Welcome to Jurassic Park

and the Taint Hammer rides again

Last weekend, I took my sister and the kids to Field Station: Dinosaurs! which is a New Jersey dinosaur amusement park. Very fitting, as the first nearly intact dinosaur skeleton was discovered in Haddonfield, New Jersey. That was the eponymous Hadrosaurus, and you can see a statue of what scientists think the creature looked like, as you stroll down King’s Highway past some of the state’s best Neapolitan pizza (Pizza Crime) a decent brewpub (King’s Road Brewing) and a great neighborhood bookshop (Inkwood Books).

That’s Haddie up there. The dino park is on the other end of the state in Leonia, near one of our best burger joints and diners (the Jackson Hole Diner, in Englewood) a classic dining car with jukeboxes and spinner stools and a massive burger. We filled up there and let the kids pump quarters into the juke, so we wouldn’t be hangry while wandering the animatronic dinosaur statues at the park.

To be fair, as far as corny amusement parks go, Field Station: Dinosaurs! is pretty good. It’s definitely for the kiddos, and that’s all fine and dandy. It was done up for Halloween with skeletons, which made it seem like Jurassic Park after Dennis Nedry wrought havoc upon their UNIX system. Did you know his name is an acronym for “Nerdy Sinned”? Ain’t Michael Crichton a card? I donned my Dennis Nedry costume and took the kids on a tour, and they loved it:

I don’t share photos of the kids, but I assure you, they had a lovely time getting flung around like boogers on a bungee cord ride, smashing open plaster of Paris bricks to find coprolite fossils, and racing velociraptor toys. It’s not a bad park for ten bucks a pop (with a Groupon) but the rides are extra, and add up quickly. We chose the hottest day of the fall, and we all needed water and air conditioning by the time we were done.

Kids are both invigorating and exhausting. But it was a lovely day.

I still managed to hit the trails at Black Run with the Taint Hammer III on Sunday. Fuji was great and sent a whole bike to replace the second cracked frame on my Wendigo. I had Peddler’s Shop, my local bike monger, assemble it while I wait for parts I need for my steel frame build. And how I missed riding a fat tire bike! They are really the Jeeps of the bicycle world. Big, ugly, and super capable. Some of the trails have been neglected and are barely goat tracks. But with a fat bike, no trail? No problem.

It was a worthwhile ride, because I have never seen mushrooms growing in sand before. I took a beautiful photo of one that amazed me, and there was a whole field of them. Also, someone got industrious with the cinder blocks left over from the demolished airport (for more details on that, check out my posts on AeroHaven.)

mushrooms and ruins

The one place that fat tire bikes don’t do very well is asphalt, at least when they have studded trail tires like I have on the Wendigo. I’ve gotten the bike up to 22 mph downhill, but it’s a bit of a workout pumping those pedals on pavement. Which is what our local bike path, a “Rail to Trail” that crosses several major roadways, consists of. So, I ride The Gorn, my hybrid trail bike, on that path. It’s still not very fast, as it has trail tires, but I manage to get a relaxing ride and good workout there after work ends and before the sun sets.

I can’t really complain about the trail, except for one crossing where cars ignore the flashing road sign and fly past you. There’s a blind curve right before it, and I will be writing a Concerned Letter to my elected officials about it.¹ That being said, the trail is very cool, and includes two bike repair stations with tools, including an Allen wrench set and an air pump, tethered so they can’t be stolen. I’d never seen such a thing before. Here it is with the caboose from the now-defunct rail line:

Blackwood Rail Trail stuff

In the cold mornings, I usually go for my nature walk and save the bike rides for the afternoon when it’s warmed up a bit. That may change, as I bought a pair of “pogies,” which are giant mittens that fit over your bike handlebars to protect your hands from the cold. I have a thermal layer and a waterproof jacket and pants for when the snow comes. I’m hoping we get some snow this year, as the Taint Hammer and the Subaru are both ideal for it. On my nature hikes, I have been seeing more snakes as they seek the morning sun to bask in, and a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks have been circling and calling to each other. I’ve also found where the local great blue heron likes to fish, but I haven’t been able to stalk close enough for a photo. Even when my footsteps are light enough to be ignored by ruby-crowned kinglets, the heron—who I have named “Old Nog,” after the heron in Tarka the Otter—flaps away to the other side of the creek, croaking in protest.

A garter snake in defense pose, and a red-shouldered hawk in flight

The garter snake I found was barely as thick as my pinky finger and quite defensive. I’ve been noticing more reptiles and amphibians, now that my niece has expressed a desire to have one as a pet. We’re going to look at bearded dragons or leopard geckos at a local herp shop sometime. Here’s video of my little snek fren:

Next week? Who knows. I don’t have an adventure planned, but this Sunday, I may take a road trip to Cape May for a bike ride around the best places to watch the fall migration. And the Sunday after that, I’m driving up to north Jersey to visit friends, and might bring the Taint Hammer to the Tourne for a bike ride the next morning. Until then, stay foxy.

1. I emailed the mayor and the council, and amazingly enough, a police sergeant investigated it that same day, and are putting up a speed measurement device to see if they need to step up enforcement at the crosswalk. The town can’t install speed bumps, it is against our ordinances. This is a far cry from Nutley, where my grandmother asked for brighter street lights or enforcement because people sped up our street, and they told her “if you don’t like it, move.”