 100 dinosaurs. Unless one of them is a Velociraptor. Then we'd be dead for sure. I mean, you've seen Jurassic Park.

* A special thanks goes to Ashley Anderson, for being awesome and purchasing the Polaroid camera and film...a wonderful gift that would later save my life.