Aitkin, Minnesota - Just passin' through this surprisingly boutique-y town on a spectacular sunny Sunday when I noticed an Internet cafe, right on Main Street. So I figured some more photos are in order. This batch of four are from the thriving metropolis of Rugby, North Dakota, aka the geographical center of North America.
Lest you doubt that Rugby is the geographical center of North America, they've got a big pile of rocks to prove it. Basically, the USGS did a big survey and figured out that if you balance North America on the head of a pin (as one will), the pin would stick right into Rugby. Now if I could just get them to move the pin a few hundred miles to the west, the whole rest of this trip would be downhill.
Rugby is also the home of the fascinating Pioneer Museum, one of those places where they gather up all sorts of random buildings and other stuff from various vanishing communities and put it on display. (For example, they actually display someone's plastic keychain collection. Wow.) One of the highlights is extensive exhibits on this guy, an 8'7" guy born in the area who for a while reigned as the world's tallest man. They even have a fairly creepy life-size papier-mache mannequin.
Then there was the antiquated medical equipment. I was just amused by this caption.
And how could I not include a photo of the largest metal belt buckle in the entire world?
Lest you doubt that Rugby is the geographical center of North America, they've got a big pile of rocks to prove it. Basically, the USGS did a big survey and figured out that if you balance North America on the head of a pin (as one will), the pin would stick right into Rugby. Now if I could just get them to move the pin a few hundred miles to the west, the whole rest of this trip would be downhill.
Rugby is also the home of the fascinating Pioneer Museum, one of those places where they gather up all sorts of random buildings and other stuff from various vanishing communities and put it on display. (For example, they actually display someone's plastic keychain collection. Wow.) One of the highlights is extensive exhibits on this guy, an 8'7" guy born in the area who for a while reigned as the world's tallest man. They even have a fairly creepy life-size papier-mache mannequin.
Then there was the antiquated medical equipment. I was just amused by this caption.
And how could I not include a photo of the largest metal belt buckle in the entire world?
1 Responses to “Rugby, anyone?”
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About me
I'm Tom Moran, a bicyclist from Fairbanks, Alaska. I'm spending the summer of 2006 riding from Anacortes, Wash., to Bar Harbor, Maine.
Hi Tom -
My journal entry for Aitkin mostly consisted of bitching about the seams in the roads. I also had my picture taken in Rugby, MT - the center of the country (I wonder if they factored in Alaska?)
Sorry to hear about your mechanical problems. I think Beaver Sports has a lot of 'splainin' to do about a wheel that can't go 2000 miles without needing replacement.
We're currently in Laramie, Wyoming, on our way home to PA, where we have to tell our friends that we're moving to California this fall. It's fun to think of you pedalling across the US just a bit north of here.
I took a day off in Red Wing, MN - it's a good choice if you're looking for a rest stop. Big enough to have anything you want, small enough to be manageable.
Keep on rolling!