Author: marklongmainstream (Page 104 of 174)

It’s always a great time to visit Big Cedar Lodge…

But during the Christmas season…

Michelle Swieter Berndt

The lodge really comes alive…

Hilary Pecheone McCall

There is so much to see and do…

Hilary Pecheone McCall

Or you could just relax by the fire place…

Hilary Pecheone McCall

Or you could just relax by the fire place…

Imagine relaxing in this hot tub…

Make a new family tradition…

Celebrate Christmas in your own private cabin…

For more information, click here.

It’s always a great time to visit Big Cedar Lodge…

But during the Christmas season…

Michelle Swieter Berndt

The lodge really comes alive…

Hilary Pecheone McCall

There is so much to see and do…

Hilary Pecheone McCall

Or you could just relax by the fire place…

Imagine relaxing in this hot tub…

Make a new family tradition…

Celebrate Christmas in your own private cabin…

For more information, click here.

Seven Oaks Recreation is a family-owned and operated year-round outdoor recreation facility. Seven Oaks offers guests a wide range of fun activities including, skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing during the winter months. In the summer, guests can enjoy canoeing, kayaking, river tubing, paintball, and camping. Seven Oaks Recreation is located at 1086 222nd Drive  Boone, IA.  For more information, click here.

Seven Oaks has 600 ski rentals, and 120 snowboards to outfit Adventure seekers of all ages, and is conveniently located west of Ames off of highway 30.

The slopes consist of 11 runs, from beginner to expert, so no matter your skill level, your sure to find what your looking for at Seven Oaks. The ski resort also has a terrain park, rail yard, and a beginner area.

Never been on a snow covered slope? Seven Oaks offers ski and snowboard lessons available in either group or private lesson. Private lessons are a great way to learn the basics and get you started having fun.

If it gets to cold, you can warm up in The Lodge at Seven Oaks. Have lunch or get a drink at the Coal Creek Lounge. The Lodge has ample seating and a great view of the slopes

Saturday January 22nd and Saturday February 12th from 8 pm to midnight is Late Night at Seven Oaks. If you have never skied or snowboarded in the dark, then this is your chance. Late night is a fun filled night,with music, bonfire, and pizza.

With so much to do, its easy to see why a trip to Seven Oaks in Boone Iowa is the perfect weekend get away with fun for the whole family. See you on the slopes!

Seven Oaks Recreation is located at 1086 222nd Drive  Boone, IA

For more information, click here.

At 63 feet, Smith Falls is the tallest waterfall in all of Nebraska and it’s also the centerpiece of Smith Falls State Park.  Smith Falls State Park is an incredible Nebraska park, and is a popular destination for campers, as well as canoers, kayakers, tubers and others who visit the area to experience the beautiful Niobrara River, a National Scenic River.

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

The south side of the river, where the falls are located, is maintained in a natural state. Hiking is limited to established trails to prevent erosion and protect rare plants. Although there is no vehicle access or camping there, a footbridge across the Niobrara links the falls to the north side of the park. Picnic sites, tent camping, restrooms, concession, and pay showers are available on the north side of the river.

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

Smith Falls State Park offers primitive camping that is reservable 1 year in advance. Smith Falls campground straddles the Niobrara National Scenic River. Picnic sites, tent camping, restrooms, concession, and pay showers are available on the north side of the river. No RV facilities are available. The park protects the biological and scenic significance of the location while allowing the public to view the state’s highest waterfall.

Lynnette Gibson

The falls are on a short spring-fed stream that plunges into a small canyon on the south side of the Niobrara. As the canyon is narrow and sheltered from direct sunlight, it is much cooler than the surrounding landscape; this allows a unique set of flora to grow that is atypical for the Sand Hills of Nebraska. The canyon is home to paper birch and an endemic hybrid grove of quaking aspen and bigtooth aspen.

Brenda Sandmann

Many outfitters use the park as a take-out spot, which make it a convenient camping site for those planning to paddle or float the river.

Brenda Sandmann

Smith Falls is named for Frederic Smith, who filed the first homestead patent on the land that encompasses the falls. The site became a state park in 1992. Not only is the land home to the beautiful falls, it is also an area of biological significance where several ice age species can still be found.

Smith Falls State Park is located at 90165 Smith Falls Road Valentine, Neb. 69201

New dinosaur bones have been uncovered by a paleontologist digging at an undisclosed location in Missouri.

The St. Louis-based news station KTVI was first to speak with paleontologist Guy Darrough about his find. Darrough said during an interview with the station that he uncovered the juvenile skeleton of a Parrosaurus missouriensis, a dinosaur species described as duck-bill that grew to be 25 to 30 feet in length.

“I can’t imagine anything that’s more impressive than what we’ve discovered here,” Darrough told the station. He described the find as a “world-famous discovery.”

This particular kind of dinosaur has only been found in Missouri, according to Darrough. It is listed on state government websites as the official dinosaur of Missouri.

This particular kind of dinosaur has only been found in Missouri, according to Darrough. It is listed on state government websites as the official dinosaur of Missouri.

Dinosaur bones have been found in Missouri before, but these kinds of fossil finds are rare, according to state records. One set of bones was discovered on a farm in the 1940s while the family that owned the property was digging a well, according to the official website of Missouri’s secretary of state, John Ashcroft. Those bones were later identified as belonging to a Parrosaurus missouriensis, which underwent a few name changes along the way, and eventually became the state’s official dinosaur in 2004.

Those first bones were sold to the Smithsonian in 1943, Ashcroft’s office website said. The Smithsonian’s record of the fossils identified them as being found in Missouri’s Bollinger County.

The location of Darrough’s find is being kept under wraps as dig teams continue searching the area, he told KTVI. After Darrough found the juvenile skeleton, he said he contacted the Sainte Genevieve Museum Learning Center in Ste. Genevieve to alert them of his find and also reached out to Peter Makovicky, the associate curator of paleontology and chair at the Field Museum’s Department of Geology in Chicago.

Darrough told KTVI that Makovicky brought a dig team to the area where the juvenile skeleton was found and unearthed bones belonging to an adult of the same species. Darrough said a Tyrannosaurus tooth has also been uncovered and said researchers are “hoping there’s a whole bunch” of other fossils to be found in the area.

Makovicky described the area as “a really remarkable site” and “one of the best dinosaur localities east of the Great Plains” when speaking with KTVI.

On Tuesday morning, the Sainte Genevieve Museum Learning Center posted a link to KTVI’s article on Facebook and proclaimed, “Missouri is Dinosaur Country!” The learning center wrote that it would be the “Official Missouri Dinosaur Visitor Site” starting next month.

“The Sainte Genevieve Museum Learning Center is thrilled to be able to help Mr. Darrough and the crew of scientists at the Dig Site in spreading the word about this amazing discovery,” Abigail Kern, the learning center’s office manager, told Newsweek when reached for comment. “While the adult specimen is being transported to the Field Museum in Chicago, the juvenile skeleton will be on display within the laboratory of the Sainte Genevieve Museum Learning Center. We currently have the fossil displayed in the plaster jacket. Starting on the date of our Grand Opening, December 11, we will have paleontologists and preparers actively working on the fossil within the lab, which is viewable in our museum.”

Kern added that Darrough “is an amazing artist and preparer” and said the learning center “is working hard to bring his collections and wisdom to a wider audience.”

“Being able to work in tandem with the paleontologists of the Field Museum on such a monumental discovery is an exciting opportunity for us all,” Kern said.