Adventures along the way!

Wednesday, our plan was to drive from West Salem, Wisconsin, to Des Moines, Iowa to the Harvest Host where we were to spend the night.

Just beyond La Crosse, WI we crossed the Mississippi River ...

... and were welcomed into Minnesota.

Carl handling the driving duties!

While driving along I-90 heading west toward Rochester, Minnesota, we saw a billboard for the SPAM museum in Austin, Minnesota! I was driving at that point, so Carl looked up where Austin, MN was (right along I-90) checked reviews on the museum (free admission *and* free samples of SPAM!), and called to find out where a motorhome might be able to park (there was parking behind the museum and a row of the parking was marked for RVs and buses!) -- sounds like it is made for us to visit!

Parking area for RVs and buses...

We were the only RV there when we arrived!

Town sign

Front of the SPAM Museum

In case you don't know, Carl is quite a fan of SPAM, so this was pretty perfect for us!

Wow -- SPAM everywhere!

There were quizzes at various kiosks throughout the museum...

Do you know? Answer will be provided a little later in this post!

It's not just in the U.S.A.!

Carl in the SPAM Shack!

Information about SPAM in South Korea

Gift box of SPAN in the South Korea exhibit

Specialty products of SPAM

I think this was in the Latin America display

SPAM in China

I knew that SPAM is very popular in Hawaii

Answer to the quiz question above: Dwight Eisenhower!

SPAM was not the first canned meat product from Hormel

Do you remember the can that opened with a key?

"Having mastered the art of cooking meat in its own can, Jay C. Hormel moved on to finding a use for pork shoulder, a piece of meat that was tasty, but hard to remove from the bone." ... "At the time, a 12-ounce size was considered the right size to feed a family of five for dinner."

Are you aware of the Monte Python skit about SPAM? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycKNt0MhTkk

The process of canning SPAM

The center part of the museum was more about the Hormel Foods company as a whole.

Brands under the Hormel Foods ownership

Carl loves SPAM!

Gift shop with all things SPAM. We bought a couple of types of SPAM that are not available in US stores.

Outside, also in Austin - the downtown movie theater

After our slight diversion, we continued on our original journey...

... entering Iowa later in the day.

One last SPAM picture, Carl got a sticker for his phone case at the SPAM Museum.

It is fun when we can add in spur-of-the-moment stops along our way!