So Much So Fast!

Day three, Friday: Prep, prep, press!

Today was especially exciting! Last night Tyler sent out a press release regarding the story on the "Xiphactinus Kill Zone." We were all waiting to see what news channels or papers would "take the bite" on the story, if one did at all that is. Just to be safe though, Joey, a volunteer and myself headed to Spencer's Ditch to prep the fossils and make them camera-pretty. Like I mentioned, rain caused much of the fossils to be covered in sediment again. So, we polished up the fossils--first with a tooth brush and then I sprayed them with some peroxide to make them wet and stand out. Lastly, we applied some concealer on them to form a shiny coating while also using it as somewhat of a glue to hold any fragile bits together.

Before we knew it, CBC was on their way to the field site! A camera man and news anchor arrived, eager to start asking and filming. Then, right after they showed up, CTV came! Then came Winnipeg Free Press! It was crazy. You could see the competition between all the media. Honestly, I have to say it was actually getting kind of annoying having them there. Andrea, a summer student/staff, had to map the same square about five times just for show. I do have to admit though, being interviewed was pretty awesome. It was only my second day and already I was going to be on international Canadian news! Yes, that's right, at 6 p.m. Friday I was on TV!

Lets just say, it was a long day. And let me tell you, there's nothing more appealing after a hard day out in the field then an ice cold beer. Andrea and I headed to Boston's Pizza after we returned to camp and headed into town to do just that. It was so satisfying!

After ending our day perfectly, I was exhausted and proceeded to pass out. What a day!

Day four, Saturday: Diggin' some geology

This was my first day off since I arrived here in Morden as a research intern. What was I going to do? Geology! Joey had been asked to guide a geology hike at the Pembina Valley Provincial Park, a place not more than 20 minutes away via fossil van. So, like the geology interested gal I am, of course I wanted to go. I hadn't been there before, but it was a beautiful sight. Meandering trails through rivers and draping trees with random glacial erratics placed about, left there as the last ice age, during the Pleistocene 12,000 ya, melted.

It was a great time! About five rambunctious little kids full of questions were running around. Everyone bombarded Joey with questions about the Xiphactinus Kill Zone, thanks to the big press it received the previous night. After going around the circle of kids and asking what their favorite dinosaur is, I remember one boy answering with, "I got stung by a bee once!" He sounded so excited about that, but his response didn't really answer the question. Oh kids... it was cute.

One of the older ladies picked up a piece of rock and held it in her hand. She asked Joey about what it was and what gave this somewhat-coarse rock its pinkish hue. He of course informed her that it was sandstone. I then took a look at it and saw that it is not any sandstone, it was arkose sandstone! Hey, I remembered something from geology 211! I proceeded to explain that this arkose sandstone has a pink color from the feldspar minerals in it, and that it usually tends to be coarser grained than regular quartz sandstone--the beige-colored sand you see at the beach usually--because it hasn't been transported from the source as far. Joey said he was impressed and happy I had mentioned that to the lady, so hey, I was happy!

The geology hike was nice. While Joey and I were there we received the Pembina Valley Provincial Park Passports! Basically, all the parks around there will stamp this special passport for visiting--kind of like the passport Montana does for dinosaur museums, which I have started too BTW.

We left the park and tried to find the building that gives you the stamp. For some reason, this place is in another town about 15 minutes out of the way. We finally found this shack of an office, and also found it was closed--at 3 p.m. on a weekday?!

Disappointed, we headed back to town with an unstamped passport but with a good day. I went home, changed out of my hiking boots and headed to Trave's again for some dinner. The same gal was working and delivered my Molson Canadian. This time I decided to try the cheeseburger, just to be adventurous! Nommy. It was amazing! Everything they have at this little dinky restaurant/bar/inn is delicious. So, if any of ya'll come to Morden, you need to come to Traveler's Inn!

I do have to say though, the one thing I miss about Bellingham is... the coffee! I have yet found the luxury-yes, luxury-of grabbing a cup of joe in the morning at a coffee shop in town. My choices for getting any kind and form of coffee are McDonalds or Tim Horton's. What would you pick? Ugh... it makes me feel like some spoiled city girl when I can't even just get a damn cup of drip coffee from somewhere that isn't fast food.

With my ranting on my coffee dilemma done, I must now tell whomever may be reading this about the most thrilling thunder and lightening storm of my life. Well, I guess I just told you, but let me say, it was so intense and beautiful! I would see a flash brighter than any nighttime paparazzi and then hear roaring thunder, which sounded to be only a step behind me. And the rain, the rain was pouring more than a winter night in Seattle. Yes, hard to believe for you Washingtonians, but wow! I wish I could have videotaped it, but I remembered only afterwards that I brought my Flip video camera. So, if it happens again, which it's supposed to, I shall video tape this show for you.

I have to say, my nights get better and better! Farewell, so long and I will keep ya'll posted.

For a picture of a mosasaur, go here: http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~museum/hughes/images/Clidastes.jpg

For a picture of the fish, Xiphactinus, go here: http://www.dangerouswildlife.com/images/xiphactinus-final-4k-ga_w0o5.jpg

These are two two main fossils found at the "Xiphactinus Kill Zone" site.

For a link to me in the news, go here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000471588893&ref=search#!/video/video.php?v=141837279175324&ref=mf