Fun and Funny Sights along the road...

[SeaDawg]

We've seen so many odd, funny, unusual things along the road. Created to draw attention, some more spectacular than others. The giant lawnchair in Galesburg IL, the enormous walleye in Garrison MN, the double-ender car in tiny Preston MN.

 

This week, driving thru Kingsport TN, we spotted this delightful example of attention-grabbing design and road art:

 

The french fries and hotdog, though huge, were quite appealing, actually, in a retro, fifties kind of way....

 

Any favorites of your own to share?

[astrocaster]

Sherry,

What a great example of road art. I bet that really livened up the day.

 

Steve

[SeaDawg]

This one is fun, not funny. The Iowa Welcome center on north end of I-35 is built in the iconic shape of the Iowa barn: big, red, gambreled roof... oh, and a silo,too!

Inside is a wealth of information and friendly folks offering travel tips, brochures, and maps, of course.

 

 

Not far from here, traveling south, you'll see the new icon of rural Iowa: wind turbine farms. Iowa is one of the nation's leaders in energy production from windpower.

 

Sherry

[tumbleweed]

Those of us that microscopictally follow you blog will AGAIN remind you to update your MAP ! ! Please..

heheheee

Will be at Quail Roost with Pete(hopefully) and I believe Tue nite is STEaK nite at the Icehouse We and Pete have res...wanna' come up fotr the nite???If not stay in a semi fiberglas traialer....

I will delegate authority to Randy to confirm STEAK nite!!!

Chuck

[SeaDawg]

Hi. Chuck,

I did update my map... now it takes two maps to keep up with our travels, US and Canada. We rolled over 43,000 miles on the Oliver long before we got home last month...

I suspect that there are a few states that we simply drove thru, but didn't camp in, that don't appear on my maps. That's ok, because I never knew the right protocol.... so I just wing it.

 

Looking forward to seeing you at the freezer!

Sherry

[technomadia]

Roadside Attractions are so much fun, and nicely add adventure to the road trip!

 

For those of you with iPhones/iPads/iThingies, check out the app 'Roadside America' - it's a great geo listing of all these gems. They also have a website (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/) for those without iPhones.

 

- Cherie

[SeaDawg]

Sunday is usually a relaxing family day for us. Baby back ribs are smoking low and slow for family dinner tonight. Chatting with an old friend who's visiting with us again this year. We were looking at some of our camping pictures from this year, and I remembered starting this old thread years ago.

 

I love fifties and sixties kitsch, and oddball roadside attractions in small towns and cities.

 

Here's a photo from one of this year's trips. Somewhere in North Dakota is the world's largest sandhill crane...

 

 

[John E Davies]

The Dog Bark Park Inn (B&B and chainsaw dog art) in the Idaho Panhandle, half way between Spokane and Boise:

 

 

The last time we went by we bought a small beagle carving and it makes me laugh every time I look at it.

 

 

http://www.dogbarkpark.com/giftshop/

 

If you are driving through there is is impossible to miss unless you are asleep.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[bugeyedriver]

Along Route  66, in Wilmington IL........ Oscar and I visit The Gemini Man!

 

[SeaDawg]

Thank you, Pete and John. I'll watch for the beagle next spring. We're thinking about taking that route.

 

Love the Gemini man. Though I once lived near Wilmington, Ive not been that way in a long while.

 

On the road to Teddy Roosevelt national park near Medora ND, there were a number of giant statues. My photos of the giant bison, and the cows, were taken while driving, but the memory makes me smile, anyway.

 

Here's a giant eye, staring you down from the bank of the ND interstate.

 

ND has its own kind of beauty. I actually prefer the ND badlands to the better known SD badlands.

 

Sherry

[Try2Relax]

Here’s a giant eye, staring you down from the bank of the ND interstate.  

Interesting background - Enchanted Highway

[SeaDawg]

Thanks, Randy, for the link.

 

ND is vast, with a tiny population, spread out everywhere. Some of those little towns where my Norwegian side ancestors went over a century ago don't exist anymore. Ditto on some of the Minnesota towns of the mid  1800s that were settled by immigrants. All that's left of some of the settlements are cemeteries, and sometimes, still, a little wooden church.

 

A number of the kitsch oversized monuments were , I think, erected to get people to stop for a Kodak moment, and spend a few dollars in the community.  When I can, I still stop. I love the small roads. We drive the interstate when we have to get somewhere by a certain date or time.

 

Thanks again.

 

Sherry

 

OK, I'll add another one from last summer. Chicken, Alaska. Definitely not recommended for trailers. Awful road, for over a hundred miles.

[John E Davies]

Thank you, Pete and John. I’ll watch for the beagle next spring. We’re thinking about taking that route.  Sherry

Please consider PMing me if you come through the beautiful Spokane area. I would love to meet you guys and pick your brains about Olivers. You can use my driveway for an overnighter or three, or you can try the scenic Bowl and Pitcher Campground along the Spokane River, which is just a few easy minutes drive from my house. My driveway has better rates, just ... conversation.

 

http://www.stateparks.com/riverside_state_park_in_washington.html

 

Depending on your timing, you might catch the river in full flood. Here is the Bowl and Pitcher day use area suspension bridge:

 

 

And here is the Upper Falls in downtown Spokane:

 

 

 

The last shot shows the pedestrian bridge which was closed  to foot traffic for a couple of days, when somebody noticed a ten foot log that had been thrown up onto the center of the span... ;)

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[SeaDawg]

Thanks, John.That's really nice of you to offer. I will pm you if this years route does take us that way. It's a part of the Northwest that I've not seen.

 

Paul's work took him coastal, and last trip I celebrated camping in Oregon and Washington states, my last two states to visit. That's really nice.

 

Better yet, by then, you will probably have your Oliver, and we can camp at bowl and pitcher together?

 

I'm a pretty fair campfire cook. Let's do dinner together one night, at least.

 

Sherry

[topgun2]

While not funny, I found this Buffalo Bill to be rather stunning.  Located about two miles south of Interstate 70 just northwest of Oakley, KS.

 

Bill