Woke up at Myre-Big Island State Park in Minnesota. LOVED the place! Swanky showers in camp! Grassy tent site. Wildlife included skunk, fox, eagle, and woodchuck.
We headed for Austin, MN to check out the SPAM museum. We are not huge fans of SPAM. In fact, we've been married for almost eight years and had never purchased a single can until we toured the museum of course. Now we have five cans which theoretically should last us the rest of our lives. The one way I really do like spam is when Sister Oshima from Lana'i makes SPAM Musubi. I wish I could have some of that right now! And did you know? There are SIX SPAM factories in the world today. Two are right here in the USA (Minnesota and Nebraska). The others are in Japan, South Korea, Philippines, and Denmark.
The owner/creator had a naming contest. He gave a $100 prize. SPAM is a contraction for SPiced hAM. SPAM! I'm sure glad the Ox Joints in Gravy never became a big hit!
After SPAM, we headed back to Iowa to visit Burr Oak, a place that Laura Ingalls Wilder had lived with her family. She lived in a lot of places so there are sites and museums all over the midwest, but for this trip, we could only do one. We took the tour. I have always loved and will always love Laura Ingalls Wilder. When I was little, I would pretend that she came back to life in modern times and that it was my job to bring her up to speed on the all the new inventions. I once led her on a tour of our laundry room and imagined how she would marvel at the washing machine, not having to haul water from the creek. K was a good sport!
After Laura, we went to Effigy Mounds National Monument, a place we have visited before. There are some cool Indian burial mounds in the shapes of animals and stuff along the Mississippi River. I love learning about Mound Builders. We drove the River Road along THE River and stopped at an overlook. So pastoral, don't you think? Pretty farms. We also drove across the river into Wisconsin (how many states is that?) to buy cheese--divine. And then K pulled into a spot he fondly remembers from his childhood...Spook Cave! Oh man, cheeziest cave tour ever, but here's the thing, it's a boat ride through the cave. And they've been using the same boats since the place opened for tours fifty-seven years ago. And you have to duck during long-ish portions of the tour in order to avoid bleeding head wounds. It was a great way to cool off on a hot and humid summer day. Our guide had the perfect scream. You simply must go!
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