Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway follows the zany travels of a paleontologist and an artist as they drive across the American West in search of fossils. Throughout their journey, they encounter "paleonerds" like themselves, men and women dedicated to finding everything from suburban T. rex to killer Eocene pigs to ancient fossilized forests. Much of their travels are spent in remote places few people visit, where they discover small-town museums packed with paleontological treasures, rock quarries that have yielded hundreds of fossilized bones, and the remains of ancient seashores tracked with the footprints of dinosaurs. A fascinating travelogue, Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway shows us that fossils are everywhere, if you learn to look for them--even at 65 miles per hour. Ray Troll earned a BA from Bethany College in 1977 and an MFA in studio arts from Washington State University in 1981. Over the years. Troll has created artwork for various conservation organizations including the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council.

Troll's unique blend of art and science culminated in his traveling exhibit Dancing to the Fossil Record, which opened at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco in 1995. The 14,000-square foot exhibit included Troll's original drawings, gigantic fossils, fish tanks, murals, an original soundtrack, a dance floor, and an interactive computer installation. He has illustrated several children's books including Sharkabet: A Sea of Sharks from A to Z and Shocking Fish Tales. He and his wife, Michelle, own and operate Soho Coho Contemporary Art and Craft Gallery and live with their two teenaged children, Corinna and Patrick, in Alaska.