Raymond, WA

Driving south on these inner coast roads, one sees mile after mile of forests in the cycle of harvest. In case you ever wondered, this is where paper comes from. The Weyerhausser Paper Corporation watermark is evident everywhere. A denuded mountain proudly overlooks the town of Raymond.

Raymond's roadside attractions are not crafted in wood though, but in metal. Along Highway 101, the "Raymond Wildlife Heritage Sculpture Corridor" is a display of dozens of rusty metal cutouts -- a mixture of area wildlife and logging industry scenes. In some places, bear and fox frollick next to loads of logs pulled by teams of oxen or horses. The Corridor was created with the work of local artists starting in 1993. It is eye-catching mostly due to the quantity and density of pieces. For the weirder statues, stop in town.

The "Town of Metal People" are metal, 3-dimensional figures sprinkled through town. The subject matter seems to result more from the whimsy of the artists than any historical figures from the region's history. One shows a photographer with a camera and telephoto snapping some wildlife. Another depicts a girl feeding an ice cream cone to a large dog/wolf.