American Folklore

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in this photo are situated in the small town of Bemidji, MN.

I saw these statues at least once if not twice a year growing up because my aunt and uncle lived in Bemidji. I took for granted how cool the stories about this mythological lumberjack and his ox were and find it somewhat sad that a lot of children in this day in age probably never heard of this giant and his ox.

There are many tales of Paul and Babe, however, something I did not know is that legend has it Babe was buried in South Dakota. And his burial mound forms what is now known as the Black Hills. I find this amusing since I lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota for nine years and never heard this story.

In this photo my sister, her friend, and I were posing for my mother & her camera. I am guessing I am about 11 or 12 years old? We were on a camping trip at the nearby Gull Lake Campground. My mother brought us into town and we each got new t-shirts (which we are wearing in the photo) from one of those t-shirt shops where you could pick the image you wanted stamped (iron on) the shirt. This was big in the 80's so no doubt this will be making a come back in the near future. ;O)

I cannot help but hear the song Holiday Road (Lindsey Buckingham) and have flashes of National Lampoon's Vacation when I look at this photo. Although the Griswolds never visited Paul and Babe on their quest to Wally World, you see a photo of the statues in the beginning of the movie while the actors names flash across the screen.

I have seen quite a bit of the midwest since I grew up there. I have visited Mt. Rushmore numerous times, hiked up and walked on the arm of Crazy Horse during the annual Volksmarch, visited the Badlands, stood in awe looking at Devil's Tower, can say I have been to WALL DRUG, drove Montana from one end to the other, and shopped at the Mall of America not to mention camped at a few of the 10,000 lakes in Minnesota. But there are other places I'd like to see such as:

Top 5 places I'd like to visit:

1. Statue of Liberty

2. Graceland

3. Yellowstone National Park

4. Grand Canyon

5. Lake Tahoe

What a great & beautiful country I live in. With that said, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY weekend everyone!