Wherein We All Become Paleontologists

We have been planning this weekend's camping trip since we went to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh this past winter. While we were there, the museum was having a special dinosaur exhibit, and one of the volunteers was telling us about this Fossil Festival held in Aurora, NC on Memorial Day weekend. Since Michael has been so, so into dinosaurs this year, we thought it would be a really fun way to kick off summer. And a great place to go with Camilla (Camper).

Lesson #1: Make sure you get directions of how to get to your campground. At the very least, carry a map of your state with you.

It took us about 45 extra minutes to get there because we got off I-40 onto hwy 70 a bit too early. However, we did get a nice tour of downtown Raleigh.

We stayed at a KOA campground. I've seen these campgrounds forever, but we have never camped at one before. It was a really nice campground. The bathrooms were almost nicer than ours at home (which isn't saying a whole lot, I guess), and there was a pool, wi-fi, and cable. Quite a Back To Nature Experience, right? Actually, we only took advantage of the internet for some "What Not To Wear" and a bit of Youtube for "Tom and Jerry".

On Friday, we went to this great aquarium in Pine Knolls Shore (http://www.ncaquariums.com/pks/pksindex.htm). We have a membership to the Asheboro zoo, so we were able to use our zoo card and get in free!

Unfortunately, we left the camera battery back with Camilla.

Lesson #2: Always keep your camera ready for photo ops.

Anyway, we love aquariums.

Of course, the boys always find the most interesting spot to be the gift shop.

Saturday was the day of the actual fossil festival and dig. We got a bit of a late start because it was raining in the morning (thank goodness for Camilla - again - camping is so much easier in yucky weather when you are in a camper rather than a tent). We got to Aurora right at the end of the parade, so Matthew and I found out what we were supposed to be looking for (shark teeth and other assorted prehistoric ocean life bones) and got to work. Matthew was hooked from the get-go.
Surprisingly, Michael wasn't so interested. I would give him a tooth I found to hold, and he would promptly lose it. And he just didn't have the attention span to search. Alan didn't really either. However, Michael did capture the attention of a reporter from the "Pamlico News" (http://www.pamliconews.com/1sectionbody.lasso?-token.esecsource=yes&-token.folder=2007-08-22&-token.section=33945.12&-token.menuseclooptracking=1&-token.menuitemlooptracking=101) who took his picture for their Wednesday paper. Then he and Alan took off to explore the Festival (Alan being the reigning "Festival King").
Matthew and I had such a good time together. He would say, "Mama, I found a good spot for us!" and we would go dig. He found about 95 teeth, and I found (see below - click on it for a bigger view) 140 teeth. At the top of the picture, from left to right, you will see a piece of fossilized coral, a stingray bite plate, and a porpoise tooth that I also found. Basically, the town brings in this lot of dirt from a local phosphate mine. The phosphate (for the most part) has been washed out, and this is what is leftover. As you can see, there are lots of fossil remains (in the form of teeth, etc.) in there. The teeth were very easy to find. We found all of our teeth in about three hours. Right before we left, a reporter from the Washington Daily News (http://www.wdnweb.com/) took a picture of our family digging together. Evidently it was on their front page yesterday. With a caption that says, " 'Bad to the Bone' Casey Family Hunts for Shark Teeth at Festival".

Kidding.
We also visited the local Aurora Fossil Museum (free). Great collection of sea fossils and Native American artifacts from NC. The replica shark's mouth in the picture below was there. Aren't we the best looking shark's dinner you ever saw?
Both Friday and Saturday we took the boys to do some river swimming. Friday it was at Flanner's Beach on the Neuse River and Saturday it was at Goose Creek State Park at the Pamlico River. Flanner's Beach was great. There was hardly anyone there, the water was clear, and you could walk out probably 50 yards and the water was still only knee-deep with little current. The Pamlico river on Saturday was not as nice. Small beach area, crowded, and icky water from oil from boats.
Like the boys cared. As long as they can get wet, they're happy.
Alan had the boys and the many hispanic kids there looking for mussels.
Michael just splashed around. He's always kind of doing his own thing, isn't he?
Lesson #3: Bring dry clothes for your kids to change into after swimming. Otherwise they turn into popsicles riding back to the campground in their undies.

After the Saturday afternoon swimming, we took a ferry over to the other side of the river to take us home. This picture shows the sun beginning to set as we rode. We also picked up some dinner (my kids need detox from the amount of hot dogs they had this weekend) and had a windy meal as we rode.

Lesson #4: Make a list of what you need to bring camping, so you don't forget essentials like bread and peanut butter and jelly. Which cost a million dollars when purchased from the camp store.

Of course, Matthew and Michael loved the ferry, which was the whole point of our ride.
Alan was freezing from his river adventures, but graciously stayed outside with me (rather than go in the small cabin - I get seasick really easily) so I wouldn't be eating alone. See why our marriage works? :)

On Sunday, we drove back down to the coast and went to Shackleford Banks. It's supposed to be this great island for shells. And as we found out after we paid to be ferried over there, the really great shelling area is a nine mile hike from where they drop you off. Which clearly would be a Piece Of Cake for Al and me.
Those little boys just Slow Us Down. You know?
Anyway, the boys splashed in the water, made sand castles, collected shells, and just generally wore themselves out. Which makes for a quiet ride back home when they fall asleep in the car.

Evidently, "Casey" is a popular name in that part of the state. We saw so many signs with our name on them. So, I'm starting a new collection of "Casey" pictures. I really love the one above. How I WISH my hours were the ones listed. I could handle being closed on Sunday and Monday. Ironic, isn't it, that the pastor of the Casey Chapel has a first name of "Alan"?
And here is our garden center. Very appropriate for our garden pursuits this year.

So, here we are back home. Thank goodness for a down day before going back to work tomorrow. We're catching up on laundry, dishwashing, Camilla Cleaning, and sleep today. Even though I still have a couple weeks of work left, I feel like summer has officially begun.