I have posted some of my favorite pictures from our Dino Dig this summer. Hope you like them!
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Ok, so every week we have hat night. On hat night certain people are highlighted and given hats for things like best find, safty concious, person who found squat. This year everybody recieved at hat for something. I dont remember any of our "rewards" but i have a moose hat, Justin has a female viking hat, Steggy has a bear hat and Leah has an Apatasaurus that roars on her head.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
I hate the DMV
Argh, well as you can probably tell from my title..I've had a extremely stressed day. I have been trying for the last week to get new plates for my car. I received my drivers license with ease, in North Dakota, no tests are needed to switch woo hoo!! Strangely, the drivers license place and the plates place are in totally separate buildings in different parts of town. Does this make any sense? No of course not. So anyways, after I had so easily gotten my license I was in high spirits of getting my plates no problem. See I can't drive my car until i get my plates because my tabs are way expired by now. So my poor car is sitting at my parents place, because Dad fixed some things on her. Well I get to the plates place and the lady tells me that all I need to switch over is proof of insurance, cause that'll have my car info on it and the address and phone number to the bank that has my title. Ok i say and I have dad mail me my insurance info that was in my car. So I received it in the mail, and today Jusitn and I went there to get this finished up so we could drive to mom and dads so we could do laundry and get my car. So I bring the stuff with me to the DMV, and what happens? The lady tells me I have the wrong stuff. I need my title... how that can be since I'm still paying my car off...i don't know. So I guess I was suppose to receive it from Minnesota, so they sent me to the Minnesota DMV. At the MN DMV, they had no idea why we were sent there. I went home and called the ND DMV, and just said I"m moving in from another state, what do i need? This person said, registration and you're banks address and phone number. ARGH!! This better be correct, because if I go and it's not, someone's getting a piece of my mind. I have been without my wonderful car for way to long. I hope this goes well......
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Oh the butchering of my new last name begins!!
Well it's official, I just had to deal with somebody on the phone that could not say Costa Rica properly. Like it's that hard, I mean it's a friggin country for cryin' out loud. But no, see Justin's car has a cracked windshield so i'm waiting around for the guy to show up to replace the glass. So the phone rings and I answer and I hear, "hello? Mrs...Mrs Costa?" It sounded like phonetically..cost-a insead of coast-a. Sigh..I'm going to have to put up with this for the rest of my life.
All hail the cleaning queen!
Whew! I'm tired! I had to work this morning from 5am-10am..yes you are reading this right. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are days that our stores gets our freight so there is a special team that comes in on these days to just put away the freight onto the shelves. I decided to do it because of two reasons 1)It pays more than working the floor and 2) I'm done super early, I go home take a nap for an hour and I'm ready to go. So when I got home today I chilled for a bit on the couch, made some lunch, wrote the previous blog and surfed the web. For some reason, Justin saying "I'm going to the garage to clean it up a bit," got me into this crazy cleaning mode. I cleaned the bathroom, some of the kitchen and the living room. When I get into this cleaning frenzy, Justin usually avoids me because nothing he does will appease me. He'll always be in the way, his junk's all over the place and for some reason he always starts to get affectionate and tries to hug and kiss me and I'm like "get off, I'm trying to clean here." I even balanced our joint account checkbook, geeze I'm good.
So I think for the rest of the evening I'm going to work on putting more wedding pics in my Yahoo on-line photo album, and probably watch a movie or two.
So I think for the rest of the evening I'm going to work on putting more wedding pics in my Yahoo on-line photo album, and probably watch a movie or two.
Week 2 of dino camp
Ok so for week two I was nicely medicated, i went to the doctor on my day off...Not a fun thing to do. But I got on some meds to help my ear infection go away. We waited around the science center again at school for the new peoples to show up. Again there were a couple returnees but this week we had a larger group of new people. All the new people were great and most were very enthusiastic and had no problem putting up with daily changes of what we were going to do/go. We only worked on the main egg site one day, just to see what was going on there and what was coming out. A really cool crushed egg was found, the rock was split through the middle of it so you could follow the egg all the way around. Most eggs we find are not like that..Just lines of broken egg, which is fun to find also but not as exciting as a whole one.
what's interesting about working with dino eggs, is that it's the crushed eggs that you want to find, not the nice round eggs that you see in museums. It has been found that embryo bones are found in the crushed eggs and not the whole round ones. What the thinking there is that if the egg is not crushed then inside the egg is a very acidic micro-environment which would then probably eat away at the bones. But when the egg is crushed, all that fluid leaves, which then improves the chances of the embryonic bones to be preserved. Pretty neat huh?
The rest of the week was spent traveling to various sites and surface collecting to see what had eroded out during the winter and to see what sites needed collecting/excavating permits for next summer.
Camp life was a lot more fun this week because everyone was not doped up on cold/allergy meds like they were the previous week. So we all stayed up later, had terrific bonfires and drank awhole bunch. unfortunately the rattlesnakes also refused to leave us along. We had two in camp that week. One was while we were eating dinner, it was right next to one of the picnic tables (thankfully not the one i was sitting at), and the second was right next to the showers, both were being occupied at the moment so it was a very tense few minutes there while they were freaking out in the showers waiting for someone to come down and kill the snake.
Oh and yes Rayna, we sleep on the ground. Not like in the open air..Just you and the stars but in tents. What was kinda frightening though was that many tents come with a vestibule which is a part of the rain fly that extends over the door, making a little entry way into the tent. That would have been a perfect place for a snake to be hanging out in, so when ever I approached my tent i would kick the rain fly all around to make sure there were no surprises inside.
Of course on the last research day, we were scouting around a site when one of the staff members, Austin, found a turtle sticking out of a butte wall. So we didn't have an excavation permit for that site, so we sadly had to leave it there. Vickie was going to go back and plaster up the side of it, to prevent any more deteriation so hopefully we'll beable to get back to it next summer with a permit.
The last two night for our "Herd" (Justin, I, Leah, Alyssa and new member Austin) was pretty big drinking nights. We just had to finish up everything we bought before the end of camp, so we all sat around the fire and drank until either the bugs or the cold got to us.
In the end, this was a fabulous vacation..no one was totally obnoxious, the weather was actually descent for once, and we found some pretty cool stuff.
I only have a few pics left in my last point-and-shoot camera, I'll get it on CD and get a few of them on here that best illustrate life at dino camp.
what's interesting about working with dino eggs, is that it's the crushed eggs that you want to find, not the nice round eggs that you see in museums. It has been found that embryo bones are found in the crushed eggs and not the whole round ones. What the thinking there is that if the egg is not crushed then inside the egg is a very acidic micro-environment which would then probably eat away at the bones. But when the egg is crushed, all that fluid leaves, which then improves the chances of the embryonic bones to be preserved. Pretty neat huh?
The rest of the week was spent traveling to various sites and surface collecting to see what had eroded out during the winter and to see what sites needed collecting/excavating permits for next summer.
Camp life was a lot more fun this week because everyone was not doped up on cold/allergy meds like they were the previous week. So we all stayed up later, had terrific bonfires and drank awhole bunch. unfortunately the rattlesnakes also refused to leave us along. We had two in camp that week. One was while we were eating dinner, it was right next to one of the picnic tables (thankfully not the one i was sitting at), and the second was right next to the showers, both were being occupied at the moment so it was a very tense few minutes there while they were freaking out in the showers waiting for someone to come down and kill the snake.
Oh and yes Rayna, we sleep on the ground. Not like in the open air..Just you and the stars but in tents. What was kinda frightening though was that many tents come with a vestibule which is a part of the rain fly that extends over the door, making a little entry way into the tent. That would have been a perfect place for a snake to be hanging out in, so when ever I approached my tent i would kick the rain fly all around to make sure there were no surprises inside.
Of course on the last research day, we were scouting around a site when one of the staff members, Austin, found a turtle sticking out of a butte wall. So we didn't have an excavation permit for that site, so we sadly had to leave it there. Vickie was going to go back and plaster up the side of it, to prevent any more deteriation so hopefully we'll beable to get back to it next summer with a permit.
The last two night for our "Herd" (Justin, I, Leah, Alyssa and new member Austin) was pretty big drinking nights. We just had to finish up everything we bought before the end of camp, so we all sat around the fire and drank until either the bugs or the cold got to us.
In the end, this was a fabulous vacation..no one was totally obnoxious, the weather was actually descent for once, and we found some pretty cool stuff.
I only have a few pics left in my last point-and-shoot camera, I'll get it on CD and get a few of them on here that best illustrate life at dino camp.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Back safe and sound
So I'm back in wonderful Fargo, ND....sound sarcastic? Yeah just kinda. I had a great time in Montana so I'll try to fill you all in.
Week 1:
Justin and I arrived to Havre, MT three days early to help with the set up of camp. Our friend Alyssa or "Steggy" was already there. So for three days the three of us helped Vickie and her husband Greg get ready for and set up camp. Our other friend Leah arrived on Thursday, the day before camp started. Camp started Friday, with the four of us waiting at the school, waiting for all the campers to arrive. Everyone were returnees except two. The two new people Elaine and Glen were cool, they both came by themselves and like everyone else were fasinated with dinosaurs. Elaine had been on other digs, mostly archeology digs including a ten day tour of the Egyptian pyramids.
Well there is also another new person, Stephen, Vickies cousin, brought his niece Tristany or Wiz along. Wiz is 11 and her nickname is dead on. Not like a braty know it all, but a very wise little girl. It was amazing just to listen to her talk. If only i could describe her better. And she was dynamite at finding fossils, not big ones, but tiny teeth and bones. Her family owns a ranch in southern Montana, and it's on the Hell Creek formation which is known for its fabulous dinosaurs like T.rex, Triceratops and Stegosaurus. So lets just say that she's had lots of practice.
The first day of camp was just setting up tents and getting everyone adjusted to camp life. The second day was getting people to understand the local geology of the area, and getting them adjusted to looking for fossils. We took them on a mini-hike around the buttes right around camp and set them loose in the fossiliferous areas. What was really cool about this was that we found some plant fossils. For some reason this area did not preserve plants well. What we found was a metasequoia branch. Pretty cool stuff.
While on our way back into camp, Leah, Alyssa and I were walking though some tents and someone shouted out "Rattle Snake!" We had all walked right by it. Very scary and very dangerous. Camp policy is that if there is a snake in camp we have to kill it. Rattlesnakes are very territorial and so if we just shoed it out then it would just come back. So Stephen took off it's head with a shovel, and I think Glen got the rattle.
The rest of the week flew by, with the exception of me getting sick. Yes in the middle of summer, while camping I get a cold and an ear infection. Ugh those last couple days of camp were pretty hazy, I was so out of it I could barely concentrate on fossil collecting. So the last half of the 1st week was pretty crappy, but everyone had a good time, not too many good finds. We were at one site just seeing what was coming out of ground, we think found a piece of skull of something but it was pretty fragmented so we just covered it up and hoped it will be back there next year when Vickie can get an excavation permit.
We got one night off inbetween the two weeks. So the four of us shared a room at the best western, which was where I posted last time.
Well I'm tired of typing already so perhaps tomorrow I'll continue on.
Week 1:
Justin and I arrived to Havre, MT three days early to help with the set up of camp. Our friend Alyssa or "Steggy" was already there. So for three days the three of us helped Vickie and her husband Greg get ready for and set up camp. Our other friend Leah arrived on Thursday, the day before camp started. Camp started Friday, with the four of us waiting at the school, waiting for all the campers to arrive. Everyone were returnees except two. The two new people Elaine and Glen were cool, they both came by themselves and like everyone else were fasinated with dinosaurs. Elaine had been on other digs, mostly archeology digs including a ten day tour of the Egyptian pyramids.
Well there is also another new person, Stephen, Vickies cousin, brought his niece Tristany or Wiz along. Wiz is 11 and her nickname is dead on. Not like a braty know it all, but a very wise little girl. It was amazing just to listen to her talk. If only i could describe her better. And she was dynamite at finding fossils, not big ones, but tiny teeth and bones. Her family owns a ranch in southern Montana, and it's on the Hell Creek formation which is known for its fabulous dinosaurs like T.rex, Triceratops and Stegosaurus. So lets just say that she's had lots of practice.
The first day of camp was just setting up tents and getting everyone adjusted to camp life. The second day was getting people to understand the local geology of the area, and getting them adjusted to looking for fossils. We took them on a mini-hike around the buttes right around camp and set them loose in the fossiliferous areas. What was really cool about this was that we found some plant fossils. For some reason this area did not preserve plants well. What we found was a metasequoia branch. Pretty cool stuff.
While on our way back into camp, Leah, Alyssa and I were walking though some tents and someone shouted out "Rattle Snake!" We had all walked right by it. Very scary and very dangerous. Camp policy is that if there is a snake in camp we have to kill it. Rattlesnakes are very territorial and so if we just shoed it out then it would just come back. So Stephen took off it's head with a shovel, and I think Glen got the rattle.
The rest of the week flew by, with the exception of me getting sick. Yes in the middle of summer, while camping I get a cold and an ear infection. Ugh those last couple days of camp were pretty hazy, I was so out of it I could barely concentrate on fossil collecting. So the last half of the 1st week was pretty crappy, but everyone had a good time, not too many good finds. We were at one site just seeing what was coming out of ground, we think found a piece of skull of something but it was pretty fragmented so we just covered it up and hoped it will be back there next year when Vickie can get an excavation permit.
We got one night off inbetween the two weeks. So the four of us shared a room at the best western, which was where I posted last time.
Well I'm tired of typing already so perhaps tomorrow I'll continue on.
Friday, July 16, 2004
One week down..one to go!
Well hello, I am at Best Western right now in Havre, Montana. We wrapped up week one today and are starting week two tomarow so today we're enjoying modern devices that we usually take for granted like flushing toilets, air conditioning and soft beds. Much has happened this week and I am looking forward to telling all about it when i'm back home. Take care, and hope for no more rattlesnakes for week 2!
Sunday, July 04, 2004
4th of July
Happy 4th of July!!! Well what's left of it at least, it's 11:30pm and I'm still up. I got home from a tiring 8 hours at work (time and a half baby!) at 3:30, layed down at 5:30 and got up at 7 so now I'm basically wired. Justin has to work at 5am so he's fast asleep. I watched fireworks from my 3rd floor balcony, so i got to watch peoples fireworks and I also watched New Yorks fireworks show on TV, loved the show but could have done without the music, i like watching fireworks in silence. Kinda bummed though because we were suppose to go home today to my parents house, but justin switched shifts to the 5am so there went that idea. On mom and dads property they have a pretty good sized hill that when at the top, it over looks Lake Lida. So from the hill top you can see all the rich people at their lake cabins shooting their expensive fireworks off.
This may be my last blog for at least two weeks. On Tuesday morning, Justin and I are leaving for our yearly dinosaur dig in Havre, Mt. This link goes to our dino dig site, unfortunately the pics are old so Justin or I are not in any of them but it will give you a good idea of what we do. This will be our 6th year going, and probably our 4th year as staff. The actual camp doesn't start until next weekend i think but, there's always a lot of set up work to be done and we're the closest staffers and we drive so we can get out there a lot quicker than our California and new york friends/staffers. When we get back I'll definitely have to post a few pics so you can see just how beautiful the badlands are.
For wedding presents, we received a new sweet tent and two new sleeping bags, so it will be fun to try all this new stuff out. In the middle of the week sessions we will be back in town and have internet access so hopefully i will try to post a quick word on how things are going but no promises. I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July.
This may be my last blog for at least two weeks. On Tuesday morning, Justin and I are leaving for our yearly dinosaur dig in Havre, Mt. This link goes to our dino dig site, unfortunately the pics are old so Justin or I are not in any of them but it will give you a good idea of what we do. This will be our 6th year going, and probably our 4th year as staff. The actual camp doesn't start until next weekend i think but, there's always a lot of set up work to be done and we're the closest staffers and we drive so we can get out there a lot quicker than our California and new york friends/staffers. When we get back I'll definitely have to post a few pics so you can see just how beautiful the badlands are.
For wedding presents, we received a new sweet tent and two new sleeping bags, so it will be fun to try all this new stuff out. In the middle of the week sessions we will be back in town and have internet access so hopefully i will try to post a quick word on how things are going but no promises. I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July.
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