Monday, April 15, 2019

CABAZON DINOSAURS (Cabazon, Riverside County, CA)

3/15/19

We've all seen Huell Howser's video on these iconic, roadside Dino sculptures and I'm sure have even driven past these guys off of the I-10 in Cabazon many a time on our way to and through the Coachella Valley without ever actually getting out to see them up close and personal. That was the case for us until a few weeks ago when, on our drive back to Murrieta from The Desert Lily Sanctuary in Desert Center, we exited off Haugen-Lehmann Way in Cabazon to fuel up and find a preferably Mexican food joint to chow down for lunch. Well, we did find a Mexican restaurant in the form of Los Victor's and also discovered that the dinosaurs, namely Mr. Rex and Dinny, were just around the corner. So after a takeout lunch of a ginormous burrito for Gil and a carne asada torta for me, we drove around the corner to take a few quick photos of the dinos before heading back on the road. I only got shots of the Mr. Rex the T-Rex and Dinny the Brontosaurus because they are apparently the only ones you can see without paying an admission fee. Soooooo, we'll just have to come back again another time to see the rest of their prehistoric pack. 

From Wiki: 
Cabazon Dinosaurs, formerly Claude Bell's Dinosaurs, is a roadside attraction in Cabazon, California, featuring two enormous, steel-and-concrete dinosaurs named Dinny the Dinosaur and Mr. Rex. Located just west of Palm Springs, the 150-foot-long (46 m) Brontosaurus (Dinny) and the 65-foot-tall (20 m) Tyrannosaurus rex (Mr. Rex) are visible from the freeway to travelers passing by on Southern California's Interstate 10. The roadside dinosaurs are best known for their appearance in the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985).
Sculptor and theme park artist Claude Bell began construction of the dinosaurs in 1964 with the goal of attracting more customers to his nearby restaurant, the Wheel Inn (open from 1958 to 2013). Dinny and Mr. Rex were completed in 1975 and 1986, respectively. Bell died in 1988 at age 91 and his family sold the property in the mid-1990s. Since then, Cabazon Dinosaurs has been the site of a roadside creationist museum and giftshop.

Address: 50770 Seminole Dr., Cabazon, CA 92230

3/15/19 We took this exit off of I-10W to Cabazon to gas up at the Shell station and grab some lunch from Los Victor's. The dinosaurs are just around the corner from the restaurant.

 This is "Dinny" the Dinosaur.

Dinny with Mr. Rex in the background. 


 Mr. Rex in his full glory, bookended by palm trees and snow-capped mountains -
Doesn't get more SoCal than that...
Don't know why, but he makes me wanna sing Mack the Knife. 

Los Victor's Mexican Restaurant. Addy and Sasha are waiting patiently in the 4Runner
for some burritos and tortas - que sabroso!!! 




Gil chowing down on his burrito.

No comments:

Post a Comment