Minnesota

State 21:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858. The capital is St. Paul.

Our first visit to Minnesota can be described in one word – SNOW. It started snowing shortly after we left Wisconsin one morning in early April. As we traveled west on I-90 we crossed the Mississippi River into Minnesota with the wind blowing snow horizontally across the interstate. It was so bad we pulled off the interstate and spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express in Winona. I will be forever grateful to the kind employees who put us up in a downstairs room with our Labrador Retriever. There was a restaurant in the hotel and they even had an indoor pool so we were roughing it in style.

20070411Snow-(6) — Crossing the Mississipi River to Minnesota in a snow storm

20070411Snow-(7) — Snowing over the Mississippi River

20070411Snow-(14) — Terrifying icy road conditions in Minnesota – at times we couldn’t even see the road

Overnight Camping at a Holiday Inn Express

The next morning the hotel let us have a late check out so we could wait until the roads were safe enough for travel. Later that day we checked into Blue Mounds State Park and we were the only campers in the park. With snow on the ground and temperatures below freezing the water was turned off and the dump station wasn’t operating. It was a great adventure!

Camping in the snow at Blue Mounds State Park

The weather was much better on our other visits to Minnesota. During our stay at Temperance River State Park on the Minnesota North Shore we enjoyed wandering around Split Rock Lighthouse and on the huge boulders beside Lake Superior.

Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota's North Shore — Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota’s North Shore

Island in Lake Superior on MInnesota's North Shore — Island in Lake Superior on MInnesota’s North Shore

We loved visiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park so much we camped there twice.

Mississippi River Headwaters in Itasca State Park

20110611Mississippi-Headwaters-and-Sunset-(22) — Walking across the headwaters of the Mississippi River

Mighty Mississippi River near the headwaters — The mighty Mississippi River near the headwaters

Walking across the Mississippi River near the headwaters

We made several visits to the St. Paul area to visit family. While there we visited the Mall of America and the Minnesota Arboretum.

Minnesota Aboretum

A trip to the Spam Museum and the Green Giant Statue were on our bucket list as we traveled through Minnesota.

We drove out of our way to visit the Spam Museum in Austin, MN

Green Giant Statue in Blue Earth, MN

Some of the wildflowers and wildlife we found in Minnesota.

Bluebells on Minnesota North Shore

Tortoise on Minnesota North Shore

20110611Mississippi-Headwaters-and-Sunset-Lady-Slipper

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan

Day 9: Friday, May 24, 2013. Coralville Lake, Iowa to Welcome, Minnesota with a couple of side trips. Welcome Campground, Site 10. 278 miles traveled.

Who says road trips have to be boring? We like to stop when there is something fun to see along our route. Sometimes we will even go out of our way to see something interesting. Today was one of those days.

We went out of our way to Austin, Minnesota to visit the Spam Museum. We learned everything there is to know about Spam! As soon as you take the Austin Exit I-90 you start to see Hormel processing plants. Signs direct you to the museum which is located right in the middle of downtown. We parked the RV on the street in front of the museum and took a tour and then had a Spam Burger for lunch at the diner outside.

You can find out everything you want to know about Spam here!

We drove out of our way to visit the Spam Museum in Austin, MN

In front of the Spam Museum

Spamburger, anyone?

Those are all cans of Spam!

Parked at the Spam Museum

After about an hour in Austin we were back on our way west on I-90. We stopped again in Blue Earth, Minnesota to visit the 55 foot tall Green Giant Statue.

Green Giant Statue in Blue Earth, MN

Henry is just a little bit taller than the boots

Beth and Blondie with the Green Giant

The rain started after we returned to the interstate. We set up the camper in the rain in Welcome, Minnesota. We heard the rain on the roof most of the night and got ready to go in a drizzle.

If you like to see unusual and fun places as you travel, Roadside America is a great resource. You can also purchase a copy of the book to carry with you in your vehicle.