Remember...click on any photo to enlarge.
At this moment I am in Wichita, Kansas after riding 500 miles from Canon City, Colorado. It is extremely hard to leave Colorado. What an incredible state for riding and I bet for living as well.
We have been so busy and getting in late that by the time I get settled I am ready to call it a night. So this will be an attempt to get you caught up through my day 9, which was Monday, June 3rd out of Provo, Utah to Fruita, Colorado.
Dennis and I got up early on Monday and headed north out of Provo picking up UT highway 40. Along the way we passed the Strawberry reservoir and later the Starvation reservoir...interesting names. Working our way to Vernal, UT and then over and into the Dinosaur National Monument, which is in Utah and Colorado. http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/index.htm . 
We went to the Quarry Visitors Center where you can view dinosaur fossils still in the rock. . I must say it was very unique to be able to actual touch and feel real dinosaur bones. Though you can see how they have darkened from the general public's oily hands. I am surprised the park allowed this.
Here is a picture of Dennis touching one of the fossils still in the rock. Above it as well as left and right are fossils of numerous bones still encased in the rock. The building which these are housed in is actually built into the excavation site, and with walkways which allow you to view all the fossils, as well as displays explaining the exhibit.
As you enter the building you see a display that quite resembled us. It was entitled "Allosaurus jimmadseni, and two cave men". Below is me next to a rather large bone...bet we could get some pretty good captions for this one!
It's hard to take a picture to show all the fossils within this rock, but here is an attempt of just one small section. Leaving the exhibit we had to take the tram back to the visitor's center. I think the bus had a "governor" on it to keep the driver from getting out of control. I don't think we got over 3 miles an hour. In a way it reminded me of the movie Jurassic Park and traveling so slow made me a bit nervous. Here is a link to video in case on Ipad it does not appear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTgHrRRtr4Y
After leaving the park Dennis said he was hungry, so we ran into Dinosaur, Colorado and found the lovely B and B Diner... A Real Dinosaur in its own right. Check out the landscaping about the front of the building. Inside we found the restaurant to be a family operation. I think the mother was the brains and chef and the son in the photo was... well I don't know. I do know the mom told him she needed ice and he ran out and got some. Can you see his Mohawk haircut? When we walked in there were four people finishing their meal. I think they must have been local, because they looked like they knew what to eat. All their food appeared to be frozen fried. You know, like chicken nuggets. Dennis decided he wanted a hamburger. Oh man, not too sure about that. Hopefully it's a frozen one and not meat they call "fresh". Since it is a few days since we ate there and Dennis appears to be ok, I am sure it was frozen. For me, I just ordered a canned coke and fries. It really did feel like we may have entered the Twilight Zone. The entire time we were in there I kept my eyes on everyone! On the way out I told Dennis to keep moving and get on the bike quick and off we went for Fruita, riding Colorado highway 64 and 139.
As we closed in on Fruita the weather in the mountains looked like it would close in on us. However, every time we thought we would be running ton a storm the road would turn away. So we zigg zagged the entire way through the mountains and never got a drop of rain. Looking back you can see how the clouds moved in on the terrain behind us.
Arriving in Fruita we met Elaine and Linnea who had driven to the hotel from Provo as well, cleaned up and headed out for dinner, eating at the Feedlot. Not sure I care for the name. I found that before cattle go to slaughter they are sent to a Feed Lot to be fattened up. AND there are a lot of Feed Lots, or Feed Yards as some are called out this way! I ordered Spaghetti and Meatballs which was excellent, Dennis got clams and mussels... yep, clams and mussels in Colorado. Now remember also, he had the B and B burger in Dinosaur. I am convinced this boy can eat anything, anywhere and survive. 
After dinner it was back to the hotel and rest for our ride on Tuesday through the Colorado National Monument which was without a doubt incredible, then on down to Telluride, CO.
A COUPLE OF INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS...
First
Overall it was another great day on the road traveling on the bikes together with my high school buddy, Dennis Klakring, who still puts up with me after all these years. I am really glad we got to go to Dinosaur National Park for I learned so much about Dennis and his family the Klakrings. I never knew how old this family was in the history of the earth. They even had a sign outside documenting the time line and I never knew of the Klakring Dynasty.
Second
On our first day of traveling we rode across Oklahoma. It was hot and the wind was blowing a gale. Dennis managed to get sunburned on his lip pretty bad that it caused it to swell. It had gotten so big that I was concerned it might start flapping in the wind as he rode. So he now carries a lip baum and wears it proudly.
Third and Last but Not Least
On our return from dinner at the Feedlot I found this Chinese fortune on the ground near my bike.
That's it for this report. Much more to come and lots of great photos... here is a little tease for day 10.
DENNIS!!! Colorado National Monument.
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