The REAL Jurassic Park!

Yes, Dinosaur National Monument is a thing. In fact, it is two things, because the monument is in two locations. Even two states, actually: Colorado and Utah. There is a Canyon Area and a Fossil Bone Quarry. We spent generous quality time at both, so be prepared for A LOT of pictures in this post!

On Monday, May 24, which happened to be Memorial Day, we arrived in the late afternoon in Dinosaur, Colorado. (Yes, that is the town's real name. It used to be called Artesia, but changed its name back in 1966 - which happened to be the year that Debbie's Dad Ken came through Route 40 and the newly rechristened town of Dinosaur wasn't on any of his maps!) I think they must have changed the name of the roads at that time, too...

Debbie and I stopped at the Canyon Visitor Center, got our National Parks passport stamped, watched the movie "River Reflections" and checked out the table top map of the grounds. We decided our best course of action would be to take the Harpers Corner Road up to the canyon overlook to have a picnic supper of the various snacks we had with us. (The restaurants in Dinosaur, such as they are, were closed for the holiday.)

Along the drive, we spotted some wildlife (mule deer and possibly a prairie dog) and had a lot of fun finding new species of plant life on our Seek apps. 

The picnic at the top was very nice - and timely, too, as a storm was blowing in just as we were finishing up. 

After taking some more photos of the beautiful canyon landscape, we headed back to the monument's entrance and then on to our hotel in Vernal, Utah, where we would be staying for two nights.

Tuesday was the day for the Utah side of the monument, known as the Fossil Bone Quarry. We made it to the visitor center near Jensen and got our passport book stamped.  The movie was the same as the one we saw in Colorado, so no need to watch that twice.  After buying a Christmas ornament for us and a stuffed dinosaur for David, we hopped on the shuttle to the Quarry, which is the highlight of the monument.  The excavators of the last century took many dinosaur fossils out of the Jurassic period for skeletons re-assembled in various cities around the country. But at their source site in Utah, they left a layer of fossils in situ so that future visitors (us!) would be able to see what a fossil bed looked like.

The area around the Quarry is called Split Mountain. The tilted rocks are as if the horizontal layers laid down in deposition have been turned vertical. You can see this effect in the picture below, which is just off the Quarry parking lot. The dinosaur fossils all came from within the same layer - the Morrison Formation - which represents the Jurassic period.

After the Quarry, Debbie and I caught a talk from Ranger Kiera(?) about the geological history of the area.  Then we took the Fossil Discovery Trail back down to the visitor center. The trail passes through various epochs of history and includes some exposed fossils along the way. 

Back at the visitor center we enjoyed another picnic lunch of snacks.  Then it was time for the driving loop which includes many points of interest such as ancient pictographs, yellow rocks, "Turtle Rock," and the Green River.  

We ended up going back to the hotel for a nice supper at the Redemption Steakhouse which was located in our hotel. In the evening, we looked for souvenirs, made a Walmart run, gassed up the CR-V, and grabbed some ice cream concoctions from a local Cold Stone Creamery. All in all, a great way to spend the day!

The Graduate

The big reason for the timing of our trip out west was to be able to attend Addison's graduation party on Sunday, May 23. We enjoyed a chill weekend in Longmont hanging out with family celebrating our niece's accomplishment.  Congratulations Addison!

Garden of the Gods 2026

When we were last here in 2008, we had only a very brief time to explore this amazing place. Today, Debbie and I were able to spend hours visiting the welcome center, enjoying a picnic, wandering around the formations, and taking lots of photos. It was a good day!

"Kissing Camels"

Half the Fun?

While our journey out to Colorado was uneventful and even enjoyable in parts, I certainly hope it is not true that - as the old adage goes - getting there is half the fun. If that saying is correct, this may not be an overly fun trip!

Debbie and I had an important decision to make before setting out on our western odyssey. Would we take Debbie's 2010 Toyota Sienna minivan or Jon's 2015 Honda CR-V? Originally, we were planning to take our van, as we had done on previous trips, to ensure that we had plenty of cargo space. However, with gas prices skyrocketing as a result of Operation Epic Fury (why do these trips always end up happening with $4+ gas?), we did some recalculations. Without taking any kids this time, we would have more room. Even with taking the stuff for Adam and Patti, we knew the CR-V could work, and with about 50% better mileage efficiency. That really made the decision for us. A couple of days before our trip, Jon got the Honda serviced with an oil change, tire rotation, and new front brakes that it had been needing. 

On Wednesday, May 20, with all the preparations made and shopping done and packing completed, we left our home at 12280 Beeson Street shortly after 7 am. We made it over an hour before our first stop for a fine breakfast at the Bob Evans in Wooster.

When we got to the Dayton area, we knew we had to make a stop at the legendary Buc-ee's!

Sadly, Debbie wouldn't let us stop here in Indiana:

Debbie made the call for lunch. She happily picked one of her favorites - Culver's.

The rest of the day continued without incident. We ate at a Raising Cane's for supper. Our stop for the night was in Columbia, Missouri, logging 697 miles for the first day.

After a hotel breakfast, we continued west. Topeka was a little challenging in that we were looking for the cheapest gas which wasn't easy to find. We ended up stopping for lunch at a Chick Fil A there. Then it was time for our looong drive across Kansas. Supper was at an Arby's in Goodland where we also filled up before crossing the border into Colorado. It felt like a marathon to make it all the way to Manitou Springs where our night's stay was booked. I experienced a little nausea and headache after supper which may have either been from two full days of driving or possibly some altitude sickness setting in. Maybe both? In two days, we had travelled 1,431 miles and gone from 1,181 feet to 6,306 feet for an increase of 5,125 feet. Whew!

We went to bed on Thursday evening looking forward to spending some time the next day at the nearby Garden of the Gods before meeting up with the Lees in Longmont for Addison's graduation weekend.

Go West, Old Man!

America's West beckons once again, and Debbie and I are heeding the call. Thus we are embarking upon a 17 day, 5000+ mile driving adventure starting Wednesday, May 20, through Friday, June 5, 2026. We figure this will be a great way to celebrate our nation's 250th birthday!

The impetus for the trip is our niece Addison's high school commencement and graduation party.  The Lee Family has been there for important moments in our family's life, and we would like to be able to celebrate the achievements of their oldest daughter with them in Longmont. There are also some heirloom items from the Immel house that we can deliver to them since we are driving.

We will be revisiting some of our favorite destinations from previous trips (Colorado Springs, Yellowstone) as well as journeying to some new sites from our bucket lists (Jon's: Dinosaur National Monument, Craters of the Moon, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and Debbie's: DeSmet.) Our route is anticipated to be I-70 from Ohio through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado, then on various roads through Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin before returning home via I-80.

With Debbie now retired, traveling in late May and early June is possible, so the timing works.  We hope that the earlier trip will mean lower crowds. Of course, with some of our elevated altitudes and latitudes, that also might mean colder weather and even snow. We'll have to see!