Twenty-Three
Saturday, May 21
Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Hays, Kansas
Thomas rarely got away from the lab, but in celebration of his birthday and at Ivan’s urging, he decided for once to take the weekend off and drove out west to visit his brother Daniel in Hays. On Saturday morning they went out to Castle Rock, the site where one of their ancestors had found the famous Xiphactinus fish-within-a-fish fossil. After getting covered in the chalky soil, they unearthed a Pteranodon fossil, a rare find.
Daniel examined the fossil. “This specimen isn’t as good as the one we already have on display, but Laura might like to see it still,” he said then paused in reflection. “Dad would have been proud of us for finding it,” he said.
“Yeah, but Mom won’t be impressed unless it explains
