Attractions- Part Two

Continuing Along...

Illinois

* The world's largest stained glass window

* Puppet Opera, or Miniature golf inside a funeral home

* The volvo auto museum

Disclaimer for Illinois: I'm sure Illinois is not as lame as it looks here.

Wisconsin!

* The national dairy shrine visitor's center

* Ella's Animatronic Deli (lunch!)

* World's largest Flamingo (is it alive?)

* Fiberglass graveyard

* A "Ship shaped" car wash. Think my car will be ready for another wash?


* Paul Bunyan and Babe statues (I've only listed them once, but there appear to be many!)

* "Wisconsin's Finest Taxidermy and Cheese Shop" I couldn't make this stuff up!

Minnesota

* The Mall of America, of course

* A strangely large number of smiley face water towers

* World's Largest 'Booming' Prairie Chicken
How does a chicken boom?

* There's a "shoe fence" of some variety

* Viking ship replica

North Dakota, the farthest North of all the Dakotas

* World's Longest Piece of seamless steel siding

* St. Joseph's Chapel. A TINY little church, but, a tiny little Catholic church. Apparently mass is said there once a year.

Entering CANADA!

umm... I'm having trouble finding things in Manitoba. I could see the world's 2nd largest fire hydrant or maybe I could go see Happy Rock


Saskatchewan

* I could see the world's largest moose, or the world's tallest Ukrainian lady

* The world's largest Lily, the world's largest tomahawk, and the world's largest bunnock
What do you mean you don't know what a bunnock is? It's a horse's ankle bone.

Alberta

* The world's largest softball, which is apparently named Suzie

* Canada's largest Buffalo, no name listed

* World's largest Easter Egg, Sausage, and Mallard duck.

* Canada's largest aluminum bat

* Alberta is also home to the world's largest tractor weather vane, pick axe, and wagon wheel

Alberta is really trying here to have some of the biggest stuff in the world. You can tell how much they want your attention. They're probably still hurt that no one knows who they are. Did I mention that they also have the world's largest beaver?

Attractions- Part One

My current goal for The Drive is to take my time and to smell the roses, so to speak. With little or no regard for level of interest or cheesy-ness, here is a list of potential "roses."

Before I leave Savannah...

*Giant Cow Mailbox
I drive by this thing every time I go to Kroger. I have no idea why it was built or who built it.

*Park bench where Forrest Gump Sat
The actual bench isn't there any more, but my family did take photos in that square last Thanksgiving.

*The first headquarters of Girl Scouting

Other Georgia Attractions...

*The town of Catlin, Georgia.

*The World's Largest Metal Elephant in Ringgold, Georgia.

* And, just barely making it within the Georgia State Line. I could (bum bum bum) See Rock City!
After decades of driving past barns and billboards, I could finally see what all the fuss is about.

Tennessee

*Ruby Falls sounds like fun

* The international Towing and recovery museum does not

* The world's largest cedar bucket
I wonder if there's a record for number of "World's Largest/longest/heaviest..." things seen in one trip.

* There's a bunch of stuff in and around Nashville. I've been to the Parthenon several times and I've been to the Charlie Daniels Museum. Maybe this trip I could see the pair of Polar bear statues and/or the controversial 'musica' Statue.

Entering Kentucky

* Big Indian Statue in Franklin, Ky

* Mammoth Cave National Park, and assorted attractions

* There's a Stonehenge replica in Munforville, KY.
I won't lie. This sounds cool. I want to go.

* I could see the Jim Beam distillery or the world's longest go-kart track.

* Kentucky is also home to the world's largest bottle of booze, the world's largest bat (baseball or flying? I'm not sure), and a "very large coffee pot".
Dear Kentucky, I can see that last one at bed Bath and Beyond. Love, Me

Indiana

* The Second Largest Timepiece in the world.

* The World's Largest Rocking Chair, and a grave in the middle of the road in Franklin, IN

* Indianapolis has a muffler man, a medical museum, and the sight of Elvis's last concert, but I'm more intrigued by "Three Dinosaurs breaking out of a Children's Museum"

* There's some kind of Rain forest car wash that I'm sure I will need by the time I get to West Lafayette (pictured above), after which my clean car can take me to the World's largest boilermaker statue.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have no idea what a boilermaker is.



* Continuing through Indiana, the fun only increases. There's a giant sundial in the shape of a lady's leg, and a Great Dairy Adventure where one can (gasp) ride a bus through a barn.

* I can see the Michael Jackson birthplace. (Not exactly the type of "music man" attraction I expected to see near Gary Indiana.)

organization...

In no particular order, here are some of the things I need to do in the next 8 weeks

-Buy a new car :-)
-Find a job in or near Anchorage
- Find a place to live
- make sure my passport hasn't expired [done!, is doesn't expire until 2015]
- Find a renter for my place in Pooler
- Give away, sell, or return to rightful owner most of the furniture in my house

That's all I can think of for now. What am I forgetting?

Itinerary

Here's my current thinking, which is wide open for amendments.

Day One- Savannah to Nashville 8.25 hours
Day Two- Nashville to Chicago Area 7.5 hours
Substitute Ann Arbor for Chicago?
Day Three- Chicago Area to Minneapolis Area 7.75 hours
Day Four- Minneapolis to Winnipeg 7.5 hours
Day Five- Winnipeg to Saskatoon 8.5 hours
Day Six- Saskatoon to Fox Creek 8.5 hours
Day Seven- Fox Creek to Fort Nelson 9.25 hours
Day Eight- Fort Nelson to Whitehorse 11 hours
Day Nine- Whitehorse to Tok 7.75 hours
Day Ten- Tok to Anchorage 7.5 hours

Does anyone have experience driving through Canada? Can you think of any good places to stay, or things to see along the way?

The Adventure Begins

It's a story as old as time. Girl meets boy... Girl falls in love... Girl moves to Alaska...



I plan to use this blog to share all my of adventures as I move 4500 miles away from my current home and start life in the USA's largest state.