In one area, the bluff had sloughed off and I could walk along the face of the sandstone layers. It was easy to see the sandstone had layers separated by a few inches of something else. That something else was fossils, sea shell fossils. Fossils from about 80 or 90 million years ago were abundant all along the face of the sandstone layers.

Until about 65 million years ago, the United States portion of the this continent was divided by a body of water called the Western Interior Seaway. In this connecting arm linking the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, sea life was abundant. Sharks in Arizona? Yup!

Now, I am not any kind of expert on anything, so I am not going to embark on a lecture involving the various types of sea life or the dinosaurs that frequented the shoreline. I just happen to like finding interesting things. I like searching for old coins with a metal detector, or looking for rocks that make lapidary hounds drool. I like finding animals in their natural habitat and photographing them, and I like finding fossils even if I don’t know much about them.

Thanks to work being done by paleontologist Doug Wolfe with the Round Valley Chamber of Commerce, I am able to find out what the fossils are that I find without having to look them up in a book or on the web. But, I have found that I can find out about most of the fossils I find by searching the web on my computer. Now, back to my ocean adventure in Arizona.

The bluff I am searching lies in Arizona and is state land which means I can freely search for the fossils. However, if I get on various types of federal land, of which there is a lot in Arizona, I must either get a permit or refrain completely from picking things up. Now, before you cuss the government out, remember, there are a lot of people out there who don’t respect what information fossils and other things from the past can reveal. I have taken my fossil finds and put them in the Chamber’s visitor center where others can see them and where paleontologists and other scientists can learn things from them. I freely share the location of the finds with them so they can make their own search.

This trip, I have found a "nautilus," a chambered sea shell about 8 inches in diameter and about 3/4 complete. With it are several smaller bivalves and sea creatures that by the millions form their own distinct layer between sandstone layers. I will continue to search for other sea creatures. I hope to find shark’s teeth or the fossil of an ancient fish or sea monster. Not too far from my search area, a new dinosaur, Zuniceratops Christopheri, has been found. Maybe I will find one too.

However, the exercise my old bones get help keep me young at heart. I often say, "I’m one old fossil looking for other old fossils." I am definitely having fun keeping in shape and am learning things about this ol’ planet that I never realized existed. This part of Arizona is good for that. Volcanos, the Mogollon Rim, ancient Indian Ruins, fossils, and other geological activity have made this a very interesting place to live. Even the weather is surprising.

In this high country of Arizona, we have four distinct seasons and summer temps are usually in the 80's with nights in the low to mid 50's which I think is great for sleeping. Sleeping is one of my other favorite pastimes. Winters are mild around the mountains, but often deep snow can be found just a few miles from where I live in Springerville, Arizona. Sunrise Ski Resort on the Apache Indian Nation’s reservation is a popular winter sports area. Nights are cold, but most days in Springerville are in the upper 30's or low to mid 40's.

Here next to the longest continuous stand of ponderosa pine in the U.S., I find lots of outdoor recreational opportunities. Now, with my ancient sea bed to search, I find I hardly have time to get any work done. Heck, who cares about that anyhow. Often, I will take one or two of the campers who stay at my RV park and go fishing, crawdadin’, rock huntin’, or fossil findin’. Gosh, I should have left the big corporation I worked for a long time ago.

I hope you are like the old gold prospector who, like me, gets more pleasure from the search than from the wealth a great discovery might yield. Life is too short not to enjoy it by getting close to nature and the mysteries it holds. Whether you enjoy it with a fishing pole, a mountain bike, a camera, or miner’s pick, there is a lot out there to enjoy and this part of Arizona is a good place to start.

Have a good day. It is the first day of the rest of your life so make the best of it.