If dinosaurs still lived, what do you imagine the world would look like now? Would we have Iphones and electric cars? Or would our world be more like the Flintsones after all? I could see people using a Brontosaurus for the construction of buildings and travelers taking flights on the backs of Pterodactyls. Wouldn’t our day-to-day be more fun that way? Not safer exactly, but at least more exciting than a TSA line at the airport.
But unfortunately, or fortunately (lookin’ at you T-Rex), dinosaurs are extinct. People are addicted to smartphones. And airlines charge out the asterisk for our bags. On the brightside, we can always go camping to escape the daily grind of life for a bit. And there are places we can go to learn about dinosaurs and remember these amazing, giant creatures that once roamed the earth.
One such place that is both dino park and campground is Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas. It’s located right outside the DFW metroplex, and about 15 minutes from Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (another place we’ll talk about in a minute).
We decided on this state park for a couple reasons. The first of which wasn’t the fact that it was a short drive from home, that’s really just a convenience for us. We don’t mind the longer trips with our tiny camper. She’s light and easy to pull. (And the bigger trips often bring bigger adventures.)
The first was learning. As a homeschooling family, we like to take advantage of any opportunity to teach Little D new things while on our adventures. That is a HUGE benefit of homeschooling for us. We love the freedom to pack up the camper and get on the road to learn, touch, see, and experience new things. At Dinosaur Valley State Park, we were able to hike and see real dinosaur fossil tracks in the Paluxy riverbed and take pictures running around the giant, life-like dinosaurs near the park store. It was awesome. Two things Daphne loves are hiking and playing in the water. And to top it off, the park had a playground right by our campsite where D made a few new friends and played until dusk. We all had a great time at Dinosaur Valley.
The second reason, which I mentioned before, is Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is super close to the state park. We take Daphne to the zoo all the time, but never to a drive-thru zoo where she can feed the animals by hand. We knew (or actually, we thought) she would love getting super close to animals instead of viewing them in zoo enclosures. However, that wasn’t exactly how it played out. She did have a great time seeing all kinds of wildlife animals, but the getting close part was not quite her jam.
As you can see in the video below, mom and dad did most of the feeding of the animals on this adventure. We still don’t know why she didn’t want to feed or pet the animals. She is constantly feeding our chickens weeds and slugs from our yard. I mean, she is outside EVERY day taking care of and over-feeding those birds. So it’s strange that she didn’t jump all over the chance to feed a real life giraffe or elk. Maybe next time we can convince little D to give it a try.
But not to worry, this park is close to us, and we will definitely return and give the wildlife center another go. But, if you and your family haven’t had a chance to camp at Dinosaur Valley State Park, we highly recommend it. Till next time. Happy camping and be safe during your travels.
✪ Dinosaur Valley State Park – 1629 Park Rs 59, Glen Rose, TX 76043
✪ Fossil Rim Wildlife Center – 2299 Co Rd 2008, Glen Rose, TX 76043
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