Making Dreams Come True

(Warning...this is a very, very LONG post...but I think it is worth it!)

Well...somebody is having a birthday this week.
He wouldn't want me to reveal his age...so it's 29...again.
(or half of eighty) gasp!!!
impossible. I. know.

I wanted to do something really special and memorable.
At the risk of making my man sound a touch nerdy...
He loves dinosaurs and fossils.
In the past several years, he has gained an affection for fossilized shark's teeth. That started at Edisto Beach in South Carolina. He has caught the fever and has had a dream of finding a Megalodon tooth.

You may already know that the Megalodon is the ancestor of the Great White Shark and lived in the Miocene Epoch. It is one of the largest predators that has ever lived. Estimated to be 60 feet long. Capable of swallowing a fully grown rhinoceros in one gulp. (confession: I did not know any of this either...until this weekend...)

Kevin had done some research on the web of places to dig for fossils in the U.S. and found this man in Florida that leads Fossil Expeditions and fans the flame of hope in making Kevin's dream of finding a megalodon tooth a very real possibility.

Enter me...I contacted the guy in FL and got us on the list for an expedition. A friend gave us a couple buddy passes...we left on a jet plane last Friday set for a birthday adventure.

Saturday morning we met our guide and he lead us to the river where we would start our dig. Kevin was so. nervous. He had researched the river. Our guide and his books. He read up on people's techniques. He was on a mission to find his meg.

(That's what the cool people call Megalodon teeth.)

Of course he wasn't going to search alone. Nope.

He had his dig assistant right at his side for the entire 7 hours.
Actually, he did all the digging.

He would put a pile of mud/sand/gravel in the screen

and I would sift it and search for the fossils.

The excitement was tangible. The smiles real.

Even though our guide had just informed us that there are alligators in the river. and snakes.

Other people were in the shallows, digging and sifting where they could see their feet beneath them. Not us. We were directed to where our guide would dig if he was digging.

In the middle of the river. Shoulder deep.
Did I mention alligators and snakes??

No fashion awards were given on this expedition.

Never. Ever. thought I would own a pair of pink water shoes.
But of course we were about soooo much more than fashion...

HE FOUND ONE!!!

This moment will forever be in my memory.

I had gone to the shore to take our smaller findings to a safe place.

When I turned around to return, Kevin was speechless.

He was holding his mouth and then patting his heart.

And I knew he had found one.

I think he almost cried.

You can't really tell from this picture, but the tooth is 2 inches long.

The average size of the teeth we were finding was less than half an inch

of the Gray, Mako, and Tiger Shark varieties.

This picture gives you a good idea of how massive the tooth is.

The medium sized on next to it is a broken megalodon.

The dot at the tip is the average sized tooth we were finding.

This is what your fingers look like after 7 hours of soaking.

It took 3 hours for my fingers to return to normal.

The TREASURE!

Peace River, FL

Made a DREAM COME TRUE!

Our guide invited us to join him in another river a couple days later.

He taught Kevin some 'raccooning' techniques.

That would be sticking your bare hands in the roots and mud of the shoreline to feel for fossils.

No promises that snakes or snapping turtles won't defend the fossils.

Dig, dig, dig, dig, dig,dig, dig, dig, dig the whole day through...

(Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

See the sand. Kevin had just dumped a shovel full on the screen.

After sifting...mostly gravel with an occasional sharks tooth, tortoise shell or mammoth tooth.

This was us for a total of 16 hours over 3 days.

We could have done it 16 more.

Kevin would dig in the dark with a head lamp if I would let him.

A smaller tooth

Prehistoric Gothic.

It was a fantastic trip.

I loved being a part of making one of Kevin's dreams come true.
Certainly made this year's '29th' birthday unforgettable.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEVIN!