Wondrous sandstone hoodoos where Native Americans collected clay for pottery, 9,000 years ago.

This 47-foot chile pepper sculpture welcomes Scoville heat unit obsessed tourists to the Big Chile Inn.

An open-air, roadside eatery celebrating a historic indigenous cuisine of complicated significance.

What is the Thing?

At this research institute, the chile is king.

Towering earthen formations that rise straight out of the ground in New Zealand .

A charmingly old-fashioned reminder of the historic building's former life.

A perfect turquoise lake colored with glacier dust.

Enormous crabs, bioluminescent jellies, and other amazing creatures from the ocean’s depths—some of which are in an aquarium for the first time ever.

A basement full of treasures lies beneath this inn that has worn many hats throughout its 140+ years.

Home to an apple tree that can produce 25 different varieties of fruit.

Half of a house.

This Portland shop is brimming with natural wonders, local art, and handmade goods fashioned from recycled materials.

Definitely not a clown bar.

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

From Japan to Italy, this California park explores the world's cultures through their gardens.

Perhaps the most unique of any Frank Gehry design for one simple reason: Gehry himself actually lives here.

The White House Situation Room was taken apart in 2006 and shipped to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

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

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

This public art piece proves that in Portland even reporting the weather is a thing of whimsy.

A school-themed restaurant where gastronomy is the core curriculum.

Housed in a century-old building, this museum's dedicated not just to soft drinks, but to the free enterprise system.

The pit stop from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" now serves beef and pork barbecue, not people.