Cruisin’ The Fossil Freeway in Kansas

Not all of the destinations in our Read Across America Road Trip are pulled from fiction books, we’re also following a story that is as old as our planet. 

As my son is fascinated by paleontology, I’ve included several stops mentioned in Cruisin’ The Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5,000-Mile Paleo Road Trip by Kirk Johnson, and illustrated by Ray Troll.

It’s Not Just Dorothy’s Home

When I think of Kansas, I envision flat lands of wheat fields and prairies, and yes, we found these.

However, back in prehistoric times, this land was covered by a deep ocean brimming with marine life that has left a rich deposit of shells and fossils. 

One Heck of a Lodging Deal

We plunged into our visit with an overnight stay at the Hays, Kansas Ramada Convention Center, one of the best hotel bargains that we’ve found. 

$50 per night for a room with two beds, in a hotel that features a pool with a 100’ Serpentine Slide, within sight of the friendly bar/restaurant.  Fun for the kids, and the weary mom.

A Small, But Mighty, Museum

In the morning, we visited the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, a small museum with a mighty collection of some of the choicest fossils.  It’s smallish size, and interactive exhibits, makes this a wonderful place to introduce children to paleontology.

After a short exploration of the hands-on stations in the Discovery Room, we began our fossil tour with a walk through a life-size diorama that truly captures the imagination.  OK, it captured some of our imaginations. Kayla thought it was a lovely spot for a nap, until the animatronic T-Rex roared and dipped his head in our direction.

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Fish-Within-A-Fish

It wasn’t until we were at the Sternberg, that I realized why the Kansas digs mentioned in Cruisin’ The Fossil Freeway, and the discovery of a fish-within-a-fish, looked so familiar. 

We’d seen the same kind of mammoth fish fossil at the Museum of Natural History in New York City, where we’d also watched the Imax movie, Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure that recounts the story of the fish-within-a-fish.

Now, we were getting to see the celebrity fossil in person.  Pretty exciting stuff.

Pilgrimage to the Chalk Pyramids

Even better, we went right to the source – the actual site where the fish-within-a-fish was excavated, the Chalk Pyramids of Kansas.

It’s an off-the-beaten-path site, down a long, dirt road, but well worth the visit.  Incredibly beautiful, especially in the golden glow of late afternoon, it’s a lovely destination even if you’re not in search of fossils. 

Still, it’s unlikely that you could miss finding a fossil, the rocks are liberally covered with ancient shells. 

Nearby, but sufficiently far away from the monument rocks, Alex found a perfect place to start his own paleontological dig.

He added his first fossil, a shell, to his new collection, fueling his desire to find more fossils.  Fortunately, the fossil freeway is a ubiquitous road.

Related Article:

• Alex’s article: Discovery Of A Lifetime At The Sternberg Museum

Read Across America Road Trip:

• BBQ In Kansas City, Missouri
• Adventures of the Imagination In Mark Twain’s Hometown
• Wright 3 In Chicago
• Yolonda’s Genius: On The Road From Cleveland To Chicago
• Read Across Road Trip Begins In NYC
• How To Plan A Read Across America Road Trip
• Reading On The Road

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Tagged as: fossils, paleontology, Read Across America Road Trip