While in NE Iowa one of the activities that the kiddos wanted to do was hunt for fossils. This area is known regionally for fossils that predate the dinosaurs. We heard from friends that Decorah is an easy place to find fossils, but to keep expectations in check for the kiddos.

Decorah is what appears to be a cute town in the Driftless region. My basic understanding is that the glaciers didn’t scrape up the ground in this region and so more of the fossils are present. The staff at the city visitors center was really helpful and even gave insight into the massive scorpion like fossil found recently that also predates the dinosaurs. I am not afraid of most bugs but a 6 foot scorpion like bug is an intimidating thought.

So we headed to an out of the way public stream/small river with a park attached that we were told would be easy for us to find these fossils. We’re clearly novices, but there are many forums that discuss their findings. University of MN also has some explanations. We were just excited to find some.

While this was a simple time for us as a family, it was a fond memory on this trip. Truth be told I felt like a a kid again beach combing for shells. It was also really cool to see the wildflowers along the river bank. The goldfinch having a brief bath was fun as well.

Bye for now.