Day 5 of 8: Freezing at Lake Jacksboro; DPS dinner and a show

The weather took a strong turn to the worse this morning!  Thunderstorms and cold greeted us.  Several whipped out their electronic device du jour to see when the rain would pass and how warm it was supposed to get.  Since it would take an hour or so to reach the day's destination, we figured the rain would have passed by then. 

So instead of being rational, we drove out to Lake Jacksboro.  I and a few fans of fossil nuts elected to stay warm and dry.  The rest bundled up to trudge the 3 quarters of a mile across a dam to the site.

Proof they made it across to look for fossils...

   I happily turned on an e-book, periodically checking my own electronic device (my smart phone) to check the rain's progress.  After about 20 minutes it looked like the rain was done.  10 more minutes and I'd finally talked myself into going out to look for fossils.  I stepped out of the car only to see fossil hunters coming back across the dam.




There were a few nice finds, once hands thawed enough to uncurl around them:

Ammonites and Gastropods

Brachiopods

We returned to the Dallas area, staying in a hotel near Brookhaven College.  The Dallas Paleontological Society meets there on the second Wednesday of the month, in the Geotechnology Institute building.  I don't know if this is typical, but the DPS members all brought in food.  We were invited to enjoy it, and so we did!

Dinnertime included show and tell.  The members had lots of fossils to discuss.  It was fun to see the passion in the room.