Natural History Museum

World's Biggest Dinosaurs roam the desert near Palm Springs

Windmills on the way to Palm Springs.

Dinosaurs roam the desert near Palm Springs, CA.

ROAR: Inside the belly of a Brontosaurus.

World's Biggest Dinosaurs!

The World's Biggest Dinosaurs Museum features real looking robotic and static dinosaurs.

Traveling eastbound on the 10 Freeway from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, CA you'll find hundreds of windmills, the Moranga Casino, the Cabazon Outlet Mall -- and dinosaurs! The World's Biggest Dinosaur Museum is little more than a pit stop, but its hard not to be enthralled by the Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex that roam roadside. The museum is open year-round for a modest price, and dinosaur structures are pretty amazing, but be warned: The site is used to to teach anti-Darwinism and also "teaches facts" about creationism. We skipped the bible lesson and hit the road instead.

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

 

 

 

 

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History has the bones of a blue whale at its entrance, a Tyrannosaurus Rex that roars at you just inside its doors, a small creek bed and a Butterfly Pavilion out its backdoors. Just 96 years old, the musuem boosts more than 3 million artifacts and specimens in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, vertebrate and invertebrate biology, geology and paleontology, art, library, and archives in its eight permanent halls, two changing exhibit halls and five outdoor areas. Alex climbed the rocks along the creek bed and Serene squeeled the butterflies were "Awesome!" That's four thumbs up from my little ones. 

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

Talking his way through the Jurassic period, Alex shared his paleontologist know-how at the National History Museum of Los Angeles. As his sister "roared" with at each dino, Alex explained the distinctions between triceratops, stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Dinosaur takes over Santa Barbara Zoo

Dinosaurs roam the Santa Barbara Zoo. At least, one that is. His name is Duncan. He actually does shows twice daily. Alex was selected to brush his teeth on stage. Serene sat in the first row and watched her brother take care of a T-Rex. Our dentist would be proud.

Dubbed the "World's Most Beautiful Zoo," the Santa Barbara Zoo boasts a view of the Pacific and the mountains that is stunning. Steps from the beach, affordable and easily visited in just a few hours, the zoo is the perfect day trip for Los Angelenos.

Tar Seeps with Dinosaur Bones in Financial District

It might have been a good idea to know that Alex was terrified of dinosaurs before I took him to see a giant Mastodon at the Page Museum La Brea Tar Pits. One roar from the mechanical mammoth, and our museum experience quickly ended.

Crude oil seeps from the ground in the middle of the Los Angeles financial district on Wilshire Boulevard and every once in awhile, the paleontologists there excavate a fossil from the last Ice Age.

Millions of years ago, Los Angeles lay beneath the Pacific Ocean. When the ocean receded about 100,000 years ago, pools of asphalt formed. Before the bankers of Wilshire trapped our money, animals were trapped in the tar pools. Literally millions of animal and plant fossils have been pulled from the tar. A Fishbowl Laboratory gives visitors a chance to see the restoration process and in the summer Pit 91 is the longest running paleontological excavation site in the world -- operating since 1969.

For future dinosaur diggers, the giant Shasta Ground Sloth, the Sabertoothed cat and Mammoths can't be missed. For little guys who can't quite handle a T-Rex, you may want to save the experience until they're ready for Jurassic Park.

Digging for Dinos and Ghosts in Utah

The State of Utah boasts a lot more than magnificent national parks, excellent skiing and the Great Salt Lake. For some real adventure with your tiny tot, you can dig for dinosaurs that roamed the land millions of years ago or catch a glimpse of one of the rarest creatures of our time. On a weekend getaway to visit friends, Alex and I opted to do both!

We rushed immediately to Utah’s Hogel Zoo in Salt Lake City to discover the Ghost of the Bayou – a rare white alligator on special loan for a limited time only. Discovered in 1987 southwest of New Orleans, there are only 18 white alligators known to exist worldwide. Alex raced by the gator at warp speed, but if you can get your kid to slow down, the zoo is also home to red pandas, nose-to-nose views of white rhinos, peccaries and other exotics.

To take a giant leap back in time, we headed about 30 minutes south of SLC to the Museum of Ancient Life to see a Supersaurus, an ancient sea turtle, and the bones of a pre-historic gigantic sloth. Zooming up and down the museum’s Jurassic Hall, Alex dodged Brachiosaurus, stegosaurus, and even eluded a couple of T-Rexes. While other junior-paleontologists excavated at erosion tables complete with sand, flowing water and mini-dinos or dug for bones in the museum’s own mini-quarry, we tried hard just to not climb into the exhibits.

We’ll probably have to repeat this trip in a couple of years when little Alex is not seeking to set new speed records, but he did learn a new word this weekend – “awesome.”