Dinosaurland

I woke up at 5 am unable to sleep and really, really wanting to find photos of Vernal, UT on Flickr. What I found was a plethora of awesome and because I have the inability to edit, I am posting them in their entirety.

Backstory: I went on a business trip to Vernal, a small town I love near the Colorado border - better known as Dinosaurland - and while the business aspect was hugely successful, I was disappointed that I had zero free time and used what I did have to swim in the hotel pool rather than drive down Highway 40 and take pictures of the dinos. OR visit the Field House of Natural History or the Dinosaur National Monument (for the record, I couldn't have because both were closed). I figured I could find everything I would have wanted to photograph on Flickr, and I was right. Pink flirty-eyed dino from the old Motel Dine-A-Ville, seasonally-themed cowboy dino wearing a bandana, still-operational Sunset Drive-In...


Photo by Flickr user kitseeborg



3 photos by Flickr user johnballard

Photo by Flickr user swigart

Photo by Flickr user helenadagmar

Photo by Flickr user arbyreed

All of the above photos were taken in the present day, but I also found some cool vintage postcards of Main Street Vernal (and what the buildings still pretty much look like today).


Scans by Flickr user firstyearta

& an old pic of one of the dino skeletons that's now displayed inside the field house.

Photo by Flickr user Baltimore Bob

And finally, a truly amazing archival set of 1950s/60s Vernal from the Marriott Library at the University of Utah.

1965 Uintah County Royalty - Shauna Lemon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul B. Lemon, "1965 Miss Uintah County" queen and Reah Toone, her attendant, ride on car in the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo parade.

Boy Pulls Wagon in Parade - A boy pulls a makeshift handcart made from a wagon.

Dancing dinosaurs - Mr. Mrs. Cotton Taylor are all decked out in dinosaurs to accent the theme of the Festival. "Dinosaur Land."

Miss Mars : Kid's Day Parade - Connie Price as Miss Mars and Quentin Price spaceman, won second place in the Kids Day parade. They are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Dan Q. Price.

Uintah High School Cheerleaders - Uintah High School cheerleaders Nancy Hacking, Beth McConkie, Sally Swain and Pollyann Haws.

Vernal City swimming pool - The public enjoy swimming at the Vernal Swimming Pool. In the background are Motel Utah, Chevron Station, Walt's Phillips 66 Station, and the Utah Field House of Natural History Museum. The Dough Boy can also be seen on the county grounds in front of the pool.

Native Americans on Wagon - Native American Indians wearing their native costumes on a wagon during a parade.

This weekend is Pioneer Day in Utah and I intend to milk the four-day weekend to its fullest. I'm toying with the idea of scheduling posts for next week so I can share vacation photos. Summer is on and I am loving every minute of it.

bee charmer

Speaking of films that I do have a real, true, deep sentimental attachment to, I give you stills from Fried Green Tomatoes courtesy of Ginny Branch Stelling. I've seen this movie maybe more than any other, inspiring me to wallpaper my walls in clippings from flower catalogs throughout the 1990s, and probably contributing to a lifetime love of honey jars, trains, and cafes.

If summer camp represents to me woods, cabins, lakes, canoes, archery, friendship bracelets, teepees, and s'mores, Fried Green Tomatoes is true-blue best friends, the romantic Deep South, hoppin' freight trains, barbecue, wooden porches, and bee charmin'. (While Idgie has an obvious appeal, I've always fancied myself a Ruth.)

I'm waiting for the perfect summer evening to re-watch this movie with Cameron. As luck would have it, it's on Watch Instantly on Netflix.

notes on camp

I've only seen the original Parent Trap maybe once in its entirety, but even though I hold no sentimental attachment to the film I just about died when I saw Amy Merrick's Living In on Design Sponge. "Vintage summer camp" has got to be the guiding principle to my all-time favorite aesthetic. Why oh why oh why do I still not own a wooden canoe or rowboat, a vintage swimsuit, or a decent picnic blanket? What's more, why did my family (presumably) get rid of its treasure trove of old camp gear, canteens, hand-crank ice cream maker and our teepee??



Some other fabulous camp links:
-This American Life, Notes on Camp. Listened to while driving to Vernal this week. So, so good.
-My very favorite engagement shoot.
-A Desert Fete teepee tag.

(I've got lots of fun real-life adventures to post about, but I continue to be so real-life busy that it's all I can do to keep up with other peoples' lives on the internet and continue having adventures in my own. Suffice it to say that summer has been real, real good to me.)

home is wherever i'm with you

I had one of those vacations that is completely restorative and relaxing and stimulating and beautiful. Heath, you are the best host. I can't wait to upload my photos and share them. But for now, waiting at the SeaTac airport, I've got home on my mind and cannot wait to return to my little life and all that it holds.




Bed. Kitties. Boyfriend. I can't wait to see you.

things that sparkle

Happy Independence Day everyone! Please excuse me; I'm blissfully happy in my vacation in the Pacific Northwest. Currently I am planted at the small port town's coffee shop, checking my email, tweets, and blogs for the first time, spying from the picture windows on the rain drizzling, toddlers scooting on their bicycles, and masses of fiddlers and banjoists traveling around between fort barracks to their workshops. You see, this is the spectacle scheduled for today's celebration, though I'm only attending the fireworks and not the fiddling.

Enjoy your 4th!
Photo by Lena Corwin.