We have two days in Ulaan Bataar to do some shopping and sightseeing. Ulaan Bataar is the capital city with a population of over a million people.

There is so much to do and so little time before we leave for home. There are museums, shops, historical sites and opera houses that put on performances of traditional songs, musicians, contortionists and Mongolian throat singing. It has been a wonderful experience.

We will fly out on the morning of September 8 for Beijing, China, and from there to San Francisco, then Dallas. Including the time between flights, we will be traveling for 24 hours.

It will be good to get back home to see family and friends, but I cannot wait to return to Mongolia.

(In photo: Some of the performers at the Mongolian National Song and Dance Ensemble.)

We made it north of Baruunbayan before breaking for camp last night. This morning we will continue our trek without the big trucks, which run slower and will take their time getting back to the city.

We stopped along the way at a ger to have lunch. A ger is a traditional Mongolian dwelling from the times before Genghis-khaan and is more effective in rough Mongolian weather. Gers are easy to put up. A latticework forms the wall, and supports the long roof poles, which come together at the central ring. Layers of felt are draped over the frame, and covered with white cotton. Several ropes hold everything together. In winter more layers of felt are added for warmth, while in summer the bottom of the covers may be turned up for extra ventilation. A simple stove heats the ger, fueled by firewood or animal dung. The interiors are brightly colored and filled with simple furnishings.

We arrived in Ulaan Bataar by late evening and checked into the Bayan Gol Hotel.

(In photo: John Graf and Louis Jacobs enjoying the comforts inside a ger.)

We finished loading the trucks and were on our way by 9 AM. The plan is to make it as far as Baruunbayan Ulaan before dark. The vehicles will stay together as a caravan, in case a vehicle breaks down (like the trip from Ulaan Bataar to Bugin Tsav).

It is sad to be leaving the Gobi; I have had a fantastic experience and there is so much more to learn and do. However, like everyone else, I am anticipating a shower and bed when we do arrive in Ulaan Bataar.

(In photo: Just some of the many domestic Bactrian camels that roam the countryside.)

Today is our last full day in the Gobi. Tomorrow we leave for Ulaan Bataar. The day is spent cataloging fossils and plaster jacketing the last few specimens. Later we will start the breakdown of camp and loading the big trucks.

The wind was strong enough to snap 3 of my guidelines and break a pole on my tent. This was unfortunate, since I would be taking the tent down in just 12 hours. Several others are having problems with sand in the zippers of their tents.

Dave Eberth made the comment: "Between gear failure and running out of toilet paper, burlap and coffee, the Gobi is telling us it's time to leave."

(In photo, from left: Ganzorig, Darjaa, Turuu (in the truck) and Monkbold loading plaster jackets into one of the big trucks.)

We finished excavating and jacketing the Barsboldia bones. The large jacket is 1-1/2 meters long, 1 meter wide and 1/2 meters thick and probably weighs around 1,000 lbs. We needed additional help to flip the block over in order to plaster jacket the other side. All of the other quarries are also closed for the season.

A party was planned for this evening to celebrate the end of a successful expedition, with many fossils, partial skeletons and footprints. We had Mongolian barbeque and a large bonfire. A few of us (including John and myself) were convinced to take part in a favorite Mongolian pastime, wrestling. It goes without saying that our Mongolian friends remain undefeated.

(In photo: Long-eared hedgehog that decided to visit us in the mess tent.)

We have found more tail vertebrae continuing into the hill, expanding the size of the jacket. We will try to remove some of the isolated bones in smaller blocks before taking out the larger block with most of the exposed tail vertebrae. The BBC film crew stopped by the quarry to interview Louis and film our excavation.

On top of the short time left to finish the excavation, we have run out of burlap. Burlap strips are dipped in plaster and applied to the fossil blocks to protect the bones, just like a plaster cast on a broken arm. The entire camp has donated t-shirts, towels, pants and socks to be used as substitutes for burlap. The hope is that they will be just as strong in making plaster jackets.

(In photo: John Graf and Louis Jacobs plaster jacketing the large block containing part of the Barsboldia tail.)

We have four days left until we return to Ulaan Bataar, and the push is on to finish all the ongoing excavations and close the quarries.

John, Louis and I will spend the rest of our time excavating and plaster jacketing the Barsboldia bones.

The anterior portion of the tail has been exposed, as well as the tip of the tail next to it. It looks like the whole tail is curved around and buried in the hillside. Using a jackhammer, we will take the hill back about a meter to expose more of the fossils and make room for us to work. With so little time left, we will plaster jacket and collect just the material exposed.

Barsboldia is a poorly known lambeosaurine hadrosaur (a duck-billed dinosaur). It is named after Ligden's father, paleontologist Dr. Richen Barsbold. It was a large quadrupedal plant-eater with very tall neural spines on its vertebrae. Until now, it had only been known from a single specimen.

(In photo: Ganzorig (with shovel) and Thomas removing part of the hillside to expose more of the Barsboldia bones.)

John, Louis, Dave and Nam-Soo spent the majority of the day working a fossil turtle locality, located near base camp. This was a site that Louis had discovered last year while working in the same region. Hundreds of turtles are preserved in layers of sandstone that was deposited by a river channel system. Like the therizino and ornithomimid quarries, this site had also been poached by pirates.

Turtle material seems to be one of the most common fossils in Bugin Tsav. No matter where I go, I find turtle shell. This is very telling as to what the environment must have been like 70 million years ago - a green river valley with enough water to support a large population of turtles, fish and dinosaurs. The mystery is that we find very few fossils of crocodiles.

(In photo: Fragments of shell from three different types of turtle.)

Today, John joined Dave at the Tarbosaur quarry to measure a section and collect more carbonate samples. Louis, Derek and I went off to prospect for sites with small fossils of turtle, fish, mammals and other critters.

While Louis and Derek scoured the hillside, I came across a threopod track preserved on the underside of a sandstone layer.

The three of us traveled to a locality with bone exposed on the surface that John and Derek had discovered their first week at Bugin Tsav. They turn out to be just isolated bones. While searching the area, I collected a small ornithopod track and what turns out to be most of the right and left forelimbs and some vertebrae of a Gallimimus.

(In photo: The partially complete forelimbs of a Gallimimus with vertebrae fragments in the middle.)

We have finished collecting data at the ornithomimid quarry/track site. We have plaster jacketed four blocks with 11 footprints.

In one block are the preserved fossil foot bones of a Gallimimus (another dinosaur made famous by the Jurassic Park movie). This is very unusual to have both bones and footprints in the same rock layers.

Phil, Eva, Dave and Derek returned from a trip to Nemegt, where they met up with a BBC/Discovery Channel film crew. The film crew is making a documentary on gregarious theropod dinosaurs and came to Mongolia to interview and film Phil. The film crew will be with us until September 1, filming the rest of us excavating fossils.

(In photo, from left: John Graf, Yoshi Kobayashi and Louis Jacobs excavating a track block. Two additional plastered track blocks in the foreground.)

Today is Louis' birthday, and we had a big celebration tonight. A large meal of grilled meats and dumplings was served, and the cooks even made a cake. There were many expressions of good wishes, and all toasted Louis.

(In photo, from left: Thomas Adams, Young-Nam Lee and Louis Jacobs with Louis' birthday cake.)

The next few days will be spent working at the ornithomimid quarry/track site measuring, mapping and photographing the dinosaur footprints. The site has been expanded to about 30 square meters with 70 tracks exposed. There are 13 trackways and 13 isolates tracks, representing at least four different types of dinosaur. After we collect all the data we will choose the best representatives of each track type and remove blocks that will be put on display in Korea.

Yoshi Kobayashi, who has spent several years doing paleontology in Mongolia, had a conversation with one of the cooks about who the new people are in camp. Turns out that my name has been causing some confusion with our Mongolian friends. Tom translates to "big" in Mongolian, and Thomas, which sounds like tom yas, translates to "big fossil or bone." So when Yoshi told Otgoo my name was Tom, she responded "Yes, I know he's big, but what is his name?"

(In photo: John Graf at the ornithomimid quarry/track site.)

The entire team decided to take a break from working in the quarries and travel south to Tsagan Khusu, to prospect for fossils. Louis, John and I took advantage of the opportunity to collect more carbonate samples for our isotope study.

After lunch, we walked a circle from where the vehicles were parked looking for fossil localities. We found several areas with bone fragments on the surface. Shortly before we needed to meet up with the rest of the team members, we came across a poached fossil site of hadrosaur material.

(In photo: John Graf and Thomas Adams at Tsagan Khusu overlooking the Gobi Desert.)

This morning was spent at the ornithomimid quarry, where the day before Yoshi uncovered more footprints. Over the next few days, we will move more of the overburden (overlying rock) to expand the site.

This afternoon John and Nam-Soo measured a section (measured and described the rock layers) at the therizinosaur quarry and collected more carbonate samples, while Louis and I helped the crew plaster jacket the larger blocks in the quarry.

Each night, we all gather at 8 for dinner. Our cooks, Otgoo and Baaska, serve a terrific meal that varies from rice or noodles with meat, dumplings, soups, fried or steamed bread and assorted side dishes. Meat (beef, lamb, or goat) is served in large quantities, and we always leave the table full. Every meal, except soup, is eaten with chopsticks (including spaghetti). Needless to say, my skill with chopsticks is improving. Our Korean colleagues have supplemented each meal with kimchi, seaweed and canned beef and fish.

(In photo, clockwise from left: Dinner in the mess tent. Dave Eberth, Nam-Soo Kim, John Graf, Eva Koppelhus, Phil Currie, Ligden Barsbold, Yuong-Nam Lee and Louis Jacobs.)

Today John and I met up with Louis and Ligden to locate and collect additional carbonate samples from sites that Louis had found when the expedition was here in 2006. We will return to Bugin Tsav tonight, but not before stopping at Naran Bulak, an artesian spring, for water.

The weather has been good so far. The temperature is cool in the early part of the day and rises to the mid to upper 90s by the afternoon. Around 6, the temps fall back down to 70 to 60 degrees. There have only been a few days with strong wind. Usually in the afternoon, when temps rise, so does the wind.

No matter how hard you try, the wind blows sand and dust into everything, including your clothes, tent and sleeping bag.

(In photo: Thomas' tent at sunrise with sandstone bluffs in the background.)

Today John and I will join Phil, Eva, Dave and Derek on an overnight trip to Altan Ula, southeast of Bugin Tsav. This was the site of many important fossil discoveries made by the Polish-Mongolian expedition between 1965, 1971 and 1972.

While Phil, Eva and Derek look for historic quarries and more fossil localities, John and I will be collecting carbonate and dinosaur eggshell samples to be used for stable isotope geochemistry. The goal is to look for patterns in the carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the samples that will provide clues as to the paleoclimate of the area.

The rocks and fossils at Bugin Tsav, Altan Ula and other localities in the western Gobi occur within the Nemegt Formation, approximately 70 million years old. The rocks were deposited by meandering rivers, lakes and sand dunes, a much different environment then today's desert.

(In photo: A view across Altan Ula.)

I got my first look at camp this morning. The camp is surrounded by sandstone bluffs and hills on three sides.

After setting up tents, everyone met for breakfast and updated us on this year's expedition. The expedition members include Yuong-Nam Lee, Nam-Soo Kim and Hang-Jae Lee from Korea; Ligden Barsbold and Bat Lkhaasuren from Mongolia; Phil Currie, Eva Koppelhus, Dave Eberth and Derek Larson from Canada; Yoshi Kobayashi from Japan; Louis Jacobs, John Graf and myself (Thomas Adams) from the USA. We also have two cooks, six drivers, and two workers, for a total of 23 of us in camp.

Over breakfast, John relayed his own experiences of travelling from Dallas to Mongolia. Unlike Louis and me, John had no delays on his flights. However, due to a miscommunication, there was no one to meet him when he landed in Ulaan Bataar. After waiting four hours at the airport, security became suspicious of John. Before he could be detained by officials, Yuong-Nam Lee arrived saying, "You must be John".

After breakfast, we were taken on a tour of the fossil localities that had been discovered and were in the process of being excavated. These included a Tarbosaurus quarry, a micro bone bed, an ornithomimid quarry with dinosaur tracks, Barsboldia, a hadrosaur, quarry and a therizinosaur quarry.

The ornithomimid and therizinosaur quarries turn out to be the site of fossil poaching, which is a real problem in the Gobi. Poachers, or pirates as they are referred to here, will dig up fossils, take the skulls, feet, and hands, and leave the rest of the skeleton behind. These fossils are smuggled out of the country and sold illegally to collectors. Even though material may be missing from these sites, important fossil specimens can still be recovered. The therizinosaur locality has a large portion of the skeleton that was left behind by the poachers.

(In photo: Barsboldia caudal vertebrae.)

After sleeping only a few hours over the last three days, I finally got a restful night's sleep. There is nothing like sleeping in a tent, under a clear sky, away from the city.

We got up early and continued our trek south. We stopped in the small town of Baruunbayan Ulaan, where we met up with the large truck (affectionally called the "Kimaz") that caused so much trouble for the earlier expedition members. The truck had engine trouble, causing the group to take six days to travel to Bugin Tsav (it would take us only two days).

As we continued south (now with five vehicles and 12 members), we stopped at one of the several ovoos along the road. An ovoo (or heap) is a type of shamanistic cairn usually made from rocks, bone and wood. When travelling, it is custom to stop and circle an ovoo three times in clockwise direction, placing a stone each time onto the pile. This is done in order to have a safer journey and secure blessings from the spirits. Blue silk scarves called Khatags are tied to the ovoo and offerings in the form of sweets, money, milk or vodka are left as well.

After crossing the Gobi Altai Range, the "Kimaz" broke down. It took a few hours for the drivers to finally get the truck running. By this time it was getting late, and we decided to continue on to base camp at Bugin Tsav instead of making camp for a second night. We arrived at base camp around 11 p.m. and were met with warm welcomes by everyone.

After introductions, food and stories of our travels, it was too late to set up tents. Louis and I decided to just unroll our sleeping bags on the sand and sleep under the stars. Lucky for us, it turns out to be a clear and calm night.

(In photo: John Graf tying a Khatag to an ovoo at Naran Bulak.)

We left Ulaan Baatar this morning and started heading southwest. Our destination is Bugin Tsav in the western Gobi Desert, approximately 100 miles from China's northern border.

Including Ligden, Yoshi, Louis and myself, there are 10 of us in three vehicles. We are joined by members from Hwaseong City, Korea, who will be checking on the progress of the expedition. The majority of the expedition team already has been working in Bugin Tsav for the last week and half.

The Mongolian countryside is dotted with white gers (the traditional felt-lined tents) in which people live nomadic lives, herding sheep, goats, cattle, horses, camels or yaks. However, the modern world is prevalent, as many of the gers have large satellite dishes and solar panels. Occasionally, the horse has been replaced by a motorcycle for rounding up the livestock.

Along the roadside, women and children sell Mongolian tea (milk, tea, and salt), which tastes better then it sounds.

After eight hours of driving, we stopped in the town of Arvayheer for fuel. From this point we left paved roads for gravel and dirt. A few miles south of Arvayheer, we stopped at a ger for a home-cooked meal of noodles, meat (don't know what kind), fat and potatoes served with Mongolian tea. We continued south until it got dark and made camp for the night.

(In photo: A traditional Mongolian ger with satellite dish and solar panels.)

We landed in Ulaan Baatar around 11 AM and were met by Dr. Yoshi Kobayashi (former SMU graduate student) from the Hokkaido University Museum, Japan, and Dr. Ligden Barsbold from Paleontological Center, Mongolia. We were informed that we would leave for the Gobi Desert the next morning, giving us a chance to spend the day in the capitol city.

I visited the Mongolia Natural History Museum, which houses some of the most spectacular fossils from Central Asia. The highlight of the visit was seeing the mounted skeleton of Tarbosaurus, cousin of T rex, Deinocheirus, many dinosaur eggs, and the world-famous fighting dinosaurs.

The fighting dinosaurs are a Velociraptor (made famous by the movie Jurassic Park) and Protoceratops (a relative of Triceratops) that are preserved together as if in a battle to the death. The Velociraptor's claws of one foot are thrust in the abdomen of the Potoceratops, and Protoceratops holds the right forearm of the Velociraptor in its mouth.

We depart tomorrow by car to Bugin Tsav. Along the way, we will pick up a truck. We expect the trip to take two to possibly four days. Once there we will meet up with the rest of the expedition team, including expedition team leader Dr. Yuong-Nam Lee, former SMU graduate student, from the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resourses, Korea, and SMU doctoral student John Graf, who left one and a half weeks earlier and is already working in Bugin Tsav.

(In photo: Tarbosaurus skeleton in the main dinosaur hall of the Mongolia Natural History Museum.)

Louis and I have already started our travels with a delay. After we boarded our flight in Los Angeles, the plane had technical problems that required us to wait four hours for a replacement part. This would cause us to miss our connecting flight in Beijing, China.

The next available flight from Beijing to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, would be the next morning, requiring us to spend a day in Beijing. After 17 hours on the plane, we welcomed the opportunity to freshen up, relax and enjoy the local cuisine.