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.