sarahzilla

The Fremont troll has been lurking under the north end of the Aurora bridge since 1990. He was sculpted by four Seattle area artists -- Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead -- for the Fremont Arts Council. The head-and-shoulders sculpture is 18-ft. tall.The shaggy haired troll glares southward with his shiny metal eye -- a hubcap? In his left hand, he crushes an old style Volkswagen beetle (which originally contained a time capsule of Elvis memorabilia; removed after the car was vandalized and the California license plate was stolen). There are plenty of places to pose, and interaction with the troll is encouraged.

The community pays tribute to the troll every October 31st with a mobile "Trollaween" party, starting under the bridge and wandering to other funky art sites and events in Fremont. Of which there are plenty: Fremont is also home to the Largest Lenin statue in the US.

The troll achieved more notoriety in 1998 when the a man shot a bus driver and ran the bus off the Aurora bridge, crashing on top of an apartment building. The building is adjacent to the troll, and was reported to get as much attention -- for a while you could still see evidence of the impact.

Waiting for the Interurban

Waiting for the Interurban is a 1979 cast aluminum sculpture collection in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. It is usually located on the south side of N. 34th Street, just east of the northern end of the Fremont Bridge. It consists of six people, to say nothing of the dog, standing under a shelter and waiting for public transportation -- specifically, the Seattle-EverettInterurban. Actually, the six figures would have waited for a very long time, as the Interurban ran on Fremont Avenue and never turned east on 34th.

The sculptor, local resident Richard Beyer, included several subtleties in the sculpture which reward close viewing. There is also some gentle needling of a local Fremont political leader and pioneer in municipal recycling, Armen Napoleon Stepanian. People living and working in the Fremont neighborhood often dress the characters in apparel appropriate to the season (termed "art attacks" by some) to the extent that, when those unfamiliar with the sculpture drive by, it is not always immediately obvious that those standing under the 'shelter' are actually statues.

During the repairs of the Fremont Bridge in 2006-2007, the sculpture was moved about 100 meters east of its usual location, to History House at the corner of N.34th Street and Troll Avenue N.; Troll Avenue runs up a hill to the Fremont Troll. History House also has exhibits showing some of the most imaginative displays by people who have decorated the statues over the years.

The Fremont Market

Seattle is a big fan of open air markets.  Kinda a strange thing considering the typical weather one sees there. 

Established in 1990, the Fremont Market has evolved into a thriving and diverse European-style, street market that goes all year 'round every Sunday. The market hosts anywhere up to 150 exhibitors who continue to delight the crowds and treasure hunters week after week with everything you can imagine and some things you can't - antiques, collectibles, bygones, retro, vintage and original fashion, estate sale treasures, tools, deluxe junk and the cream of regional garage sales (pre-selected by professionals.) In addition there is constantly changing bazaar of colorful and surprising world imports as well as new and original designers, artists and craftsmen showing with stunning, heart warming, one-of-a-kind and often improbably wonderful offerings. This season we have great street food including Veracci pizzas, French crepes, Chicago style dogs, Tamales, Thai desserts, Tuscan Bruschettas, and much more. With Fremont's sister farmers market in Ballard bursting its belt, we're bringing the farmers component back this season by popular demand. The market is truly a magic box where anything and everything is possible. It's free to the public, pet friendly, bike accessible and goes on rain or shine.

jk_birr

1. find white robes for stonehenge picture. even its in someones back yard, going to something like that requires holy robe type things.
2. Find suitable fakee animals for sacrifice pictures. cause white robes call for slaying stuffed animals and rubber chickens.
3. find large volume of music. 14 hours on the road each way. gotta have tunes.
4. find smaller road trip mascot. patrick rocks and all. but really he is kind of big. and a starfish with chest hair is a bit creepy to haul  down the monorail. even in seattle.

 not a bad list. im sure i will come up with more stuff later.

sarahzilla

Located right outside of Ontario, OR.  I couldn't resist!

Apparently there is a life sized replica of Stonehenge right across the river in Washington.  As it is doubtful we'll get to see the real one anytime soon, this seems a suitable substitute.  Plus the starts should be properly aligned for us to sacrifice some chickens and squirrels to the Gods of the road.

The smallest park in the world!  This one is in Portland at an intersection.  Looks like a nice little park.  I've even dug up some history on it.

In 1946, Dick Fagan returned from World War II to resume his journalistic career with the Oregon Journal. His office, on the second floor above Front Street (now Naito Parkway), gave him a view of not only the busy street, but also an unused hole in the median where a light pole was to be placed. When no pole arrived to fill in this hole, weeds took over the space. Fagan decided to take matters into his own hands and to plant flowers.

Fagan wrote a popular column called Mill Ends (rough, irregular pieces of lumber left over at lumber mills). He used this column to describe the park and the various "events" that occurred there. Fagan billed the space as the "World's Smallest Park." The park was dedicated on St. Patrick's Day in 1948 since Fagan was a good Irishman. He continued to write about activities in the park until he died in 1969. Many of his columns described the lives of a group of leprechauns, who established the "only leprechaun colony west of Ireland" in the park. Fagan claimed to be the only person who could see the head leprechaun, Patrick O'Toole. After Mill Ends officially became a city park on St. Patrick’s Day in 1976, the park continued to be the site of St. Patrick's Day festivities.

Over the years, contributions have been made to the park, such as the small swimming pool and diving board for butterflies, many statues, a miniature Ferris wheel (which was brought in by a normal-sized crane), and the occasional flying saucer. The events held here include concerts by Clan Macleay Pipe Band, picnics, and rose plantings by the Junior Rose Festival Court.

The park had to be moved temporarily in 2006 due to construction on Naito Parkway. It was replaced on March 16, 2007 in true St. Patrick's Day style with the Royal Rosarians, bagpipers, and the Fagan family, including Dick's wife Katherine, in attendance.

Currently this is what I have for us to do while driving through Northern Oregon.  I'd like to have visited the Oregon Vortex, however it's in the Southwestern section of the state, completely out of our way.