Saturday, August 24 went to Detroit Lakes to see the trolls. I am leaving out some of the details so I will not spoil the location of the Golden Rabbit. You will have to figure it out for yourself. We picked up our friends Paula and Ro near Akeley, and on the way listened to our Trolls playlist.
We went to Detroit Lakes City Park and could see the first troll from the parking lot. There were a few people there and everyone took turns taking pictures. Alexa the troll is very cool. She is mixing an elixir and has her hand through a magic window. She also has a book with the story and clues on how to find the Golden Rabbit. Each of the trolls have a necklace and on them is a symbol. The symbol can be decoded to a letter. The letters will spell a word that will relate to something on the map and the map will reveal the location of the golden rabbit. On a sign near Alexa it says not to climb on the trolls but you should give a hug to all trolls. We took some pictures, gave Alexa a hug and headed out.
Ro, Paula, Rob & Karla
We drove to the next troll location. When we got there, there were a couple cars in the parking lot. We saw some people walking around and we were not sure the way to the troll. We looked at the park map and decided to walk on the bridge. It was a nice trail and we could see a little waterfall. There was another bridge but we figured we were not going towards the troll. We walked a little more and turned around.
Once we started the other way, we saw some birdhouses. Part of the troll project was building bird houses. They built hundreds of birdhouses and they were used as clues to help find the trolls. It was a nice paved path and it was not a long walk to Ronny Funny Face. There were a few people there and everyone took turns taking pictures.
We went back to the truck and I drove to the next troll location. This was at Detroit Mountain. There was a big parking lot and an ice cream place. We hiked a ways and found Barefoot Frida. There were some people here and we took turns taking pictures.
We headed back towards the truck. By this time it was about 11:00. The next troll in order was in Frazee. It was about 20 minute drive. I said we could go there, or have some lunch, or go to one more troll that was closer. We decided to go to the closer troll. At this location there was not a parking lot. There was space to park along the road and it was not too crowded.
There was a little hike to Long Leif. When we got there, we were the only ones and Long Leif is the tallest troll and he was just standing there in the clearing. Some more people showed up and we took turns taking pictures.
From Long Leif, we headed out and went to downtown Detroit Lakes. We went to Brygge Taps & Tastes and ordered some food to go. As we waited for our food we shared a hazy IPA from Modest. We got our food and took it to Bucks Mill Brewing. It is a very big brewery and there was a lot of room. We got a table and passed out the food. We got some beers and had lunch. Everyone’s food was very tasty.
As we ate we talked bout the location of the Golden Rabbit. We used the clues we had and looked at the map and we had an idea where to find it. We decided we would check it out after lunch.
But before we left downtown, there was a magic mirror a few blocks away. It was hot and we had to go around a little because a road was dug up, but we found it. We took a picture and the clue lined up with what we were thinking.
Magic Mirror
We walked back to the truck and drove to the location of the Golden Rabbit. There was about a 1/2 mile hike and it was hot and there were a couple steep hills. We were the only people at the golden rabbit when we got there. We took a couple pictures and hiked back.
That was the last item in Detroit Lakes so we drove south to Frazee.
When we got to Wannigan Park, the parking lot was almost full. There were lots of people hiking. On the first part of the trail there is a covered bridge. We stopped there for a moment. The hike to the troll was across a field and the sun was hot but we had a breeze. There were some people around Jacob Everear and we took turns taking pictures.
We left the park I drove through downtown Frazee. There was a small turkey in town by a gas station. Then we went out of town and stopped at the big turkey. We got out and took a couple pictures.
From there we went to Perham. There was another magic mirror in town. I drove that way but Main Street was dug up. I got close and we walked and found the mirror.
Our last stop was Disgruntled Brewing. There were four spots at the bar. We took those and tried a few beers. After our beers, I drove Paula and Ro back to their place and drove Karla and I home.
It was a long day and it was a lot of fun. If you get a chance, check it out.
Rob & Karla 