Last June, we pointed our RV down (and up) a sparsely traveled highway that took us from Utah’s Arches National Park into western Colorado. At one point, as we merrily rolled along, I glimpsed something to my left and stopped the RV along the side of the road. It so happens that I pulled over right at the state line. In fact, as we climbed out to take a short stroll and snap some pictures, I’m pretty sure that the front half of the RV was parked in Colorado while the back half was in Utah.
But the state line isn’t what caught my eye.
What I had noticed was a house, but not really. It was virtually camouflaged, essentially organically constructed from the elements around it. It was embedded in the bedrock that lined the rural highway. In fact, the nearest town was called Bedrock – and it honestly looked like something that Fred, Wilma and Pebbles might call home.
I didn’t have the courage to knock on the door. I figure if someone wants to surround themselves with rock and emptiness, there’s probably a reason. And that reason probably doesn’t include gawking strangers.
But it’s a fine example of one of those memorable wonders that you stumble upon if you’re paying attention. And it’s not something you see if you’re flying over it… or rushing to get to a restaurant in your car. It’s one of the house-on-wheels, road-less-traveled benefits. And it’s certainly something you don’t see every day.
If there is a driving force, as I roam through the atlas (map nerd that I am), it is the little red squares. If you’re an RVer, I’m hoping you know what I’m talking about – those highlighted attractions sprinkled throughout state and city maps. You know, the museums and caves and zoos and viewpoints and battlefields and ballparks and historic homes and botanic gardens… all the stuff you want to see if sight-seeing is your goal. Or maybe site-seeing.
So when I plan our RV journeys, I pay particular attention to those little red squares. My family and I have found our way to dozens and dozens of them – whether it’s the National Buffalo Museum (Jamestown, ND) or the House on the Rock (Spring Green, WI) or Cave of the Winds (Colorado Springs, CO).
But there are hundreds and hundreds of them that we haven’t seen. So I thought I would devote a handful of entries in this travel journal to listing some of the more interesting little red squares that I hope to visit someday. I’ll offer ten at a time, one per state:
Alabama: Boll Weevil Monument – The world’s only monument (constructed in Enterprise in 1919) honoring an agricultural pest. After the boll weevil devastated cotton crops, the region’s farmers learned to diversify their crops. Hence the monument.
Alaska: Oscar Anderson House – Located on M Street in downtown Anchorage, this was the first wood-frame house in Alaska, built (in 1915) by a fellow who claimed to be the 18th person to set foot in that city.
Arizona: Spider Rock Overlook – A view, from the South Rim Drive in northeastern Arizona’s breathtaking Canyon de Chelly National Monument, of a red, 800-foot-tall sandstone spire.
Arkansas: Riddle’s Elephant Sanctuary – 330 acres in the Ozark foothills, it is “the only internationally recognized sanctuary that accepts any elephant regardless of species, gender or disposition.”
California: Skidoo – A ghost town and one of the last gold mining camps in Death Valley, Skidoo had more than 400 residents a century ago, including a fellow named One-Eye Thompson. By 1922, “Old Tom” Adams was the lone citizen.
Colorado: Paint Mines Interpretive Park – Just west of Colorado Springs, this is a colorful collection of spires, hoodoos and other formations formed by exposed layers of selenite clay.
Connecticut: Pinchot Sycamore – The largest tree in Connecticut – 26 feet around, 95 feet tall, with an average canopy diameter of 140 feet. Located on the east bank of the Farmington River, it was named for a prominent conservationist.
Delaware: Zwaanendael Museum – In Lewes, near Delaware Bay, the artifacts tell the story of the area’s maritime, military and social history. But the building, modeled after a town hall in the Netherlands, commemorates Delaware’s settlement by the Dutch in 1631.
Florida: Reptile World Serpentarium – It’s not far from Disney World, but no mouse would be caught dead here. There are more than 50 species of snake here, and it’s “the world’s leading working venom farm.”
Georgia: Little White House Historic Site – FDR built this home in Warm Springs just before becoming president. Among the items on display: His 1938 Ford convertible with and controls and the “Unfinished Portrait” for which he was posing when he suffered his fatal stroke in 1945.
Here’s a photo of the Boll Weevil Monument:
This isn’t a belated April Fool’s joke. No hoax. No ruse. No scam. It’s the real deal. Big Foot!
But let me back up a bit. Way back to 1983. That’s the year when a classic road trip film was released – National Lampoon’s Vacation. You knew what kind of movie it was going to be pretty early on, about the time Clark Griswold (played by Chevy Chase) declared, “Hey, hey, easy kids. Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes... or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?"
Yes, here in America we’re obsessed with superlatives. The biggest this. The tallest that. It has spawned a small-town frenzy to see who can come up with the quirkiest tourist attraction.
I’ve seen a handful of these – the World’s Largest Themometer (Baker, CA), the World’s Largest Wagon (Spokane, WA), the World’s Largest Buffalo (Jamestown, ND), the World’s Largest Muskie (Hayward, WI), the World’s Largest Dinosaurs (Cabazon, CA), the World’s Largest Tire (Allen Park, MI), the World’s Largest Drug Store (Wall, SD), even the World’s Largest McDonald’s (Orlando, FL).
But it gets weirder. Try hard enough and you can find places boasting, among other absurdities, the world’s largest spinach can (Alma, AR), ketchup bottle (Collinsville, IL), cheese wheel (Berlin, OH), yo-yo (Chico, CA), hairball (Garden City, KS), Ten Commandments (Murphy, NC), and fake nose and glasses (Michigan City, IN).
But if you really want to catch a glimpse of a bunch of strange sculptures – in one convenient location – all you have to do is point your RV toward Vining, Minnesota (population 68). Go there and visit Big Foot Gas and Grocery. You can’t miss it. It’s fronted by a sculpture of an enormous coffee cup suspended by a stream of coffee. It looks as though it is being poured by an invisible giant. Next to the gas station is Nyberg Park, which I can only describe as a sort of psychedelic sculpture garden. There are about a dozen oversized creations there – an immense watermelon being sliced by a knife as big as a canoe, a colossal set of pliers, a massive square knot, a giant elk, a huge potted cactus.
All of the creations are the products of the off-beat imagination of a friendly fellow named Ken Nyberg, who is now in his early seventies. I met him a few years ago at his workshop, which is about a mile up the road, not too far from the 20-foot-tall clothespin that looks down on the tiny Vining post office and the 1,200-pound foot (complete with swollen big toe) that was his very first creation. Yes, that Big Foot.
I asked Ken why he does it – sometimes for a commission (i.e. a huge otter for the community of Ottertail), but usually on a whim. He gave the answer I should have expected: “Why not?”
For one thing, his creations have put Vining on the map – or at least in the quirky pages of Roadside America guides. For another, he has learned to appreciate the great gift of retirement – the luxury of having options instead of responsibilities. So he simply opts to construct the World’s Largest Doorknob.
And here’s another factoid about Ken Nyberg: In June 2008, his daughter, Karen, was part of a seven-member crew that undertook a 14-day mission aboard NASA’s space shuttle Discovery, making her one of only a few dozen female astronauts ever to rocket into space. So I’d say she’s his most impressive creation.
Meanwhile, here’s one LARGE step for mankind:
