We had a long drive planned today from Minnesota to Wisconsin. We made it even longer by taking a slight detour and visiting the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota.

Drive Prep

Knowing we had a long day ahead of us, I tried to get myself in gear earlier than usual. We made coffee, Tony did some writing, and I started packing up. Little things that don’t really have homes tend to get stacked everywhere, so I spend some time each drive day looking for a new place for that thing to live, or putting gin on the bed for travel. I know that means, when we get settled later in the day, I’m going to have to move it all off the bed again. I am getting better, but not everything has found a home just yet.

Minnesconsin

Our travels today took us from Minnesota into Wisconsin. The Smokey Hollow campground that we reserved for the night didn’t have any real significance, it was just the right distance from Bunker Hills campground for a day’s drive.

We did choose a route that took us a little bit further. It wasn’t really out of the way, it was just a route that went south and then east, rather than at an angle.

We chose that route so we could go through Austin, Minnesota. Why, you ask? Read on…

SPAM SPAM

Austin Minnesota is home to the SPAM Museum. It’s also just the right distance from Anoka Minnesota that we were really ready for lunch! We popped into the Museum to ask where we could eat the serves SPAM. The nice SPAMbassador pointed us across the street to Piggy Blue’s Bar-B-Que so away we went.

At first we were worried, because we didn’t see any SPAM on the menu. That’s because SPAM items are listed on a separate menu! There are only three offerings, but that was enough for us.
I chose a SPAM burger. I had heard that the cornbread was good, so I opted to have my burger served without a bun so I could partake in cornbread.

Tony ordered the SPAM Po’ Boy. Oh Boy! What a sandwich! Bryan, who grew up in Louisiana, was a little bit offended by the name Po’ Boy but whatever you want to call it, it was a terrific sandwich! The slice of SPAM was really thick, the bread was perfectly crusty, and the rest of the fillings were just fine (if a bit unimportant to the meal LOL).

My slice was thinner, and I didn’t get very full eating it without a bun. Fortunately, Tony’s sandwich was huge, and he shared some with me.

SPAM SPAM

Sufficiently satiated, we took a couple photos and went back into the museum for real this time. The SPAM museum is pretty interesting. And a SPAMbassador brought around a tray of SPAMples so that was awesome!

While I write this, Tony is working on a story about the museum so I won’t say much more, I’ll just encourage you to check out Tony’s story right on the other end of this link.

I’ll share this story, though. In the museum there are displays of the places that SPAM is popular. I knew about Hawaii because in 2000 I took a job assignment on Oahu for five weeks. My time there included Easter weekend. On Easter, I took myself out to breakfast and had a SPAM omelette. Most Easters I went to the desert and looked for wildflowers. What a departure! I also noted that Hawaiian McDonald’s even includes SPAM in their menu.

Gas - and not just from the food

We stopped at a Love’s for gas and our afternoon coffee. As we were paying, I noticed out the window a Mini Lite 2205 with Lectric e-bikes on the back, towed by a Ram 2500! I asked Tony (joking, I could see a couple differences) why he had moved the truck from the gas pump where he filled up. We took a couple photos, then talked briefly to the owner and his mom. The owner even goes to Tony’s barber (shaved head)!

Minnesconsin

We crossed the Mighty Mississip from Minnesota into Wisconsin around 4:15 pm. We normally like to be settled by this time, but we thought the detour was worth the delay today. Right away we saw cheese ads on roadside billboards. Twenty-five miles into Wisconsin, we stopped to buy some curds. Dinner is served!

Smokey Hollow Campground

We got to the campground around 6:30. The office was closed and there was an envelope on the door for us with a gate code and a map. We followed the map the best we could, and when we got to where our site is, there was a box truck parked in our site. I tried calling the office number, but of course they didn’t answer. There was one empty site - a pull through that is certainly for seasonal or long-term use because the power pedestal was a meter instead of a regular pedestal. We don’t really need electrical hookup for one night, so we pulled in and figured if anyone didn’t like it, they could help us get our site.

We set up the Starlink. Really as many trees as we have camped in the past few locations, we have been super pleased with our ability to reach the satellites.

I took a walk back to the office to see what I could see. This campground looks like it’s probably a lot of fun for families. There are several playgrounds and other activities for kids, and there is a swimming pond with a nice sandy beach. Of course, during the week when school is still in session, and after 7:00 pm there wasn’t much activity. The laundry room had a note to check the time before starting a load. What it didn’t say is what time it closed. Well, I know it’s before 7:00 pm anyway.

A cheesy meal

We had cheese curds and beef sticks for dinner. I ate a slice of bread and jam. After our long day and big lunch, that was plenty. Now we will get some rest so we can drive again tomorrow. Luckily it’s a bit of a shorter drive.