La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles

After we visited with Bobik the Wonder Dog, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits with Czech Girl. La Brea used to be an old ranch in California. Then, tar and oil were discovered on the property. Inside the tar, prehistoric mammals were found perfectly intact. It is quite an astonishing area in the heart of L.A., filled with sights and smells like no other.

Here you can see tar bubbling up to the surface.

This is what it would have looked like if a woolly mammoth would have traversed into the sticky tar. It would have gotten stuck in the sticky mess and then slowly died of starvation. Cool, huh?!

Here we are standing in front of a giant statue of a giant prehistoric sloth.

Jude standing in front of the remains of a real prehistoric sloth.

We've been to lots of dinosaur museums, but this one was probably the most interesting. The air outside reeked of tar. It was amazing to stand there and watch tar bubble up to the surface. Since I took Rock for Jocks (Geology) in college for my science credit, I really enjoy this kind of stuff-- and so does my son.