Near Palm Springs, California a small amusement park touts the two largest dinosaurs in the world -- both made of concrete. It's the World's Biggest Dinosaur in the desert town of Cabazon.
You can see the dinosaurs from Interstate 10 near Palm Springs. If you make the stop and visit the Tyrannosaurus Rex gift shop, you can then amble through the maze of still-life dinosaurs, mine for stones at a gold rush mill, and dig for fossils in a sandbox. An inside exhibit has a bevy of noisy robotic dinosaurs (thankfully, only their heads move side to side). They also have educational plaques that make clear the amusement park's aim. One plaque explains:
"Evolution teaches that dinosaurs lived millions of years before man. However, science and the Bible tell us a different story. They tell us that dinosaurs and man lived at the same time."
To that, my 9-year-old says, "What??"
Yep, this museum dedicates itself to educating the general public about the truth of intelligent design and why the theory of evolution has too many flaws. Some of their reasons include:
Human fossil footprints have been found alongside dinosaur footprints in the Paluxy River, Texas.
Flexible material resembling soft tissue inside a Tyrannosaurus Rex leg bone was found at the Hell Creek Formation in Montana by Mary Higby Schweitzer in 2005. The paleontologist found intact structures like blood vessels, bone matrix, and connective tissue. Looking under the microscope, she further found small pieces of soft tissue that had retained microstructures at the cellular level. The museum's conclusion: Soft tissue, ligaments, and blood couldn't remain fresh after millions of years. Therefore, dinosaurs can't be millions of years old.
Textbooks may tell you that man came from apes, but don't be fooled. Many animals share similarities and this is proof of a common ancestor.
The World's Biggest Dinosaur amusement park didn't always exist here, although the two largest dinosaurs have a longer history. Claude Bell in 1964 decided to use his own money to commission a one hundred and fifty ton concrete "Dinney the Dinosaur". It took 11 years to construct and Bell spent $250,000 on the project. Today, you can walk up steep stairs and reach the teeth of Dinney, which overlooks a calm view of the desert. Next, Bell built the Tyrannosaurus Rex, but it was only completed a year after his death in 1987.
In the nineties, Bell's property went up for sale and Cabazon residents thought the dinosaurs would be razed down in order to build a strip mall. Instead, the owners of the World's Biggest Dinosaur bought the property, adding the gift shop inside the Rex and constructing the small amusement park, which they say will grow with time. Interestingly, neither the ticket seller, the plaques, nor the website reveal the names of who actually own this property.
The youthful cashier, however, reveals a little about why this amusement park was established. In 2008, Richard Dawkins wrote The God Delusion. According to the cashier, this book launched a war between Christians and atheists and this museum's aim is to battle against the forces of evolutionary biologists and atheists alike. This fighting spirit can be see already at the entrance where a life-size display of a soldier stands with a plaque that reads: "Pray for our soldiers."
Hadley's Fruit Orchard and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians' Casino is a stone throw's away from the amusement park. No matter what, kids will love this heavenly or frightening place, depending on your perspective.
You can see the dinosaurs from Interstate 10 near Palm Springs. If you make the stop and visit the Tyrannosaurus Rex gift shop, you can then amble through the maze of still-life dinosaurs, mine for stones at a gold rush mill, and dig for fossils in a sandbox. An inside exhibit has a bevy of noisy robotic dinosaurs (thankfully, only their heads move side to side). They also have educational plaques that make clear the amusement park's aim. One plaque explains:
"Evolution teaches that dinosaurs lived millions of years before man. However, science and the Bible tell us a different story. They tell us that dinosaurs and man lived at the same time."
To that, my 9-year-old says, "What??"
Yep, this museum dedicates itself to educating the general public about the truth of intelligent design and why the theory of evolution has too many flaws. Some of their reasons include:
Human fossil footprints have been found alongside dinosaur footprints in the Paluxy River, Texas.
Flexible material resembling soft tissue inside a Tyrannosaurus Rex leg bone was found at the Hell Creek Formation in Montana by Mary Higby Schweitzer in 2005. The paleontologist found intact structures like blood vessels, bone matrix, and connective tissue. Looking under the microscope, she further found small pieces of soft tissue that had retained microstructures at the cellular level. The museum's conclusion: Soft tissue, ligaments, and blood couldn't remain fresh after millions of years. Therefore, dinosaurs can't be millions of years old.
Textbooks may tell you that man came from apes, but don't be fooled. Many animals share similarities and this is proof of a common ancestor.
The World's Biggest Dinosaur amusement park didn't always exist here, although the two largest dinosaurs have a longer history. Claude Bell in 1964 decided to use his own money to commission a one hundred and fifty ton concrete "Dinney the Dinosaur". It took 11 years to construct and Bell spent $250,000 on the project. Today, you can walk up steep stairs and reach the teeth of Dinney, which overlooks a calm view of the desert. Next, Bell built the Tyrannosaurus Rex, but it was only completed a year after his death in 1987.
In the nineties, Bell's property went up for sale and Cabazon residents thought the dinosaurs would be razed down in order to build a strip mall. Instead, the owners of the World's Biggest Dinosaur bought the property, adding the gift shop inside the Rex and constructing the small amusement park, which they say will grow with time. Interestingly, neither the ticket seller, the plaques, nor the website reveal the names of who actually own this property.
The youthful cashier, however, reveals a little about why this amusement park was established. In 2008, Richard Dawkins wrote The God Delusion. According to the cashier, this book launched a war between Christians and atheists and this museum's aim is to battle against the forces of evolutionary biologists and atheists alike. This fighting spirit can be see already at the entrance where a life-size display of a soldier stands with a plaque that reads: "Pray for our soldiers."
Hadley's Fruit Orchard and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians' Casino is a stone throw's away from the amusement park. No matter what, kids will love this heavenly or frightening place, depending on your perspective.
About the Author:
Learn more about California Travel. Stop by Barbara's Off-Beat California Adventures where you'll find out all about Dinosaurs and more.
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