Giant Hairball at the Mt Angel Abbey in Mt Angel, Oregon
Because the address to this place is a bit obscure, I ended up driving up and down the roads in Mount Angel for a bit before finding my way to the campus. Mount Angel, by the way, is an adorable little town with a major Bavarian theme. Makes sense since it was founded in 1880 by Germans, which attracted the Benedictine monks from Switzerland. Each September the town hosts the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest, the largest folk festival in the Northwest. I'd definitely like to return for that.

So onto the campus which is very nice and set on a hill overlooking the town. Visions of "The Thorn Birds" swim in my head as I look at the forbidden fruit aka the young priests-in-training.

Holy cow! This place is amazing! I can't believe more people don't know about it! Wow! Not just full of religious stuff, which I'm sure are of interest to many people, this place is chock full of old things. Photos, dishes, fishing equipment, feathers, shells, etc. Where's that damned hairball? Ahh, here it is. And a bonus, there's more than one!

After getting a couple photos of the hairballs, I turn around and spot not just one but TWO DEFORMED TAXIDERMIED CALVES. Wow! Unfortunately, they don't have two heads, but they do each have eight legs. Cool.

Wandering further into the museum, I come across a giant room full of taxidermied animals. The mother lode! After visiting the Jen Jen Safari Restaurant in Estacada, I'm now all jazzed up about taxidermied museum scenes of animals. I don't like that they killed them, but it sure takes skill to mount the skins in poses like these. It's not just the lion standing there. The lion is on its hind legs attacking a gazelle. Very cool. There's also a huge bison in the middle of the room.

Admission is free and the entire hour that I was wandering around in there, no one else came in. Oh, they do have a "Donations Accepted" box by the door, but I saw "The Thorn Birds" and know how much money the Church has so I didn't feel guilty about not leaving anything.

"Presented to visitors as a miraculous example of God's mysterious ways, God's Hairball was unbosomed in an Oregon City meatpacking plant in the late 1950s, cut from the swollen belly of a 300-pound swine and donated to the museum soon after, where it has been on display ever since. Weighing in at two-and-one-half pounds, the calcified, gut-polished lump of hog bristle and plaque is considered the heftiest known hairball in the world. Pinched at each end like a turd, the disturbing, retch-inducing wad is sickening in its putrid grandeur, and is a must-see for the quirky tourist!"