I have been married for 10 years and to celebrate, my wife and I went on a trip to the North Carolina mountains. We rented a nice place in Blowing Rock and drove the Blue Ridge Parkway back and forth doing all kinds of fun stuff. We visited Linville caverns, we hiked Grandfather Mountain all the way to the top, and we went gem hunting.

For years, I've tried to get my wife hooked on fossil hunting, but it wasn't until...