I-10 Morongo Travel Center Opens In Cabazon

Above, the new Morongo travel center joins the Cabazon dinosaurs off Interstate 10. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Whenever I think of Cabazon, California off Interstate 10, I think first of the two dinosaurs that were built in the 1960s and Hadley Fruit Orchards (and their date shakes).

Now, the Morongo tribe has opened a new travel center in Cabazon.

MSN posted:

CABAZON, CA — The Morongo Band of Mission Indians has opened its Interstate 10 Morongo Travel Center in Cabazon that includes a 32-pump gas station, dog park, car wash, slot machines, a convenience store and other offerings.

Located behind Morongo’s existing gas station at Morongo Trail and Thunder Road, the new 6.7-acre Travel Center also has a bank of electric vehicle charging stations, eight Tesla superchargers, RV dumping, propane fills, six high-speed diesel truck pumps and diesel exhaust fluid.

To read more, go here. 

New Hadley Fruit Orchards Store In Cabazon

Above, the old Hadley Fruit Orchards store building sitting idle for four years. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For over 50 years, since we visited my grandmother in Twentynine Palms, we stopped at Hadley Fruit Orchards store in Cabazon, California (along Interstate 10) to have a date shake and buy some nuts and fruit items.

Above, the new Hadley's store in Cabazon. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I was last there four years ago and the store was as I remembered it back in the 1960s.

Yesterday, after entering California to spend Christmas with my family, I stopped at Hadley's and found that they are no longer in the building they've always been in. They were in a new building next door.

Above, inside Hadley's new store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I liked the look of the old building. It had a rustic and kitschy look to it. Like a country store.

I went inside the new store to pick up a few things. The store was nice and modern and the products are the same as they always were, but there was just something missing. It doesn't have the character of the old store.

Above, the new store is nice, but it lost the character of the old store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I talked with the clerk at the date shake counter and she said they moved out of the old building four years ago as it was "falling apart." She agreed with me that it should be restored and preserved as a museum. She said that the general consensus of longtime visitors was that they preferred the old store.

It is interesting that the whole area along Interstate 10 is so built up from Indio on west to Beaumont. I remember when there was nothing along that route except for Hadley Fruit Orchards store and the Cabazon dinosaurs. One can barely see each along the road as there are buildings around each.

I guess that's progress for you.

4.5 Magnitude Quake Hits Cabazon

Above, the Cabazon dinosaurs.

Cabazon, California, best known for Hadley Fruit Orchards store and the Cabazon dinosaurs, was hit this morning by an earthquake.

The Los Angeles Times wrote:

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 shook a large portion of Southern California early Tuesday morning, authorities said. 

The U.S. Geological Survey put the epicenter of the 4:49 a.m. temblor about 7 miles north of Cabazon.

That's another thing I won't miss about leaving California.

To read more, go here. 

Hadley Merlot Wine Steak Sauce

One of the best products I've discovered in recent months (if you want to call last November "recent") was at the Hadey Fruit Orchards store in Cabazon, California.

When my family used to visit my grandmother in 29 Palms, we would stop at the Hadley store on the way home for some date shakes and buy some fruits and nuts to take home.

Last November, I stopped in while on my way home from the General Patton Museum and the Joshua Tree National Park.

I spotted bottles of Hadley Merlot Wine Steak Sauce on a counter and I decided to buy a bottle of it to try out.

To say that the steak sauce is "fantastic" would be a gross understatement. This stuff is the BOMB! (As the younger generation would say.)

While at the Ventura Beach RV Resort this week, I cooked some steaks on the barbecue and used the steak sauce. My bottle is almost half empty, so I thought I would go to the Hadley online catalog and order some more. Unfortunately, it isn't listed. So I called them and left a message.

A little while ago, a nice lady from Hadley called and said that the sauce is such a new product that it hasn't yet made its way to the catalog, but I could order some through her. She asked how many do I want. I said ten.

She just about fell out of her chair. I started laughing. I told her that the sauce is that good and I was planning to give some to friends. Unfortunately, she said they only have ten bottles in stock. I took them.

My order will be going out on Monday.

I highly recommend it!

How The Date Shake Became The "Unofficial" Drink of Palm Springs

Above, Hadley Fruit Orchards in Cabazon, where I discovered date shakes. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There is an "unofficial" drink of Palm Springs.

I have been aware of this drink since the 1960s when we would visit my grandmother in 29 Palms, California and stop at Hadley Fruit Orchards on the way home and buy ourselves some.

It is the date shake.

Condé Nast Traveler has an article on how the date shake became the unofficial drink of Palm Springs.

They begin with:

Although southern California's Coachella Valley is better known for the annual music festival bearing its name, it's also the place where more than 90 percent of the world's dates are grown. The warm, dry climate is perfect for the sweet fruits and the palm trees they grow on, but not all of the dates are exported. The founders of Shields Date Garden in Indio, which features a series of sculptures portraying events from Jesus's life alongside their date palms, came up with a way to crystallize the dates, turning them into something resembling oatmeal. Someone—no one is positive who—then came up with the idea of mixing them with ice cream, thus creating the unofficial beverage of Palm Springs: the date shake.

To read more, go here. 

Hadley Fruit Orchards

Above, the Hadley Fruit Orchards store in Cabazon. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back in the 1960s when we visited my grandmother in 29 Palms, we usually stopped at Hadley Fruit Orchards store in Cabazon on the way home.

There, we picked up some nuts and fruit products (such as jams and preserves) and had date shakes in their snack bar.

Yesterday, while returning home from Joshua Tree National Park and the General Patton Memorial Museum, I made a few stops, one of which was at Hadley's. I stopped in after having breakfast at Ruby's Diner next door. They have plenty of RV parking.

Above, inside of Hadley's. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The store still looked the same and was very much as I remembered it. It has been many moons since I last stopped there (it was probably after a desert clamp-out with the Billy Holcomb Chapter of E Clampus Vitus).

This time, I skipped getting a date shake (actually, I forgot to get one) but I did pick up a couple of bottles of their steak sauces. One was mesquite-flavored and the other was merlot wine-flavored. I like to try out different steak sauces.

Above, just look for the Hadley sign while on Interstate 10 in Cabazon. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It was nice to see that some things haven't changed, and the Hadley Fruit Orchard store in Cabazon is one of them.

For more on Hadley's, go here.

Ruby's Diner In Cabazon

Above, the Cabazon Ruby's Diner. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

On the way home from the General Patton Memorial Museum and Joshua Tree National Park yesterday, I made another stop (besides the Cabazon dinosaurs) in Cabazon: Ruby's Diner.

On the way to the General Patton Museum, I noticed several billboards advertising Ruby's Diner in Cabazon. Ruby's Diner is a 1940s style restaurant chain named for the mother of the founder, Doug Cavanaugh. I decided to give them a try.

Above, a portrait of founder Doug Cavanaugh's mother Ruby on display behind the cashier's counter. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Cabazon Ruby's Diner is next door to Hadley's Fruit Orchards store, at which my family has stopped for date shakes since the 1960s. I stopped by Hadley's after Ruby's, but that will be the subject of another blog post.

Ruby's started in 1980 with the first restaurant to be opened in 1982 in Newport Beach, California. Now, there are several Ruby's Diner restaurants besides the one in Cabazon.

Above, vintage signs adorned the walls of Ruby's Diner. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I went to the Cabazon restaurant for breakfast. Fortunately, they had large parking spaces in their parking lot that are suitable for RVs and I got there early before the crowds. When I went inside, I immediately liked the "malt shop" look of the restaurant. In the section I was seated, there was an overhead oval track with a 1957 Chevrolet going around and vintage signs were displayed on the walls. I'm probably dating myself when I admit to remembering some of the signs on display.

Above, the 1957 Chevy revolving on an overhead oval track. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I ordered the corned beef and eggs and it was well-prepared. The waiter was dressed 1940s style and he seemed to enjoy his job. I was pleased that the food was good. I'd hate to go to a restaurant what was all decor, but with lousy food.

Above, the counter of Ruby's. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

According to their website, there's a Ruby's Diner at the nearby Woodland Hills Promenade Mall on Topanga Canyon Blvd. I'll have go there to try out their hamburgers.

Above, the cooks at work. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If I should be in the Cabazon area again, I will make it a point to stop in at Ruby's Diner.

For more on Ruby's Diner, go here.