Introducing Carmen

There are people who name everything.  Our third son Chris, names everything Dante.  His dog is named "Dante the dog", his computer is named "Dante the computer", his car is named "Dante the Chevy" and his first born will probably be named "Dante the kid".  In high school my best friend Robin named her Vespa scooter "Spumoni".  We name pets but that is about it.  Reading other blogs and following other Airstream owners and writers, A lot of people name their trailers.  George and I have been thinking about different names and we were without any inspiration; nothing! nada, nope, everything sounded stupid.  

On our way home, we again decided to follow our curiosity and visit Berlin/ Ichthyosaur State Park in Gabbs, Nevada.  Always wondered about this place.  It is about one and a half hours from state route 95 (two hours from Hawthorn, NV)  a remote State Park which sits about 7,500 ft.  There is a old mining ghost town named Berlin and further up the road is a covered site where seven Ichthyosaurs were discovered.  When I could get cell service, I called ahead to find out if the park was open, if we could get in (it is winter at 7,500 ft) and could we see the fossils.  The nice gentleman who answered assured us we could get in and the park was open.  He agreed to meet us the next morning and give us a tour of the site.

We found the campground which has 14 sites nestled in piñon pines.  It is a nice campground but the RV pull thru sites are not very level.  It was Valentines Day and we used up the last of our firewood and had a big campfire, nice dinner and opened a good bottle of wine.  The sky was dark and you could see stars forever. What a fabulous place to star gaze.  I looked at our campsite and wondered. "where in the world has our little trailer been?"  Then it hit me, the 1980's computer geography game our kids played; "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego".  So our 1975 Tradewind Land Yacht is now named "Carmen".

In the morning the Ranger met us and gave us a tour of the dig site.  I didn't see the bones very well, but they have a diagrammed overlay that shows you where the fossils are and how they lay in situ.  These are some of the largest Ichthyosaurs in the world.  These were ocean swimming creatures, how they ended up at the top of a desolate mountain in the middle of Nevada at 7,500 feet is a puzzle.  

Our guide said they believe these particular Ichthyosaurs died about 250 million years ago, as they swam around the mega continent Pangea.  I can't even wrap my head around the time or the forces leading up to their discovery.  Nevada State Parks have been a wonderful discovery.  They are dog friendly, well maintained and very interesting.  Follow along and see where we end up on our next adventure!  Looking for a Carmen sticker, if anyone has one!