Ack!
Still, we managed to get there without too many difficulties. It looked to be a great day.
This is going to be good...
We got in, bought our tickets, and took an obligatory shot of the ticket desk.
Hi!
The people at the ticket booth were amused.
Anyway, we quickly made our way into the museum, starting with the ground (well, technically underground) floor. Most of the floor focuses on California history, and a really nice docent taught us about the dioramas.
A woman and a mosasaur
Other exhibits included one of really cool Spanish armor...
Could that cut me?
...and a really old fire engine.
Shotgun!
After walking around a bit, we found a section of the museum with some more accessible items.
I claim this skunk in the name of Queen Isabelle of Spain!
Eventually, we worked are way upstairs. I found a rather remarkable item.
Why is this gold, Mexican artifact so important? Well...
This is for you, KC
After many failed attempts to take a picture of the artifact, we watched a show with a life-sized, baby t-rex puppet. All went well until he started to pay too much attention to some of the smaller members of the audience.
Michael Crichton saw this coming
We then found some slightly less dynamic, but still very interesting exhibits.
Dad and Jerome share a pensive moment
I was happy to discover the museum had changed its Discovery Center. Many of the items were movable, touchable, and photographical.
Can I have a Coke?
I can't see!
Centerfold shot
Heeeeelllllpppppp!
Sooo shinyyyyy
Unfortunately, I sort of lost track of Dad while looking around. So, I decided to call him old-school style.
If you don't get this, you need to study Biblical communication devices.
In the likely event no one gets the comment, ancient middle-eastern people used to fashion ram's horns into communication devices.
We then sought out the dinosaurs. Much like the Discovery Center, the dinosaur displays received funding for a major overhaul. Unfortunately, the museum has not yet completed it. Still, it had a dinosaur lab where visitors could view some specimens.
Hadrosaur skull (and Jerome)
The museum also taunted us with partial skeletons, such a t-rex skull.
I want that!
However, it managed to give some good experiences, such as touching a dinosaur fossil.
I will pet your toes...
While the museum currently lacked a large number of dinosaurs, it still had an impressive fossil display, particularly in the Hall of Mammals, which described long-extinct creatures from the North America area. We even got a tour.
Our guide apparently has a version of Jerome. He's a really cheap little t-rex, though.
Jerome observes a giant sloth skeleton.
We still had more to see, but we were starting to get a little tired.
I'll just rest here. Wait. What?
Oh...
Some of the architecture at the museum is gorgeous. Apparently, the institution is getting ready to celebrate its 100th anniversary, so some of the areas will undoubtedly receive much-deserved attention.
Pretty...
The museum's mineral display also showed a high level of class and value. One of my favorite items was a 2,200 karat opal.
I want that!!!
We were able to see the rest of the collection. Then we saw two employees. Apparently, the museum had been closed for 15 minutes and we somehow missed the closing call. The employees were very understanding and helped us get out (the front doors were, naturally, locked).
It was a very fun, very informative, very relaxing day. Then we hit L.A. traffic.
Gahhh!
Peace out, mah ninjas!
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