Wild Travels
Episode 304
PUMPKIN WEIGH-OFF Tualatin, OR
The Annual Pumpkin Races on Tualatin Lake in Portland are preceded the night before by a weigh-off to determine whose patch grew the heaviest pumpkin of them all; on the evening we attended, the winner tipped the scales at a preposterous 1,785 pounds!
SOLOMON’S CASTLE Ona, FL
Harold Solomon was possibly the most prolific maker of things and the most relentless jokester in the world, and when you visit his castle in the swamps of Florida, you'll realize that's probably an understatement. Beside the castle, Harold built replicas of a Spanish galleon and the Alamo, and filled all three structures with his creative and usually pun-related artwork.
THE UNIPIPER Portland, OR
Pedaling a unicycle while playing bagpipes that occasionally spout flames into the sky, the Unipiper has become a fixture on the streets of Portland, a town that seems to believe “the weirder, the better.”
MacALPINE’S DINER Phoenix, AZ
There’s a diner in Phoenix, nearly a century old, that boasts a ten-pound sundae and 99 flavors of soda. But it might be most memorable for what you’ll find under the counter.
TOY & ACTION FIGURE MUSEUM Pauls Valley, OK
There are more action figures in this museum, that holds curator/toy designer Kevin Stark’s personal collection, than people in this tiny southern Oklahoma town. Admission is free to anyone under four inches tall.
PUMPKIN REGATTA Tualatin, OR
Hard to believe that giant pumpkins (when emptied of their insides) can not only float, but be paddled and raced by creatively-dressed humans for fun and prizes. As we learned at the Regatta, large rarely equals fast, and no matter what the size, these hollowed hulks are extremely prone to capsizing.