Sunday, August 21, 2016 (The Hoodoos RV Resort and Campground, Drumheller, AB)

Today was another full day....and as usual when we have such a day, there is so much to show you...and hence, this is another blog post that is chocked full of pictures. Bottom line, if you're not into dinosaurs and museums...well, you might just want to skip this one.

We were up and out bright and early this morning wanting to beat the rush at the Royal Tyrrell Museum...apparently there are huge line-ups to get in.

So we were there just before they opened at 9:00...and the first ones in line. We paid our $18 each admission (good value for the money, in my opinion)...and away we went...
(Remember...click on photos to enlarge)

To many people, any object dug out of the ground is considered a fossil. Cattle bones, precious stones and artifacts such as arrowheads are often mistakenly referred to as fossils.

By definition, fossils include only the remains and traces of ancient, once-living organisms. To qualify as a fossil, a specimen usually must be more than 10,000 years old. Out of all the millions of species that evolved and lived on this planet since life first began 3.5 billion years ago—out of all the billions upon billions of individual organisms—very few have been preserved as fossils.

To become fossilized, plant or animal remains must be rapidly buried. Organisms that lack hard body parts, such as bones, scales, teeth or shells, are rarely preserved. Soft body parts such as skin, muscle tissue and organs decompose rapidly and are often consumed by predators before fossilization can take place.

Some of the most impressive fossils in our collection were discovered through industry-related activities (residential or industrial construction, mining, oil and gas exploration), or by individuals who recognized the importance of their finds.
Ammonites were hard-shelled, coiled, squid-like marine creatures with soft body parts abundant in the oceans during the Mesozoic Era, or the Age of Dinosaurs. Considered the most striking fossilized ammonite shell ever found in Alberta, this brilliant 71 million-year-old fossil was discovered during ammolite mining and was donated to the Royal Tyrrell Museum by Canada Fossils/Korite International.

Demonstration on exposing a fossil from rock and soil...

Demonstration Lab...

A lone lab worker...

This rock looking fossil appears to be a sample of the skin of the little white dinosaur...

Taking a journey through time...

These guys were alive!

A tropical garden...

Camarasaurus left, Allosaurus right...

Euoplocephalus left, Gorgosaurus right...

Ocean Creatures...

Time for a hike...

There was a great playground area for the kids...

Where they could even dig up a dinosaur...

A good three hours later, we were done with the museum. Sure glad that we went when we did because there was a line-up to get in.

Not much to downtown Drumheller that we saw...

After topping the diesel tanks up, we headed home and had most of the afternoon to relax. It was pretty warm outside, although not as hot as we've heard it can get it here. Mind you, I'm still glad we had hook-ups so that the AC could run!

Well, that's it for Drumheller...and dinosaurs and hoodoos. We are leaving in the morning for Cochrane, AB to visit some good friends, Ken and Charlene. Steve and Ken were neighbours in Regina and have known each other since they were about 5 years old...just a little while...LOL!