-- Be Afraid... Be Very Afraid…

I started out my day at 0800 with a stake-out in front of the ladies' room entrance.  I was patrolling the area for squirrels since this was the last reported location of the subjects' sighting.  I could smell their putrid scent although the smell may have been due to my proximity to the men's bathroom... 

I looked to my left-- then to my right-- then left again--

Within 2 minutes, my mom said we had to leave, so I had no choice but to obey and give up the surveillance.  Ugh.  I can't work under these conditions.

We walked back toward our campsite and I tried to monitor every movement on the grass and in the trees.  It seemed the squirrels were on to me.  With each step, I became more and more convinced that my undercover operation had somehow been compromised. 

Not surprisingly, I discovered that I am quite popular with the campers.  I hardly think people recognize me from The Adventures of SuperTank, rather, I am just down-right irresistible.  Since it was another rainy and gloomy day, a little boy was sitting in his campsite pouting until I came along and brightened his day.  I do that to people. 

Ain't I a sweetie?

I had to make another stop when I was accosted by a rabble of small children as they ambushed me on the walking path.  If I had a pen on me, I’m sure they would have demanded autographs, but I agreed to pose for a group photo to pacify them. 

That's me with some of my fans... ain't I popular?

After the photo shoot, one of the kids actually asked me if I like bacon.  Well, duh.  He ran to his campsite where his mother was cooking breakfast to ask for some bacon and my mom said we had to go before I got the payoff.  I was so close...  Gee wiz, mom...  

When we finally arrived back at our campsite, we packed up the Supervan and decided to get lunch before heading to our next destination.  There was this sketchy-looking restaurant in the town of Duchesne that obviously couldn’t decide on their ethnic specialty. 

I had to sit in the Supervan while my mom and dad ate their lunch, but my mom brought me an eggroll, so I didn’t complain. 

We pressed on.  My dad pulled over after a while so he could take a nap in the backseat while my mom drove.  Of course, my mom just had to snap a photo before she got on the highway...

As we approached the Utah/Colorado border, I kept noticing, uh-- you're probably not going to believe this-- dinosaurs along the road.

Then I heard my dad tell my mom that we were on our way to Dinosaur, Colorado.  Ah, now I get it.  We stopped at a visitor information center and my mom let me out of the Supervan to take a well-needed pee.  Oh brother, not this again…

We crossed over the state line into Colorado.  This is the entrance into Dinosaur Monument Park.  We were on Brontosaurus Road.  Ha ha.

We stopped on the way up the mountain at a place called Escalante Overlook.  Those clouds didn’t look too friendly…

Hey, what the heck?  We just passed a sign that said we just crossed back into Utah!  This road is crazy.  And speaking of the road, I kept seeing signs like this:

What the heck is that?

I looked through the windshield at some black specks in the road ahead, and I couldn't believe my eyes. 

Hey-- those beastie-looking things looked just like the picture on that yellow sign!  I didn't know what to make of them.  I just didn't like them either.  They’re spooky.

Yeah, that’s right beast-- be afraid… be very afraid…

Then we saw the sign for Echo Park…

…and we headed down a bumpy, winding dirt road.  My mom said it was like driving down Lombard Street in San Francisco, whatever that means.  

We eventually crossed back into Colorado.  My dad is such a good driver.  He makes driving off road look easy.

This road is a lot steeper than it looks.  I asked him if I could take the wheel for a while, and he said no, since I don’t have any opposing thumbs.  He wouldn't even let me sit on his lap while he drove, either-- whatever.  I didn't think he would.  We wouldn't fit anyway.  We are big people, you know.  

Finally, we arrived at the Echo Park Dinosaur Monument Park campsites.  With all the surrounding mountains here, there is no Internet access.  However, we do have satellite, so I can watch the Fox News channel all night with my dad.  We can’t go outside anyway-- it’s pouring rain!  I knew those dark clouds were going to let loose on us... 

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