Saturday, June 28, 2014

Storybook Land, Aberdeen, SD - 2014 Author Tour part 4A

(To start at the beginning of this series of posts about my 2014 Author Tour, go here)

After a night of severe thunderstorm warnings in Ellendale, we moved on to the next part of our trip - down to Aberdeen where we'd hook up to old Highway 12 - also known as the Yellowstone Trail, which would take us all the way to Miles City, Montana on this day. There were a number of interesting stops along the way to Miles City, so I'm breaking them down into their own separate entries. First stop - Storybook Land in Aberdeen!


I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to enjoy the place as much as I did. I especially thought Paige, now 13-years old, would be unimpressed. But we were both surprised, I think, at how elaborate and fun the place was. There were dozens of life-size settings and characters for just about every famous childhood story you could think of.

"No, Pinocchio - chiseling your knee won't hurt a bit!"

The giant coming down the beanstalk for Jack. Thank heavens he's wearing underwear!
Aberdeen was also the home of Wizard of Oz creator L. Frank Baum from 1888 to 1891, so there is of course a section dedicated to the Wizard of Oz story.  (They don't mention the part where Baum infamously wrote an editorial for the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer calling for the extermination of all Native Americans.) There's even a yellow brick road to follow!

The Oz crew

The Scarecrow - don't pull his finger!

This is actually a giant Tin Man slide - though at first I was afraid that giant ping-pong balls would shoot from between his legs...

The Haunted Forest!
Paige leaving the Cowardly Lion's den
Storybook Land is free to walk through. There are also some amusement park-type rides, a gift shop, concessions, bumper boats, mini-golf, go-carts, a petting zoo, and a train ride that winds around the area. Very fun place to go! We spent over an hour there just walking through Storybook Land. I recommend it, even if you don't have kids.




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