It's the Utahraptor!

And I'm not kidding about the name! Isn't that the coolest?
Did I mention I love Utah?

This pic was taken at the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, in Price, UT. The museum was fun for the kid (he's 3 1/2, and so must love dinos) and for the adults. Since having the kid, I can no longer follow my previous museum-going practice of reading every scrap of text on every exhibit, but with three adults along for the trip, I did get to read most of them. My favorite factiod? The museum was started in the 60s by a bunch of local guys who were taking a night class from a professor they really liked at the local college. They wanted to keep at least some of the stuff dug up at the nearby Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in town, and so they did. It's a fairly impressive collection, especially for such a small community. Groovy, no? All I produced by taking night classes is a college degree. Well, two if you count the AA :-)

My second-favorite factoid: Dinosaur tracks are usually found on the ceilings of tunnels in coal mines. It's true--I've seen the pictures!