What' s That Water Park halfway to Barstow?

That place gives me the willies.

Was it a real funpark, or just the set for some John Waters or
Tarantino movie?

On Aug 23, 5:05 pm, joeso...@ wrote:
> That place gives me the willies.
>
> Was it a real funpark,  or just the set for some John Waters or
> Tarantino movie?  

I seem to recall that place being open about 15 years ago. I don't
remember when it closed, but its been more than a few years.
Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, too far away from any
population centers. . .no wonder it closed.

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:05:11 -0700, joesorce@ wrote:

>That place gives me the willies.
>
>Was it a real funpark, or just the set for some John Waters or
>Tarantino movie?

It was Lake Dolores. It opened in about 1962 with a campground and
artificial lake with rope swings and other types of water attractions.
It was heavily advertised in southern California May-Oct and attracted
some good crowds and closed in the early 1980s.

It's gone thorough several incarnations including converting it to a
modern water park with water slides. It closed in the late 1980s and
reopened in the late 1990s as Rock-A-Hoola water park. It opened
again in 2002 as Discovery Water park and closed in, as I recall,
2004.

Skip

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION

<joesorce@> wrote in message
news:11283-48B0A5B7-1079@storefull-3213.bay....
> That place gives me the willies.
>
> Was it a real funpark, or just the set for some John Waters or
> Tarantino movie?

Lake Dolores clearly suffered in its latter days due to its proximity to
basically nowhere, but being in the middle of nowhere worked just fine back
in the days when roadside attractions on the way to somewhere else were
popular. It also served a s a campground and base for off road vehicle
enthusiasts way back in the 50's.

Driving from LA to Vegas used to be an adventure before the LA Hwy was a
freeway. There wasn't anything to do in a car besides listen to the radio,
and most cars didn't have air conditioning. Coming across a shady picnic
area and swimming hole was a welcome sight for many travelers. Over the
years more and more elaborate water slides were added, and this preceded the
modern water park we know today. The place was somewhat unique early on.

Of course once everyone was speeding along at 80mph, in air conditioned
comfort, with the kids glued to their DVD's, handheld game machines, MP3
players, and cellphones, the concept of pulling over to go swimming and eat
at picnic tables became pretty dull.

They kept the place alive for a while by trying to jazz it up here and
there, and there is a growing population in the Barstow area that helped for
a time, but in the end it bit the dust as have most other roadside
attractions from bygone days.

OR

Nope. It really was a water park in a far, far, galaxy a long, long time
ago....

M

<joesorce@> wrote in message
news:11283-48B0A5B7-1079@storefull-3213.bay....
> That place gives me the willies.
>
> Was it a real funpark, or just the set for some John Waters or
> Tarantino movie?
>

WOW!

Only person on AVLV better than me at LV trivia.

Lynne talks about it---but Skip and I lived it!

M

"Skipfromla" <skipfromlam> wrote in message
news:ult1b45gq9rqo0eukltanp5p8bs88u974v@...
> On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:05:11 -0700, joesorce@ wrote:
>
>>That place gives me the willies.
>>
>>Was it a real funpark, or just the set for some John Waters or
>>Tarantino movie?
>
> It was Lake Dolores. It opened in about 1962 with a campground and
> artificial lake with rope swings and other types of water attractions.
> It was heavily advertised in southern California May-Oct and attracted
> some good crowds and closed in the early 1980s.
>
> It's gone thorough several incarnations including converting it to a
> modern water park with water slides. It closed in the late 1980s and
> reopened in the late 1990s as Rock-A-Hoola water park. It opened
> again in 2002 as Discovery Water park and closed in, as I recall,
> 2004.
>
> Skip

On Aug 24, 1:01 pm, "The DOS Man" <nowh...@nohow.com> wrote:
> WOW!
>
> Only person on AVLV better than me at LV trivia.
>
> Lynne talks about it---but Skip and I lived it!

You are such a douchebag!

Kurt

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:46:07 GMT, "Octopus Ride" <davko58@sonic.net>
wrote:

>
><joesorce@> wrote in message
>news:11283-48B0A5B7-1079@storefull-3213.bay....
>> That place gives me the willies.
>>
>> Was it a real funpark, or just the set for some John Waters or
>> Tarantino movie?
>
>Lake Dolores clearly suffered in its latter days due to its proximity to
>basically nowhere, but being in the middle of nowhere worked just fine back
>in the days when roadside attractions on the way to somewhere else were
>popular. It also served a s a campground and base for off road vehicle
>enthusiasts way back in the 50's.
>
>Driving from LA to Vegas used to be an adventure before the LA Hwy was a
>freeway. There wasn't anything to do in a car besides listen to the radio,
>and most cars didn't have air conditioning. Coming across a shady picnic
>area and swimming hole was a welcome sight for many travelers. Over the
>years more and more elaborate water slides were added, and this preceded the
>modern water park we know today. The place was somewhat unique early on.
>
>Of course once everyone was speeding along at 80mph, in air conditioned
>comfort, with the kids glued to their DVD's, handheld game machines, MP3
>players, and cellphones, the concept of pulling over to go swimming and eat
>at picnic tables became pretty dull.
>
>They kept the place alive for a while by trying to jazz it up here and
>there, and there is a growing population in the Barstow area that helped for
>a time, but in the end it bit the dust as have most other roadside
>attractions from bygone days.
>
>OR
>

I was more upset about Pop's Oasis being shut down that I was about
Lake Dolores.

Skip

On Aug 28, 5:10 am, "The DOS Man" <nowh...@nohow.com> wrote:
> Actually Alan, it really was a water park.  It also had nice clean bathrooms
> where you could buy snacks.

They sold snacks in the bathrooms? No wonder the place is closed,
must have been done by the San Bernardino County health department.
Anyway, what was your question?