let me save you a trip

You know those wacky travel books, where they tell you all the places to visit that are off the beaten path that sound odd, yet fascinating? Don't let them fool you. They are just odd, not fascinating.

DinosaurLand. How bad could it be? It is on Stonewall Jackson Highway after all. And it is a park full of life sized dinosaurs. Not to mention price, a very inexpensive outing for a family on a budget.

You kind of get the feeling of what you are in for as you pull up to the home turned business venture. From the look of the shark which is roadside, you hope and pray the dinosaurs don't look as, well, pitiful. You have driven all this way and have already promised the kids a day of fun at DinosaurLand, there is no turning back. They've got you right where they want you.

Of course the epic adventure begins and ends in the country store/gift shop. Four dollars for the two older kids, five dollars for myself. Let the fun begin.

First stop, the washed up shark by the road. Paper mache-d (sorry can't do all the symbols that word needs) in the seventies. Only feature worth mentioning, mouth open for a good photo op. "They can't all look like this" starts to play over and over in your head.

Past the dirt mound, the real DinosaurLand begins. And you guessed it, more paper mache. All of them. And all dating back to at least 1970 if not older. Avery, love her sponge-like brain, pointed out discrepancies.
"Mommy, that wasn't the real size of the Pteranodon."
"Mommy, that dinosaur is supposed to have another claw on the front of its' foot."
"Mommy, that dinosaur was a plant eater, why do they have it eating another dinosaur?"

So we wandered through all 30+ creations, not just dinosaurs, to end at King Kong. That was about 15 minutes after we arrived. Can we really kill the rest of the afternoon in the gift shop??

Thank goodness Skyline Caverns is only a 30 minute drive down the road in Front Royal. Day not totally wasted.

As we drove home, the kids just kept asking to go back to DinosaurLand. Really? They can't be serious. Ok, they are serious. I think I'll let Stephen take them back to enjoy the adventure (park).