AAA members can receive a special VIP Savings Card at the Customer Service Counter.
The 27-story Morongo Casino Resort & Spa can be seen for miles around; it contains a full hotel, day spa, swimming pools, casino and other activities.
The massive complex began as a simple bingo hall in 1983; the current version of the property opened in late 2004, and has mushroomed into a multibillion-dollar business.
With a 150,000-square-foot gaming floor, the casino boasts more than 2,500 slot machines, 79 table games and a private 22-table poker room.
Claude Bell founded Mr. Rex’s Backyard Adventure, which was made famous in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.”
The site features massive metal dinosaurs that are familiar to anyone who has driven that portion of Interstate 10 in the past several decades.
The park was purchased in 2005 by a Christian organization that attempts to disprove evolution through signage and other methods, but the original dinosaurs are still available for exploration and play.
A dinosaur ride is $2 per child; kids can also play paleontologist in a white sand dig, where they can attempt to find a special stone for a prize.
Additional gemstone and fossil panning bags are $10.
GETTING THERE
Take the 91 Freeway east for about 31 miles.
Follow the signs for the 60 Freeway east and merge onto it.
Travel on it for 18 miles, then take the ramp onto the 10 Freeway east.
Cabazon will be about 20 miles away.
Exit at Fields Road for the Desert Hills Premium Outlets, Main Street for Mr. Rex’s Backyard Adventure, or Apache Trail for Morongo Casino Resort & Spa.
HOURS
Desert Hills Premium Outlets is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Mr. Rex’s Backyard Adventure is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Morongo Casino Resort & Spa is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
— Candice Baker
