Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sioux Falls is really the only modern city on I90 from Rapid City.  By which I mean they have a Target, Wal-Mart, a mall, and some nicer chain restaurants.  Ah, civilization!  No cows in sight but I can feel that they're near by.

I forgot to mention that we had such a fun night crashing in our room to watch a movie.  Reese and I bought Mirror, Mirror for the trip but until now we never had the time to watch it.  We stopped at Target to get some popcorn and soda and plopped on the bed to watch.  It was a great way to relax after a long drive.

Seven hotel breakfasts' down, one more to go!

I lost my taste for it when I witnessed one of the servers carry out "fresh" scrambled eggs in a bag from the microwave. Yummy!

As I mentioned there are still things to do on our agenda before our vacation comes to a close.

First stop today is Falls Park here in Sioux Falls.

Our drive to the Park was pretty unremarkable, but when we got there we saw how gorgeous the Falls are!

We started with the visitor's center and proceeded up the 5 flights of stairs to the observation tower.  After the first two flights in 100 degree heat I was having flashbacks of Reese and I climbing down 20+ flights at the Eiffel Tower in April.

I mentioned before that Doris doesn't like heights.  Over the next two days you will see how we tortured her at every opportunity.  We really did get along during the trip so I don't know why we choose to terrify her every couple of hours or so.  Well, on trips like this you make your own fun!

The Falls Park Tower was our first opportunity.  There’s an outside walkway that surrounds the top floor where you can see the Park from every angle.  You should have seen the look Doris gave me when I asked her to take our picture.  It just wasn't going to happen.  She stuck to the inside walls and did not venture too close to the rail, even after I demonstrated how safe it was.

It just got worse for her.

It was extraordinarily hot for this time of the day, getting close to 100 degrees before 11 a.m.  

Reese saw people climbing on the rocks of the Falls and the child who wouldn’t pet a donkey, couldn’t wait to risk a broken limb for the thrill of the climb!

Doris decided to watch from the safety of a bench as Reese, Tom and I moved un-stealth like over the rock terrain.

We had a blast.  It was fun to navigate the cracks and crevasses and watch Reese take risks as Tom’s blood pressure went sky- rocketing.

From the stories he tells of his adventures in the woods as a child with his two brothers, you would think he’d be more adventurous, but not when it comes to his little girl.

We must have climbed for an hour before the heat started getting to us.  By this time Doris had found a shady tree that brought a little relief from the sun.  We were all happy to get back to the air conditioning!

We headed to Minnesota with a destination mapped out for Waterloo, Iowa. 

Tom finished second in the race to the state line...again.  He threatened to stop the car and get out and run for it but thought better of it.

The lady at the welcome center was very nice and suggested some points of interest along our way.  You’ll never guess!

As we approached Blue Earth (that’s really the name of the city) we could hear a faint “Ho, ho, ho.” sound.  We considered Santa, Christmas in July and all that, but the tone of the “Ho” wasn’t the same.

All of a sudden, there he stood in all his green wonder – The Jolly Green Giant!  Standing 55.5 feet tall and gleaming in his greenness, he stands as a symbol of mid-western quirkiness. 

This is the next best thing to a ball a twine we’ve seen.

Reese could not understand why his legs were green, even though I explained several times that he’s just green and he was not wearing tights.  I still don’t think she gets it.

Since it’s National Ice Cream Day we had to stop at the adjoining DQ and get a treat.  We HAD to.  It’s a real holiday.

Back in the car we headed for the city of Albert Lea and our turnoff for Iowa.  Only thing is that I changed my mind about going through Mason and gave Tom new directions, but I had failed to mention that the road I wanted him to turn onto didn’t connect to I90.  Details, details!

Sooooo…we passed our turn and found ourselves closer to Austin, MN so we decided to drive the extra 14 miles to the SPAM museum.  Since it’s Sunday I expected it to be closed and that all we would get is our picture taken with a can of SPAM, but as luck would have it the museum was still open for another 40 minutes.  We would have to speed SPAM if we were going to get through it all.

I can now confirm that there is actually meat in SPAM.  It includes the delicacy pork shoulder.  And if we learned anything on our travels, it’s that prairie folk and Indians alike made use of everything at their disposal, wasting nothing, and I mean nothing. 

If SPAM doesn’t impress you, the Hormel Family will.  During WWII they sent each soldier $5 for the holidays.  Back then I’m sure it was fortune.  They were a very respected family in the community and throughout the world. 

Remember the little key you would use to open SPAM?  Well, apparently remembering that makes you old because they haven’t used that since the late 70’s.  Now it’s the more modern pull-tab.

Reese didn’t even know what SPAM was before we got here, neither did we really, but now she’s all about it.   Of course she hasn’t tasted it yet.

Try this: Take a hamburger bun and cut a ¼ or more slice of SPAM to put in it.  Cover the SPAM with a slice of Kraft cheese, and if you like, top it with a slice of pineapple (I skip this).  Top it with the bun and wrap it in foil.  Put the whole thing in the coals of a fire until the “meat” is hot and the cheese is melted.  You now have “Heavenly Ham” as we Girl Scouts call it.

EAT MORE SPAM!

Stop by when you get a chance.  Everyone there is so nice!!!

On to Waterloo we go.  I suggested that we should listen to Abba on the way, but no one took me seriously.

We checked into the hotel, racking up even more Hilton points, and headed out for dinner.

We stopped at Olive Garden, unwilling to try new things in Waterloo.

Our waitress was lovely, really she was, but there were a few problems.  First, they were out of tomatoes for the salad, then they were out of scampi sauce for the chicken scampi, then they didn’t have Bolognese sauce, just meat sauce.   I know, I was confused by that one too but apparently meat sauce and Bolognese contain different meats.

In my opinion the manager threw this poor girl under the bus making her come out time after time with bad news. 

The rest of the dinner was fine based on the scraps they could muster together in the kitchen.

Wait until you hear how we torture Doris tomorrow!