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One radar detector says , “ Watch out !” and sure enough there ’ s a Moffat County sheriff ' s hiding behind a small bluff . Whew !
Dinosaur , Colorado , is short on amenities , so my destination for the evening is another 40 minutes west , the tourist town of Vernal , Utah . It has lots of generic motels and restaurants , and the town itself is dinosaur tourist central . A 40-foot tall , blindingly pink “ Dinah the Dinosaur ” welcomes visitors from the east , while midtown has a 20-foot-tall T-Rex , currently eating a watermelon while roasting a hot dog and hamburger on a grill . Don ’ t ask me why ….
Come morning , I backtrack on U . S . 40 just past Dinosaur and enter a secret back road of the Dinosaur National Monument . Harpers Corner Road is just 32 miles long , and I ’ m not sure there ’ s a more secluded and untraveled bit of twisty paved fun in America . Rocks and trees , swerves and curves , mostly straddling a narrow ridge , it ends at nothing more than a scenic turnaround . There are breathtaking vistas across Utah and Colorado , but today we ’ re socked in with fog , with visibility about five feet down the various slopes . But the roadway is clear , and I meet all of two cars in a couple of hours of
Dinah the Dinosaur at the entrance to Vernal .