Here’s a quick update on two travel items I wrote about in previous blogs:
Wyoming Dinosaur Center
In a previous blog I told you about our family’s summer plans to toss dirt around in Thermopolis, Wyoming—home of the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. If that blog didn’t convince you that you too should be giving your child the unique opportunity to dig deep for a piece of history, perhaps this bit of information will. Just a few days ago the center opened its new exhibit featuring a rare birdlike dinosaur specimen.
According to experts, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center’s Archaeopteryx specimen is second only to a specimen in Berlin in terms of completeness. What’s more, scientists say the specimen in Wyoming is easily worth more than $1 million.
If you don’t have a dinosaur-obsessed youngster in your family you may be wondering what all the commotion regarding the new exhibit is all about. The Archaeopteryx lived during the Jurassic period and is the first animal whose fossil reveals feathers. This particular fossil is approximately 150 million years old and is in rare form. It is notable for its especially well-preserved skull that gives scientists a top view of the animal’s head for the first time. Even more noteworthy is the fact that it is one of just 10 known Archaeopteryx fossils in the world.
A scientist at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center recently said the quality of the fossil puts the Wyoming museum in a league with much larger, more prestigious museums in London and Berlin, where two other Archaeopteryx fossils are currently located.
So I guess it will be worth the drive…
Cellphone Parking Lot
Well, just in time for the busy summer travel season, New York’s busiest airport has unveiled its own cellphone parking lot for people picking up arriving passengers. Now instead of wasting time and valuable (and expensive) gas driving around the perimeter of JFK you can park for free in the new lot and wait for your loved one to call you with his/her pickup point.
Unfortunately, there are no immediate plans for new cellphone lots to be created at Newark or LaGuardia airports where space is at a premium.
Related Articles:
“Mommy, There’s A Dinosaur In The Airport!”
Visiting the Madison Children’s Museum