Trilobites and the House Range

Two Species of Trilobites at the Same Time!

My son, Evan, and I went out past Delta yesterday to go dig fossils at the U Dig Fossil quarry near Swazey Peak in the House Range.  The quarry is located where a very rich vein of the Wheeler Shale is exposed and one can find very well preserved trilobite and other fossils from the Cambrian era (half a billion years ago).  It costs $28 per adult for two hours and you get a 20% discount if you can show them a Utah driver's license.  They give you a rock hammer and a bucket and you are allowed to cart off as much rock as you want during your stay.  The quarry is dug out periodically with power equipment so there are fairly fresh shards of shale to work with.  You try to split the rock along a seam layer and hopefully expose a fossil when you do so.  Most of the fossils are trilobites and are very small and often just pieces.  Sometimes you find only an impression because the fossil itself is fragile and breaks up when you split the rock.  The biggest ones we got were an inch or two long.

Viking at the Renaissance Faire

Yeongmi and I attended the Utah Renaissance Faire this August at Thanksgiving Point.  I went in character as Kyarssgand Vaneldsson.  I wore my full kit: tunic, boots, pants, belt, sword, seax, helmet and the fake beard and hair.  It's hard to eat with a fake beard.

Bilbo's Birthday Party 2016

September 22nd is Bilbo (and Frodo)'s birthday.  We threw a party at our place and, of course, it rained.  But we still had a pretty fun time.  This is our second one this year.  We did another back in the Spring to celebrate Bilbo's Unexpected Party with Gandalf and 13 Dwarves.  It rained then too.

The Snack Table