"I found one, look, look," said nine-year-old Matthew.
Looking down it was hard not to wonder if someone had just planted the large bone in the gray, gravelly earth at Matthew's feet.
"Do you think it is an Albertosaurus?" he asks, having already found about a dozen other small bone fragments during our guided hike at Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park last month.
But these bone fragments and pieces of petrified wood more than 64 million years old are exactly what they claim to be - pieces of a history from a time when Alberta was partially covered by lush jungle bordering the Bearpaw Sea and the Rocky Mountains were just beginning to strain out of the earth's surface on their journey to become one of the most majestic ranges in the world.
We had long wanted to head out on a camping holiday in search of dinosaurs and this turned out to be our year.
Setting off from Whistler we stopped along the way at Lillooet's Cayoosh Creek campground - always clean and welcoming - then onto Canyon Hot Springs Resort in Revelstoke. While the camping spots are close together in Revelstoke the lack of privacy was outweighed by the delicious feeling that only a hot spring pool can offer muscles sick of sitting in a car for seven hours.
From there it was onto Drumheller, home of the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta (www.tyrrellmuseum.com).
The drive to Drumheller is awe-inspiring as you pass through Glacier National Park, then Yoho National Park and finally Banff National Park.
As the peaks tower above it is hard not to think about the millennia it took to form them - well I thought so anyway.
Asked to look up from their Nintendo game systems and enjoy the scenery, 11-year-old Kayley's response was: "Moooom, it looks just like Whistler. We see this everyday!"
As you come out of the mountains and begin the prairie-drive experience the sky seems to go on forever. The cloudscapes are captivating, especially to travellers who are used to only seeing as far as the next mountain peak.
Camping at Drumheller was also of the crowded variety as millions flock to the museum every year. But as most of your time is spent at attractions, it is a discomfort you just have to put up with.
If you are thinking of doing a trip it is important to realize that the museum is not located beside Dinosaur Provincial Park (www.tpr.alberta.ca/parks/dinosaur). They are about a three-hour drive apart - and both are worth spending time exploring.
Drumheller will take you by surprise. One minute you are driving through fields of waving crops, some as yellow as the sun shining above them, the next you are suddenly descending into moonscape territory with crazy rock formations, cactus and folding land that looks like the coat of a giant Shar Pei dog.
As you enter town there can be little doubt about your location as every corner has a dinosaur on it. Even the local grocery store had a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex head bursting out of its walls. Drumheller also boasts the biggest dinosaur in the world, and for $10 you can climb up and take a picture of the town from between its huge teeth.
We spent about five hours at the Tyrrell Museum and enjoyed a fossil casting lesson as part of the experience. You have to sign up for them, and as you would expect it's pretty popular so put your name down for activities as soon as you arrive or book ahead online.
You can also watch documentaries, send your kids on fossil digs and play interactive games as part of the activities associated with the museum. Prices range from $4 to $25 a person. The entrance fee is $10 for adults and $6 for youths.
The display is breathtaking, with full size dinosaur skeletons and a vast amount of easily digestible information to enjoy. It has a cafeteria as well, though there is a playground outside if you can bring a picnic. And there is a great gift shop. If you are thinking of buying trinkets get them here as there is very little choice at Dinosaur Provincial Park, though the Park has an awesome little restaurant.
From Drumheller we head to Dinosaur Provincial Park. Take heed: there are lots of mosquitoes here so bring a bug tent and insect repellent with you.
The park, designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations at its Egyptian conference in 1979, offers a variety of tours and hikes. Again, as it is very busy sign up ahead online or as soon as you get there.
Though there are great walks from the campground you can only go into the park with a tour.
Located in the Badlands the park is full of Hoodoos, weird rock formations where soft sedimentary rock is topped by harder, less easily-eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. One of the most famous of these is Phred the camel, a formation captured on the cover of the park's application to be recognized by the UN in 1979.
The park is one of the most important sites for dinosaur discoveries in the world. A unique set of circumstances left a host of bones in the area. It is believed that huge tropical storms or hurricanes wiped out the ancient creatures as they had no high ground to escape to from the lush tropical jungle that covered Alberta at the time. As the waters receded from the storms the bodies of the dead dinos were deposited, scavenged upon by those carnivores left standing, and left to rot and decay into the changing landscapes, until now.
From the park it was on to West Edmonton Mall, the world's largest shopping and entertainment complex. You need two days here for sure just to take in the amusement park and the water slides. Then there are the more than 800 stores to shop at as well. But bring your savings. A family pass for the Waterworld and Galaxyland rides were $100 each.
As we headed for home through Jasper National Park we kept our eyes peeled for wildlife, touted in guidebooks as being abundant. So it was with some amusement that we noted it wasn't until we passed the sign marking the park's boundaries that we saw herds of goats, coyotes, a moose cow, and lots of elk. More government employees we wondered?
Jasper has only a couple of campgrounds where you can reserve a site ahead of time. We stayed at Wapiti, which was wonderful. No bugs, nice sites, true camping. But it will cost you.
You have to pay to get into the park, basically a toll for each day you stay, then you have to pay for the campsite and you have to pay to have a fire, though the wood is free.
Take time to stop at the Athabasca Glacier as you drive down the Icefields Parkway in Jasper. There can be little doubt of the impact of climate change as you note the markers of where the glacier used to reach.
By now everyone is ready for a bit of spoiling and there is little doubt that is what we are in for as we pull up at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, one of the world's greatest mountain resorts. A destination on its own, hundreds wandered the immaculate lawns and gardens bordering on the turquoise lake waters as we checked in.
It was hard not to just sit and stare out the window of the luxurious room at the glacier and lake below - a picture image familiar to just about every traveller to Canada. A stay here is a must.
As we once again passed the continental divide and headed for home we are all struck with a feeling that this is a trip we will want to do again.
