roadside attraction

Balloons..Oh I love Balloons…

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 9 Comments

Fall is definitely in the air and so are the balloons.

There is just something about balloons..

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Really big balloons..

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With fire and stuff..

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And balloons of all colors..

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There were even balloon slides and as I watched the kiddies playing on them, this little guy hung on for dear life.

Then the little girl pushed him down and he screamed…

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I must be a terrible person because it made me laugh.

That’s why I like children, they’re evil little things but they are comical.

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Meanwhile back at the ranch, I should be outside raking but instead I painted some tree trunks.

This is a 5 by 7 inch in acrylic.

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I hope you’re all enjoying Autumn. If you live in a city and miss raking leaves, feel free to drop by!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

The Great American Oddities…

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 11 Comments

One day, I am going to buy a big piece of land running along the road. Any road will do.

Why you ask?

So I can put up some big silly statues that make no sense along it to keep drivers entertained.

Check these out.

This one isn’t too odd. I have seen variations of the giant man statue. The amusement park that I grew up near had one so I’m fond of them.  They were mostly made in the 1960’s. The first ones held mufflers, then they starting popping up holding all sorts of implements. This one is in excellent shape and holds a mining pick and has a Harley belt buckle in honor of the Sturgis Rally.. Nice.

This miner was on the porch of the Big Thunder Mine in Keystone.I’m not sure if that’s a support or if he’s supposed to have trodden in gum. He’s a pretty gruff looking guy so I didn’t ask. If he needs help that doll with the supercilious grin looks ready to jump in.

These bulls are outside of one of the billion or so gold/jewelery stores in Rapid City. It’s not every day that you get to see flowery bison penned outside a jewelry store. It’s a good thing there is a pen because a stampede of flowery bison would for sure panic the masses.

And of course to go with the flowery bison, way out in the Badlands, at the ranch store (where you can see prairie dogs in a pen “Free!” as opposed to all over the fields) there is a six tonne prairie dog. A pink and yellow six tonne prairie dog at that.

I bet that thing could dig a heck of a hole.

Then there are these wooden statues also in Keystone. Wouldn’t you like to see that in your front yard while going to fetch your paper every morning?

Mini Mount Rushmore? These are sitting in a random field. Not sure what that’s all about but thanks.

This here is the yard of the King of Silly Statues. There’s a 25 tonne bull’s head being guarded by alien skeletons while red robed freaky beings overshadowed by a gigantic hammer look on. There’s also a large flower-pot with metal flowers, some dinosaurs and odd bugs, a few dancing robots and I believe that is a two-headed bison.

I want this yard.

But this is my favorite…absolute genius.

It’s nice to know in a day and age when so many people walk down the street (or drive) with their eyes glued to small screens that are still people in this world who have the balls to be a little different, to be a little silly, to be creative and amusing and entertaining and eccentric and charming.

It makes me happy.

Wall Drug, South Dakota

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 10 Comments

Yes Virginia, there is a Wall Drug.

Wall Drug was a little drug store in a small dusty town reeling from the Great Depression. Then the pharmacist’s clever wife realized that people were traveling like never before to see the construction and building of Mount Rushmore. So she told her husband to put a sign out on the highway offering people free ice water. It worked like a charm. By the next year they had to hire more than half a dozen people. Today it’s a 76000 square foot roadside attraction.

Now that is good old American ingenuity.

I adore their billboards. There are dozens and dozens of them.

They’re mostly in the traditional style of the 1930’s. At that time the use of billboards was widespread because of the increasing popularity of the car and family road trips. Advertisers used cartoons and bright colors to portray a sort of happy-go-lucky optimism. Buy this product and you can be happy! (in spite of the Depression).

We were getting close to Wall Drug. After so many billboards, hundreds of them, I was expecting a lot.

I had forgotten by that point that South Dakota is the king of the build up…

The entrance…

I do like the 80 ft dinosaur.

The store front..and a really crowded parking lot.  That’s understandable though, there’s nowhere else to stop. I’m serious there is no where.

But the store itself is right here, in case you needed to know.

I like the parking horses. They’re pretty.

Not a horse (or parking spot) in sight but never mind they’re pretty.

The giant monkey is a little odd. Fun odd but still odd.

It was a shame that the quarter slot to hear him play was “Out of Order”

I’ve never been serenaded by a giant monkey.

And here is the infamous jackalope

And right near the jackalope is a 6ft bunny that desperately needs a hug.

This buffalo looks like it wants to say something…

I’m thinking he is a little freaked out by all the wooden people.

Or annoyed that they stuffed him but didn’t stuff them.

Or he could just be worried that the statue behind him is ready to poke him in the butt.

This wooden guy is rather noble looking.

I think they meant this lady one as a compliment but she looks a little grumpy.

Maybe she should go give the bunny a hug.

I like this one, he looks pensive.

I mean he is flammable but he is also sitting next to the fire extinguisher.

Cheer up buddy.

And then it was so interesting. There was a long hallway with a photo gallery.

We were looking at them having a good time when..

What the ????!!!

An animatronic T-Rex.

And not a damn tree to hide behind anywhere.