That's right, I finally got to see the Hormel SPAM Museum in Austin, MN on Monday. And guess what? It's not mystery meat, it's pork! And who knew how many varieties and flavors they come in. They even gave out free samples which were pretty tasty because either they were good or we were really hungry. Our samples were SPAM and cheese on a pretzel stick. The last picture is made of all SPAM cans.
EJ tried working on a virtual canning line and while she made 1 can of SPAM the factory made 116. She did hers in about 5 seconds and I knew I couldn't top that so I didn't even try. All in all it was a pretty interesting place. The Hormel history and products they create are a testament to American ingenuity and adaptability.
Laundry had become a high priority since our underwear drawers were approaching empty. We found a nearly deserted shopping center that had a real nice Laundromat and set up an afternoon camp next door. It turns out the laundry was a popular place and by the time we left it was getting pretty crowded. It was an interesting set up. The washers were 2, load, 4 load or 6 load. There were no single load machines.
Then we were off to Rochester, MN home of the Mayo Clinic. I had made an appointment at the Caterpillar Dealer to have Big Guy's engine checked, and we wanted to be in place for when they open at 7am.
After checking out a truck stop (no space available) and asking at a big store named Fleet Farm, we struck out for a place to spend the night.
We unhooked Ele’ and headed for the Fedex office at the airport to try to package and send Jim & Shelley’s “special find” we bought in Clear Lake, IA. It was an interesting challenge and the lady at the desk just kept shaking her head.
While on our way back to BG, we went by the Caterpillar Shop to be able to find it in the morning. It was open late so we stopped in and explained to them how cool the engine would be if we didn't have to drive Big Guy in the morning before they worked on it. They agreed and said it was OK to spend the night in their parking lot. So we went and got BG and back to Cat for the night.
Tuesday morning we were up bright and early, 6am, thanks to a delivery truck and a fork lift scurrying around unloading and staging boxes in the parking lot. Just as well, I wanted to be ready as soon as they open. EJ was still half asleep while we readied Big Guy inside and out thinking we would have to pack up the cats and be gone most of the day. They started working on Big Guy at 7:30 and by 8:10am they handed me the bill. Wow! In my whole career I never made that much per hour. But I guess it's all about knowing how big a hammer to use and where to use it.
They checked over the engine wiring harness and found no shorts or loose connections so they replaced the turbo boost pressure sensor. They were surprised the shop in San Angelo didn't replace the sensor since it is the most common remedy for the problem we were experiencing.
We hadn’t had time for breakfast and were still in shock that we were free to go. We heard McDonalds calling so off we go in search of the closest one. Along the way we parked Big Guy near a Lowes Store and found a movie theater. At McDonalds we enjoyed our pancakes, eggs, sausage and hash browns while using their internet.
We checked the listings for the movie theater we had passed and decided to hit the 11:05am matinee for MIB3. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and actually felt a little guilty. It was almost like we were goofing off in the middle of the day. As for the movie, no sequel is ever as good as the original, but this one was still very funny and explained so much about questions we didn't know we had.
Then we hooked Ele’ up to Big Guy and took the route through town to see the "giant ear of corn" water tower. Frank uses www.roadsideamerica.com to find all sorts of unique items to see on our travels (i.e biggest ball of yarn, largest frying pan, etc.)
I didn't bother programming the GPS as we were only going about 50 miles. How hard can that be? EJ had the PC all set up with the route on it, but I have trouble seeing it sometimes because of the glare. Besides she's the official navigator and she can see it just fine.
After we got through Austin on SR 14, EJ went back to the galley to make sandwiches and she left explicit instructions for me not to miss hiway 42. Well, between all the traffic, the plethora of signs and just general confusion, I never even saw a sign for 42. When EJ returned to the front with the sandwiches she calmly informed me that I had missed my turn. Next stop was the Mississippi River unless we found a way to turn around. We managed to reverse our course and we’re off to our next destination, Wabasha, MN.
The Days End guide described a large parking area next to the City Park where we could stay for free up to 72 hours. There are no hookups, but it's getting down into the low 60's at night, so sleeping without air conditioning is not a problem.
When we arrived, we found a spot in a fairly deserted area of the lot and set up camp. Even after a grueling fifty miles, we still had some energy left and decided to wander around town and see the sights. Unfortunately for EJ, most of the arts and crafts stores were closed on Tuesday, but we did see the National Eagle Center, Slippery's bar (in the movie Grumpy Old Men) and walked along the Mississippi River.
We decided it was time to call it a day and went back to Big Guy to relax. We got out the camp chairs, opened a bottle of wine and proceeded to enjoy the quiet outdoors.
Then the volley teams started to show up. The deserted area we had parked in was next to the volley ball courts. There was grass growing in the courts so we thought they weren't being used. We counted 7 courts in use and about 50 cars in attendance. Every time a car would drive by to park, the driver would whip their head around in surprise at seeing someone sitting outside the RV in their parking lot.
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