Driving along I-10, just outside of Palm Springs in Cabazon, California, one can see two life-size dinosaurs looming behind a roadside diner. Recognizing them as the dinosaurs featured in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, I just had to stop.
They were built by Claude Bell, who ran the Wheel Inn diner, which Kristen assures me is a top-notch diner. I wish I'd stopped for a milkshake. This roadside attraction is along the Old Route 66, which was partially devoured by I-10 in the 1960s and 70s.
Bell took 11 years to build Dinny, a giant apatosaurus and arguably the largest dinosaur in America. A small museum in Dinny's belly still sells souvenirs. The Tyrannosaurus was nearing completion when Claude died in 1989. More sculptures were on the drawing board, including a Woolly Mammoth.
