Success at the sizzler

Once every 3 months, Lafarge opens its pit to the fossil collecting public. The owner of this place are so great - I just had to give a big thanks to them before I did anything else. Anyway, today, the weather was HOT. And Lafarge has very little in the way of shade. I think the air temperature was about 95, but the heat index (humidity factored in with heat) was about 110. I was drenched with sweat from head to toe within 30 minutes, and I had drank my 2 quarts of water within 3 hours. I walked for about 30 minutes, but I didn't see anything, so I went off to find a place to dig. About an hour later, I arrived at the far side of the mine. They had just dug out down to the green cap this week, and it was exposed everywhere. If I had been 10 dudes, I couldn't have digged it all. But, I chose wisely, and about an hour after I started digging, I unearthed a 3" auriculatus tooth. Its not perfect, but its pretty sweet. I also found a mako (walking, not digging) and another by digging. These look like C. hastalis, but they aren't. Instead, they are from C. hastalis's Eocene ancestor - Isurus Praecursor - the very first Mako. They are the first I've ever found! There is a close-up in the second picture. I dug the lighter colored one right out of the green cap (it really is green!) Thanks to da f0ssZ for the identification info. Anyway, it was a successful day. I finished digging about the same time as I ran out of water, and I started back to the truck (about 11:30am). I had no idea I wandered so far! Its ok, though, because it gave my mind time to wander. I don't know if it was the heat or just a stroke of genius, but I came up with a name for a fossil club, if I were to ever found one. Get this - The Brotherhood of the Shifty Mammal. Nice, huh? It will probably never come to fruition, but I got a good laugh out of it, and I though you might, too. Anyway, It took me until 12:15pm to get back, and that was walking up and down these gigantic hills. I didn't think I was going to make it because of the heat. Did I mention that thA duDe went today? Well, he was near the truck when I got back, and he was beyond ready to go, too, having exhausted his water supply about the same time as I had. We still had to show our finds, though. He did pretty well, too. He found a nice 2" ric right next to the truck. Yup. Pretty lucky, huh? And he also found a chunk of archaeocete incisor along with gobs of little teeth. He took off his boots and poured out the sweat. GROSS! At least the sand in the bottom of mine soaked all my foot sweat up. We exited the mine and stopped at the little gas station right outside the mine where we purchased and quickly downed another quart of water each. Now, even though we reaked and were encrusted with filth, we made our way to Taco Bell. It’s a ritual, you know? It was a 20 minute drive, but when we arrived we were still dripping with sweat. We ate, and when we left, we both left these little sweat-mud stains on the seat. I pity the guy who sat there next. Sorry for the grossness, but I tell it like it is.