Camp GiGi-Paw-Paw - Fossil Hunting

 It was a beautiful fall day in paradise.  Temps were in the 60's (cool for us here on the Space Coast) and the sun was shining bright.  A perfect day for fossil hunting.  So, off we went to the Haulover Canal.  The waterway had been dredged recently, and hubby said there would be fossils galore.  He was right!  We stepped out of the car, Jem went to the water's edge, and voila!  Our first fossil lay at his feet.

We also saw lots of critter tracks.  Here's a wild hog's footprint.  Below that, are raccoon and deer tracks.

Boys will be boys, right?  The had to climb those mounds of dirt.

 We could hear the wild hogs grunting nearby, but never saw them.  Or they could have been alligators.  They kind of sound similar to me.

This was a rare find.  It's bone.  Jem said it could be thousands of years old.  Might even be a dinasaur.   See the marrow?

Then they did some digging along the water's edge.  We let him throw rocks and do other boy stuff.  He loved it.  Got a bit wet. . . but, it'll dry, right?

He found a coin.  We thought sure it was a pirate's treasure, but no...it was a quarter from New Jersey.  We heard a sound coming and looked up to see. . .

 A NASA helicopter.  We're not far from the Space Center, so it's not unusual.

 I looked for fossils, too, but combined it with bird-watching.  I saw a kingfisher, but the photo was blurry.  I caught this shot of a heron.

 And this beautiful moth.

The canal is part of the Indian River Lagoon.  Look how clear the water is here:

We could see lots of manatees splashing at the boat ramp across the canal, so after the fossil hunting, we went to the other side to look at them.   

The boat ramp area is a favorite spot for manatees to gather.  The water here is very cloudy because they stir up the bottom.  The first photo is the back of a manatee.  The white sticker-looking things are scrapes caused by boat motors.  Sad, right? 

The manatees also have yucky looking stuff attached to their backs.  Don't know if it's dirt, algae, or part of their skin.

 The pic below is of a manatee's tail as he heads for the bottom.  Couldn't get a good close-up of his face.

As I said, this area is a favorite gathering place.  There were at least a dozen manatees there, and there was a whole lot of mating going on.  The manatees gather around the mating couple as a form of protection.  Interesting, huh?  They all had happy faces :)

There was dolphins playing in the area, too.  (Not in the picture, though)

 I love this boy!!! (Smooch)

This is the first fossil we found that day.  You can see the worm imbedded in the shell / rock.

We were very pleased with the booty we found on our fossil hunt, and we had a wonderful, fun-filled day.  We call it Camp GiGi-PawPaw when we do stuff like this.  We enjoy it as much as he does.

***

I sometimes share my posts with these friends: 

Spiritual Sundays     GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTYTitus 2 Tuesday       TITUS TUESDAYS @CORNERSTONE CONFESSIONS    Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up        Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday