wedding road trip

Sinclair the Happy Dinosaur

There are many wonderful things about the Mountain West, where we spent about five days of our Wedding Road Trip. These include:

•    Incredible scenery featuring snow capped mountains and horses grazing in rugged pasture
•    Clean cities that mix houses and highways with lofts, light rail, and arts districts
•    A culture of biking, hiking, and skiing that keeps the population fit
•    Good food and strong margaritas (thanks, Katie and Jason!)

However, my favorite thing about the Mountain West? The Sinclair gas stations.

Sinclair is a regional gas station chain whose signs feature a green dinosaur looking some damn pleased that you’ve just used him or her for your petroleum needs – literally. How awesome is that? It would be like showing a smiling tree on a cardboard box, or a dancing cow on a hamburger wrapper.

Even better, the dinosaur symbol looks like a reject from a 1962 ad campaign. Between its curvy flair and no-nonsense green tone, this is a brontosaurus that Frank Sinatra would feel comfortable with.

Finally, Sinclair takes me back to those childhood days when I was fascinated by dinosaurs (along with other “lost world” concepts like ghosts, Star Wars, and the Detroit Lions). Their logo is perfect marketing for six-year old boys…if only six-year old boys bought gasoline on a regular basis.

Sadly, since Roxy Fusion (who is not a hybrid) pulls around 30 MPG, we’ve only had the occasion to visit Sinclair once or twice. Happily, we’ll be back through Colorado and Utah in about a month and can visit the happy dinosaur one more time.