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Borrego Springs, CA

Friday, May 24, 2013

It was a very LARGE day… Part 1

I had compiled a list of seven oddities I wanted to see today with the help of my Roadside America investigations that I made late last night.  Jack was up for the adventure, so early this morning I drove over to his campground on the outskirts of Detroit Lakes.  The first place we stopped wasn’t open yet, but the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center for Detroit Lakes was, so we stopped there and I picked up a bag full of information on interesting things to do in the area while I am here for the next four months.

_MG_8726                     Then we were off to the town of Frazee, MN, to see the World’s Largest Turkey. 

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It was located in “The Best Lion’s Park By a Dam…Site”!  As we arrived, we both needed to visit the rest rooms first.  Interesting… no door to the restroom and no doors for each of the three stalls.  Surprised smile I was sure glad it wasn’t a busy day at the park!  The toilets did flush, however, and there was TP.  Makes one wonder what other Lion’s Parks are like…

An interesting side note about this large turkey, is that a number of years ago they were getting ready for their annual turkey festival, and members of the fire department were doing some repairs to the big bird.  One of them was using a torch and guess what?  The bird went up in flames!  It created quite a stir.  The bird was rebuilt, and I assume repairs are now made without torches.

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As we then headed to Fergus Falls, we drove through the town of Vergas, and lo and behold found the World’s Largest Common Loon in a small park along side a lake.

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This gem wasn’t even on my list as I thought Vergas wasn’t near our route.  I’m not sure why I get a kick out of these big things, but I do.  I remember dragging my daughter and 87 year old mother to see the World’s Largest Sausage in Canada on our trip to Alaska in 2004.  It’s kind of like geo-cashing to my way of thinking, only there’s a BIG bonus when you get there. Rolling on the floor laughing I thought it was fitting that we visited the Minnesota state bird.  Jack just groaned.

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First up on my list in Fergus Falls was “Otto” the large river otter.  Seems he was built by a bunch of high school students. 

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Otto is located in Grotto Park in the city, and several people were taking their lunch in the park as we visited.

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As an added bonus to Otto, there was a great egret rookery located on a small island in the lake that the park surrounds.  Lots of egrets were busy bringing nest building supplies to the tree tops.  A little surprising to find this rookery right in the middle of town.

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The Fergus Falls Public Library has a large sculpture of a stack of books at the corner of it’s parking lot.  It was a nice touch, but not as huge as the other things we had found.  I would have liked to see some titles on the spines of those books.  If you look closely at the background in two of the pics, you’ll see the grain silos.  I got a kick out of those in the middle of town too.  It surely shows the importance of agriculture to this area of the state.

By this time, we were only done with half of the list, but I think I’ll leave the rest for another post.  This is long enough for tonight.  We were having a great time, but needed to stop for lunch before pressing on with the rest of this adventure.  The clouds were also creeping in after a beautiful morning.  As I’m writing this tonight, it is once again raining…

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                                                THE END… TO THE THIRD POWER!!  Open-mouthed smile

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

27 comments:

  1. What a crazy day you had!!! Don't forget to get over to Bemidji to see Paul Bunyan and Babe!!! Happy Weekend!

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  2. We just have to go there someday!

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  3. With all your previous animal pictures, I'll bet these were the easiest to find.

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  4. Now this is stuff no one else has shown pictures of. At least not that I've seen.

    My DH's aunt & uncle used to live in Fergus Falls. A number of his extended family still live in MN.

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  5. Now this is stuff no one else has shown pictures of. At least not that I've seen.

    My DH's aunt & uncle used to live in Fergus Falls. A number of his extended family still live in MN.

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  6. You do find the most amazing things. Those are some big birds. Clearly you didn't need binoculars or a zoom lens to get their pictures.

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  7. The best part was Miss Judy kept telling me where to go ! ! ! !

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  8. Only in the Midwest! I miss it so much at times.

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  9. goodness. . .who thinks up this stuff? too funny!

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  10. Great little birds you found today.

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  11. I guess it wasn't too hard to identify today's birds! Great fun - I like the whimsy.

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  12. You sure do find unusual things from Roadside America. There is a huge lobster in the Florida Keys that's been there as long as I've been going down there. Of course, everyone has to get a picture in front of it.

    Glad Jack's such a "fun guy" and is taking you to see these places. Maybe you could talk him into staying longer!

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  13. Oh how I love Roadside America. This was such a fun post. It just cracks me up at what people will make.

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  14. there is a program on PBS that has things like it, sometimes it is a real hoot.
    Donna

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  15. That's one huge turkey all right! So glad you and Jack had a fun day! Can't wait for what's coming next.

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  16. When we volunteered at a refuge in ND we used the grain elevators as direction indicators.... hard to get lost in those flat lands. Maybe adding titles to those books would make them too controversial....

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  17. Interesting! What kind of person thinks of making this stuff???

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  18. Looks like you and Jack are "living large" in Minnesota!!

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  19. Leave it to you to find the biggest wildlife! BTW, I'm looking at the town grain silo as I read your blog.

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  20. Quite a "Big" adventure. That is one large turkey, to say the least (and not living in Washington, DC). ;c)

    Now you have to put on your list of things to find: The world's largest roasting pan and the world's largest oven...

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  21. I'm not sure if I like Otto or the egrets better...lol. I think I saw an egret on the river earlier this week, but like I said... I need a bird tutor!

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  22. Well by far my favorite was the big turkey. You know how I love them birds. Great pictures.

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  23. I love Roadside America - everything quirky. These are fantastic - love the otter.

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  24. Just to your north there is a LARGE Walleye in the border town of Baudette...we'll be passing by in about a month :-)

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  25. What a fun place! I've never seen anything like it. I guess it needs to go on my list to visit someday. Glad you had fun!

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