You can not drive by these two monsters on the interstate and not take notice. Folks have been pulling off the road here for years to take photos and get an up-close and personal look at these two pieces of roadside art that are now a part of the fabric of Americana. Anytime we are not on a deadline, I can't help pulling off the freeway to say hello to my old friends.

The pair was built by Claude Bell, an artist who designed Knotts Berry Farm. He had bought a diner on I-10 called the Wheel Inn and wanted to build a draw for hungry motorists. So, in 1964, he began the building of Dinny behind his truck stop. It took 11 years to complete, and then he began working on Rex in 1981 at 88 years old. He had plans to build a whole park of prehistoric creatures, but died in his 90s with just Dinny, Rex, a prehistoric turtle, and a rather odd-looking snake completed. The rest of the menagerie was never built.

The dinosaur pair became recognizable as they appeared in numerous ads and commercials. Their big claim to fame was when they had a very prominent role in PeeWee's Big Adventure.

Inside Dinny's belly was a gift shop and a small museum about the dinosaur period. This was a great place for young paleontologists to find books and literature on fossils, dinosaurs, and the time before man. You could also enter Rex and slide down his tail!

After Mr. Bell's death, the attraction fell into disrepair. The Wheel Inn closed and a gas station and a Burger King were built in its place. Weather and neglect started to take their toll on the dinosaurs.

The next part of the dinosaur evolution came when a fundamentalist church bought them. Rex remains closed, but Dinny has now become an anti-evolution and anti-science museum. Homemade signs of why there was no evolution and why fossil dating is a myth now fill the belly. The signs claim dinosaurs became extinct when they could not fit into Noah's Ark and were all drowned in the great flood!

Hopefully, Dinny and Rex will survive this latest attack. Claude Bell must be turning over in his grave. All the education material is gone from the gift shop, and it now sells junk items to fund the anti-evolution teachings of this fringe group.

It's worth a trip to take your picture with Dinny and Rex. They are part of the drive into Palm Springs and should not be missed. A quick visit and a good snapshot are free. We can only hope that sometime in the future they are recognized as part of the art of Americana and are protected and preserved!