Places dirtlovinlady Wants to Go

No two pieces are exactly the same at Portland's hippo-themed hardware store.

A Portland legend tells of small green archers shooting random passersby with visionary arrows.

This museum and curiosity shop provides a glimpse into an often-overlooked past to show guests that there is beauty and wonder in the macabre.

The U.S. Navy's last diesel-electric submarine rests half-submerged in the middle of Portland.

Tens of thousands of tiny birds swarm into one school chimney every fall.

Inside a humble hangar is some of the best roller derby the world has to offer.

Statues of Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ribsy the dog in the park where their adventures "really happened."

Definitely not a clown bar.

On East Burnside, a 24-hour vending machine distributes world-class pastries.

This stoic, if derpy, giant stands as a monument to Oregon's statehood and the novelty culture of yesteryear.

Entering this curiosity shop is like stepping into a mad scientist's lab.

Instead of fruit, the branches of this tree are brimming with hopes and dreams.

Not-so-fearsome tiny trolls live under this wooden train trestle in Portland.

Private collection of art inspired by cabinets of curiosity.

The magic's in the hole!

An emporium for the weird, creepy, rare, and just plain gross.

A remote one-room schoolhouse on Catalina Island, once a lifeline for local children, now abandoned.

A herd of 150 bison live on California's Santa Catalina Island and are at the heart of an ongoing debate between environmental protection and economic expansion.

The final resting place of a space program monolith, soon to be unveiled again to the public.

An unexpected connection to Chicago awaits visitors on an island just off the California coast.

A non-native grove of 241 redwoods in Southern California.

This bright and bubbly Palm Springs hotel was the brainchild of an iconic drag queen.

Where decommissioned airplanes and helicopters go to become part of Hollywood.

Costumed elves and mountain bikers co-exist peacefully at this abandoned Christmas-themed adventure park.