The Treacherous River

I officially have 2 more days of work left! YAY! I really like my job, I'm just tired of the heat. I am looking forward to this week because Wednesday we are having a cook out for the 4th of July. However, I'm a little bummed because there won't be any fireworks :( The fire hazard level is at extreme as of now and it's way to dry. Oh well, I can do with out. I also hope my family's 4th party is a success on Wednesday- I am sad I am missing it.


I forgot to mention in my last post that Daryl and I got a new roomie on Saturday. She is from Germany and her name is Sina. She is a really sweet and fun girl! We got really lucky and we all get along really well. This weekend we went to the beach and took her floating down the wind river. She loves taking photos of everything because this is her first time in the U.S.! 


Floating down the wind river was extremely interesting. We only have 2 river tubes (the heavy duty ones). Dan and I bought two cheap rafts at the store and discovered that they were awful to use in the river. Eventually, Daryl traded rafts with Dan since she is lighter and it all went down hill from there. Daryl flipped on her raft a couple minutes in and then we hit some rocks in the shallow waters and her raft deflated. We also hit some rapids and trees on the way down, not to mention we brought chips ahoy cookies down with us. It was one of the funniest times I have had here. It was such a good last weekend in Wyoming. 

The next two days I have dig for a days and then I have off Thursday and my flight leaves Friday at 3:59pm! I am very excited.

Busy as a Bee

AND THE WORST BLOGGER AWARD GOES TO.... 


me. 


I'm so behind. A lot has happened this week. It has been so hot in the 100s. It is very smokey out this way as well because there have been a lot of forest fires. It has been hard to see outside and our house has reeked of smoke! 


This is what has happened this past week:
My roommate Daryl and I had our own DFD family. Without a summer staff member. We were sort of thrown into it last minute. Like 2 minutes before we were supposed to meet them in the morning. It went fine though and I am now more confident in my dig for a day abilities. 


I also got my basic prep lab certification this week, which is great. I now have the basic field certification too. Basically they verbally quizzed us on a bunch of different things and we got to take it in a group. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to take it before I left because time is running out and it is getting to be so busy!!


Today I had a special visit from my grandparents! I am so lucky to have family that comes to visit me out here. We got to do the museum tour together and then go out to eat! I am looking forward to seeing my whole family when I get back. It honestly cannot come soon enough. And it's too hot here. Not like it's not hot at home, but still. 

Rapids in the Canyon

Today was rafting day in Wind River Canyon! Thankfully my roommate Daryl has a waterproof camera so we got a lot of great photos. The rapids weren't too crazy because the river was low and we haven't gotten any rain in a while. However, there were some nice rapids that threw us around a bit every so often. It was around 100 degrees today so the 50 degree water felt great!

Here I am ready to roll.

Here is Daryl and I "riding the bull". We were told by our guide to sit on the front of the raft and hold on during the rapids! We fell in the boat a few times. We also got pushed in by the boys...

Our guide told us at the end that we could jump and swim down the river.

And finally, the group after rafting. We picked a beautiful day to go and our guide was great. Also, rafting in the wind river canyon was awesome because the scenery is so nice. I really want to go rafting again next time I'm out west. I'm not looking forward to work this week as it's going to be mid - upper 90s this WHOLE WEEK. Ah, help me. Only two more work weeks...

The End is Near

Well it is now officially two weeks until I come home! My internship is actually going by faster than expected. I'm really excited to see my family and friends soon and start doing some fun summer things instead of working.

This week went pretty well. I had two DFD's, one at the BB quarry and one at the BS quarry. The BB quarry is not an enjoyable quarry. It has really crappy bone and the quarry is dying slowly. In about a year, they will probably have no more bone coming out of it. Anyway, it was still an alright day because the weather wasn't too hot and the family from Texas was nice. 

Yesterday we had a 6 person DFD with the grandparents, parents, a 7 year old, and a 2 year old. I loved the kids! They were so cute and well-behaved. I kept the 2 year old occupied by having him help me clean the quarry with a dust pan and broom. The whole family was really awesome and they thanked us over and over for being such good guides. We also got a really nice tip! :)

When the DFDs go smoothly and everyone enjoys themselves, that is what makes the job really worthwhile and fun. However, sometimes you get those days where everything seems to go wrong. Today was one of those days! I broke off the end of a rib bone because I stepped on it, I didn't get much sleep, it was 90 degrees and the sun was strong today, and I had a shovel-ready dig in the afternoon. The two little boys were cute and interested in paleo, but it was extremely hot and I was crabby today. Anyway, it is now the weekend for me! Sunday is river rafting, so hopefully I can post some pictures from my friends waterproof camera. Below is wind river canyon, where we will be rafting in!

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears

Yellowstone was absolutely FANTASTIC! We left Thursday night after work for Grand Teton National Park and arrived in Jackson, WY at about 9:30. Jackson is a very cool town, it's touristy but upscale as well. There are lots of nice shops and places to eat. Eventually I would like to stay in one of the lodges there and try snowboarding...

Friday we had a wonderful breakfast at this cute little place called the Bunnery. I got the blueberry pancakes and had nothing but good things to say. Once we were full and could barely move, we started our 7 mile hike in one of the canyons (pictured above). We saw some beautiful views and Hidden Falls (below). I was also greeted by a marmot who walked right up to my backpack for food. He startled me to say the least. 

The Tetons are a better place to do hiking and there are less crowds, which is always nice. However, we headed to Yellowstone around 7:00 after watching a cowboy gun fight in Jackson. After realizing all the food places in the park close at 8:00 (which we missed  by 10 min) and letting a swarm of mosquitoes into Dan's car, we arrived at our campsite in Bridge Bay. There are like 9 different campgrounds since Yellowstone is so huge! I did not know it was that big. I'll admit, I was very scared of the bears at night. The next morning, there was so much to see and so much driving. We stopped to see Old Faithful, the Porcelain Pools, Steamboat, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, the Upper and Lower Falls, and Lamar Valley. This may not seem like a lot, but everything is basically an hour away from each other. 

 

All in all, it was an amazing trip and we got to see a lot. In terms of wildlife, we got to see huge herds of buffalo, a black bear, and a few elk. I'm really thankful I got to make it out that way and experience the park. Tomorrow it's back to work and the heat. :( Wahhh! Three more weeks. I can handle it. 

Stuck On You

I have so many passwords. SO many in fact, I forget them all the time. I should be asleep, but I had to write in here because it's been a over a week! I had to verify myself on google, long story forgot my password, etc.


Anyway, NEW POST!! 


My past week: The weather is still insane. Below is a storm rolling in as viewed on top of the digging sites. I absolutely love the views out here! That is something I will truly miss.

Another cool thing about this internship: Meeting people from all over the place! I had a shovel ready dig of 5 people from Hong Kong. They were such a nice group, I wish all of our groups were like that! Another one of us had a couple from Australia. And a lot of people from the midwest, so it's nice to talk about home once in a while.


This week has been really busy. We have had a DFD, shovel ready, DFD, and 7 person shovel ready tomorrow. OH yeah, and I learned molding and casting on Tuesday. I like that a lot, except the clay makes your hands feel disgusting. Wish I could have gotten pictures of that though! 

The pictures below are from a shovel ready yesterday at WBS. It was a crowded and mostly unproductive afternoon, but surprisingly fun. I glued my fingers together too which happens A LOT here, especially when trying to glue together small pieces. And the glue doesn't completely come off for a couple days.

Below is a picture of our quarry books. We have to take lots of information down for all of the bones we find. We have to radial map them with distances we get from the north and south stakes. We have to use a total station to get GPS coordinates (x,y,z) in order to map them on Arc software. We have to measure them all in length, take orientation and dip, sketch them, and lots of other fun things. It's very serious business!

Sorry this post has been so random. Tomorrow I'm going to Grand Teton Nat'l Park and Yellowstone, so hopefully I will have lots of good pictures when I come back Saturday to share on here :)

Until then, here is me with my fingers glued together...

Gotta Have An Uptown...

What a week of weather extremes! It started off in the 90s and thunderstorms. Then got windy and I experienced my first sand storm. I felt very much like dorothy. Today it was upper 60s and mild winds. I never know how to dress here or what to expect when I work! Earlier this week the winds were so bad, our shelter tarps ripped and/or split in half! Not good since this is our source of shade...

On a good note, my Aunt Sheree and cousin Logan come to visit me :)

It was a lot of fun and it is always good to see your family. I got to give them a museum tour and show them around Thermopolis. They also brought me so much good food and snacks! It was so nice of them. I also received the best care package from my family! They are the best! Below is a "town" in Wyoming called Kirby that has a really good bar/grill. But their receipts/bills have the address listed on them as "downtown" Kirby. Not sure how anything can have a downtown with a population of 92, but to each their own. 

Found lots of bone frags at the BS quarry this week. We brought up a mother and her two sons from Oregon on Tuesday. It was interesting to put it nicely. I'll set the scene for you: Dust was blowing at high speeds, I could barely see, the sons were not listening, one stepped on my hand, my partner Dan got hit by a rock in his side, we didn't find anything. OH and it was 97 degrees. Let's just say I was happy to be done at 5pm. 

Last day of my work week tomorrow! Hopefully something exciting is coming this weekend...

Hot Springs Encounter

Good start to the weekend. I am burnt to a crisp however due to laying out yesterday. Daryl and I went to the hot springs and laid out for about 3 hours. We remembered to drink lots of water but forgot to reapply sunscreen. So I am not really in the mood to move my body much. The hot springs were scorching yesterday. I thought they would be around 90 maybe 80, but they were 104. It was already pretty warm outside so I didn't stay in long. 

Today we drove 1 hour to Riverton, which is the largest town nearby. Population: 10,000. That's where I will be flying out of home in July. It's the first glimpse of civilization I have gotten in a couple weeks. There was also a Wal Mart there so we stocked up on lots of food. Oh and there was a Wendy's, which is always good news. 

First Of Many Frags

Ah yes, Thursday! The last day of my work week! Now onto the 3 day weekend :)

Today, Angela, Dan, and I (who are all interns) dug at the BS quarry all day. In the morning, we had to "clean up" the quarry which consists of removing all the loose debri off the quarry walls and on the ground. It's hard being such a neat freak in a quarry because you try to clean it and there is always dirt and more rock pile just waiting...

The day went by pretty fast and I found my first sauropod bone fragments today! It's really exciting finding bone because you never know how large it is. Problem is that I get really impatient and want to get the whole bone out right that second! But you can't since it's so fragile. I got to keep the first one since no one could identify it. Anyway, the next fragment I found I couldn't keep and had to record it in collections. 

I also went to McDonald's today! The first time I ate fast food in 2 weeks! I ate a McFlurry because I was craving ice cream and it was delicious! I am really excited to sleep in tomorrow and enjoy the nice weather this weekend. It's going to get HOT. So far, it's only gotten to about mid 70s and its going to get into the 80s this weekend. Hopefully I will have something interesting to post about this weekend since my aunt and cousin are coming to visit me. I can't wait!! 

In reference to my earlier post about the velociraptor, here is our display at the WDC. This is how small it actually was.

A Paleo Hodgepodge

Yesterday was my first Dig for a Day!! Wahoo! The day started early at about 7:30am. We loaded up our SUV and took a mom, dad, and 6 year old son up to the WBS (West to Beside Sauropod) quarry. The family had a blast. The little boy wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up and knew so many different dinosaurs. He was a trouper, we were out in the field for about 6 hours!

The particular quarry we were at has been known to produce Camarasaur bones (below). These dinosaurs can weigh up to 20 tons and can be up to 50 ft in length.

It was fun to be with a family who was enthusiastic about paleontology. This week I also did work in the prep lab on a humerus. None of us are quite sure what dinosaur it is from, but we know it's from some type of Sauropod. I have been using air tools, such as a chisel and stylist. I enjoy being in the prep lab and getting experience, but it really hurts your hand after a while let me tell you. Also, the noise is pretty bad too. Especially when the sand blaster is on, the air ducts, and all the air tools.

Today was a laid back day to say the least. Another intern Dan and I went to the BS (Beside Sauropod) quarry. We tease him that he has the quarry with the most crap...

We forgot many things today as we went out into the field and wound up going up and down the hill numerous times, which cost us about 1 hour since it takes about 20 min to get up and down. We finally mapped different bones using radial mapping, where we measure from north stakes at the sites to certain points on the bones. We have to map out where all the bones are for each quarry and record it. We also used the total station, which is an expensive piece of mapping equipment that probably costs more than I'll make all summer. Here is me next to a sauropod bone today in the field. I made Dan my personal photographer for the day.

Chaos Theory

I've been here for a week officially since it's 34 minutes into Sunday. A lot has happened. I settled into my new home with 8 other roommates, none of whom I had met before this. There are 3 guys and 5 girls, another girl to come in 2 weeks. It takes a little getting used to let me tell you. I went from one roommate with my own bathroom and room to sharing one bathroom with 5 girls. Ahhhh! Anyway, everyone is pretty nice but we are an eclectic group to say the least. We are all very different and come from different backgrounds, yet we are all brought here by one thing: paleontology. And dinosaurs. 

This week I have been introduced to Wyoming's crazy weather rollercoaster. It was 80s when I got here and sunny. The first day on the dig sites I was dying. We shoveled dirt and put up a safety fence. The second day it was low 70s and windy. The digging was a bit easier and we listened to the hill supervisor's phone music. We had everything from Weird Al to B.o.B. to Snoop dog to Green Day.... yet another eclectic mix...

It has now been rainy and 50s for 3 straight days. 

We did a run-through of a museum tour this week, which is to be an hour long. The museum here is very impressive for such a small town. Its got tons of specimens, meaning we have to memorize tons of information! I've been trying to study my packet and used today to go to the museum and cram everything from the Precambrian to the Cretaceous. I thought school was over after graduation...I was wrong. Nonetheless, I'm glad to be learning new things and using it as a refresher course. After all, this is the stuff I love.

I also was introduced to some new things in the prep lab. I worked on Diplodocus ribs while using a simple dental pick and toothbrush. I worked on a Diplodocus coracoid that requires moving A LOT of matrix and the use of airbrush tools (it's still in the jacket it was brought down from the hill in). Last, I sandblasted Diplodocus vertebrae. It's kind of nervewrecking when you're a newbie. You don't want to ruin anything or chip away the bone. 

This first entry is slightly boring to many of you. I apologize. Anyway, here are some pics and highlights. 

Three main dinos are found in our quarries: Allosaurus, Diplodocus, & Camarasaur. Above is the Allosaurus, in my opinion the coolest. Because he's a carnosaurus and ruthless.

This is where I get work. The view is spectacular.

One of the quarries "BS" (Beside Sauropod) that we had to clean up before the dig for a days. 

Okay, one last thing. Did anyone know that the velociraptors in Jurassic Park are not supposed to be that big? They are much smaller and have feathers. They are actually modeled after Deinonychus, but velociraptor just seemed like a more terrifying name to use. Kind of a bummer for me. Also, T-Rex's vision may not be based on movement. If you don't move, he'll still eat you.......