A T. rex stands tall at Turtle Bay

This summer is truly a summer like no other in Redding. Or at least in the last 65 million years! The big city blockbuster "A <I>T. rex</I> Named Sue" stomped into Turtle Bay Exploration Park May 2 to stay through September 7.

Presented by the Record Searchlight, created by The Field Museum in Chicago and made possible through the generosity of McDonald's Corporation, "A <I>T. rex</I> Named Sue" is the story of the largest, most complete and best-preserved T. rex skeleton ever found.

It is an amazing experience that combines visual, tactile, audible and aromatic activities with compelling educational content.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a fully-articulated cast skeleton of Sue. At a heart-palpitating 42 feet long and 12 feet high, Sue is sure to stop you in your tracks!

Accompanying Sue, if anything could do that, are 10 education interactives and two wonderful videos exploring the paleontology that has helped scientists reconstruct Sue's life and legacy.

Adults members can visit Sue for $5 while senior members and members' children age 12 and younger get in for $3.

Museum guests will pay $18 for adults - this includes admission to the entire museum and park - and $12 for guests' children age 12 and under as well as guest seniors.

Exhibit elements include:

Sue's skeleton with touchable casts of Sue's arm bone, tailbone and rib surrounding the fully reconstructed skeleton

Sue's skull with touchable models of Sue's teeth

Interactive displays focus on:

Fossil Fragments - study two sets of bones

Sight - See through the eyes of a <I>T. rex</I>

Smell - Test your nose to find food, water and shelter

Completeness - A large 3-D puzzle of Sue's skeleton

Forelimb - Use an apparatus to feel what Sue could and couldn't do

Jaw muscles - Manipulate a model of Sue's jaw

Feeding - Find out how Sue ate

Stiff tail - Manipulate a model of Sue's tail that she used for balance

Posture - Feel how a <I>T. rex</I> head, tail and neck worked together to help Sue move and stay upright

Fact and theory - Sort out the difference between dino-science and dino-speculation

Museum attendees can also watch two videos focusing on changing perceptions of <I>T. rex</I> over time and scientific studies of Sue.