Glen Rose field trip

This T-rex model was shipped to Texas after its debut at the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York City.

Last week was dinosaur week at our house. (The theme was easy to choose -- Cooper spent the mornings at SMU at Legacy in a dinomania class.) Our weekly field trip was to Glen Rose.

One of the first creatures we drove by at Fossil Rim

Grandma & Papa joined us for the pleasant journey and treated us all to a drive through Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. Steve ably navigated his parents' car through the scenic grounds, stopping whenever we were close enough to animals for feeding or admiring.

We all laughed so hard at this creepy bird, who seemed especially fond of Papa.

We all were a little freaked out when an emu headed straight to Jim's window. Those are some creepy looking birds! They remind me of dinosaurs, actually.

A gentle giant

Other animals included all kinds of deer, zebras, giraffes, ostrich, antelope, wildebeest and cheetahs (behind fences, not roaming "free"). The zebras were super friendly, pushing their faces (that doesn't sound right) right into the car. The giraffes came close enough for us to pet.

Then we drove a few miles away to Dinosaur Valley State Park, in search of dino tracks in the river bed. We learned an important lesson. If you're traveling with a group of people, send someone first to scout the location. We headed down toward the tracks at Blue Hole. It was a steep, slippery, treacherous hike. The Paluxy River was full after recent rains, so finding the tracks was near impossible. The side we entered was too rocky for comfortable entry into the water. And then we had to climb back up. And it was about 100 degrees.

We all made it back to the top, but Betty got very ill very quickly, we're guessing from the quick hike and the heat. She rested for a bit and recovered quickly, though we were all worried.

We traveled a bit farther into the park for a picnic dinner, joined by about 100 uninvited flies. I am definitely not an outdoorsy, camping, roughing it kind of girl. But the food and company were good!

Cooper and Steve found a better river entry and spent a few minutes playing in the water. I was very nervous -- too nervous to remember my camera! -- with the strong current in the river. Cooper can swim, but he's not a strong swimmer yet, and that water was rushing, gushing by.

Cooper easily fits in the track of a dinosaur's foot.

We did stop to see some tracks at the entrance/exit of the park before the journey home, during which we enjoyed Betty's homemade cookies.

The journey's photos are here.