Day #27 - July 10, 2010

Austin, MN to Sturgis, SD
602 Miles

I started my day early because I planned to drive a long distance today through South Dakota.

AUSTIN, MN

After breakfast I visited downtown Austin. The Hormel Foods Corporate Offices are headquartered here and there is evidence everywhere of the influence the family has on Austin. George A. Hormel started the company here in 1891.

Here is a photo of his home. It is now available for tours and parties.


And, my friends, there is a SPAM Museum right next to the company headquarters. I arrived there about 8:15 a.m. The museum opens at 10:00 a.m., so I did not get to see it. However, the brochure says the museum features 16,500 square feet of SPAM artifacts, history, and fun. Imagine.

Across the street is Johnny's Restaurant with a SPAMarama menu. While I had vowed to taste regional cuisine in all the places I visit on this vacation, I elected to skip the SPAM breakfast and get on the road early.

I left Austin about 9:00 a.m. and drove west on Route 90. There are long stretches of highway with very little in the way of towns or attractions.

MITCHELL, SD

For many miles before I reached Mitchell, there are billboards proclaiming the Corn Palace as a "must see" attraction. I was reluctant to stop, but a few friends of mine had said that I should. While the building is impressive, the myriad of souvenir shops surrounding it is not. However, I guess the money helps with the upkeep of the building.

Here are a few photos I took. I did not stay for the movie or the tour.

The brochure says "Each year a new decorating theme is chosen and the outside of the Corn Palace is stripped and redecorated with new corn and grains. In early summer the process begins with removal of the old grasses and grains. Over the summer, 3,000 bushels of milo, rye, oat heads, and sour dock are tied in bundles and attached. In late summer over a half million ears of corn are sawed in half and nailed to the building following patterns created by a local artist."

I then continued west on Route 90. There was surprisingly little traffic, so I was able to make good time and travel farther than I had originally anticipated.

There were 3 short but pretty intense rain storms during the drive and these photos show the warning signs of the impending storms. It was actually quite exciting and scary at the same time.

I drove all the way to Sturgis, SD at the edge of the Black Hills National Forest, only a few miles from the Wyoming border, and checked into my hotel.

Long drive today; I'm tired.

Day #26 - July 9, 2010

Milwaukee, WI to Austin, MN
353 Miles

I designated today a rest day from sightseeing. I slept late, had a leisurely breakfast, did laundry, put gas in the car, and left Milwaukee about 11:30 a.m.

I drove west on Route 94 and then Route 90 to La Crosse, WI. Along the way I stopped at Humbird Cheese and bought some Wisconsin chedder and bread for later. I couldn't leave the state of Wisconsin without trying some of the cheese.

From La Crosse I got off the interstate and drove on a country road, Route 16, to Austin, MN.

This is beautiful country, with green hillsides and intermittent farms. I tried to capture some of the beauty with the photos. The drive was the highlight of the day.

I stopped in Spring Valley, MN at the A&W Root Beer Drive-In and ordered from the speaker located next to the car. A very pretty blonde lady brought my root beer float to the car. The cold drink was refreshing on a hot day.

I drove to Austin, MN and checked into the hotel. It was a relaxing day.

Day #25 - July 8, 2010

South Bend, IN to Milwaukee, WI
205 Miles

I got up early and did a short walking tour of Notre Dame University. The campus is quite beautiful. The architecture is of light brick and stone with nicely landscaped garden areas between the buildings. It was too early to obtain a map of the campus from the Visitor's Center, so I was not able to identify specific buildings. However, here are some photos of the buildings that attracted me.



This is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart - the main church on this Catholic campus.

I could not identify the remainder of the buildidngs.

It began to rain during my walk and I was not able to find the football stadium - perhaps next time.

I left South Bend about 8:00 a.m. and drove to Milwaukee, WI. This is about a 3-4 hour drive and thanks to my wonderful Garmin GPS system, I was able to navigate the maze of Chicago freeways with little difficulty. Without the GPS system I would still be driving in circles in Chicago.

MILWAUKEE, WI

I arrived in Milwaukee about 12:00 noon, about an hour before the baseball game, so I parked in the lot, got my ticket, and watched the Giants batting practice. I particularly wanted to get to Milwaukee today because it is the last day of the Brewers' series with the Giants.

This is the entrance from the main parking area.

Miller Park

The ballpark is unique with this arched area overlooking the 3rd base line.

This is the outfield scoreboard.

This was taken from my seat in the Loge Outfield box.

Barry Zito started for the Giants and pitched into the 5th inning. The Giants were leading 6-0 at that point and they then used 5 relief pitchers plus their closer, Brian Wilson, to win the game 9-3. The Giants hit 3 home runs (maybe 4), all of them over the right field fence, so I had a great view. I had a bratwurst and beer (Miller, of course), I loved where I was sitting, the hot weather eased during the game and there was actually a breeze, and the Giants won. Life is good.

I am staying in Milwaukee this evening and trying to decide which route I will take home to San Francisco. At this point I think I will be doing more driving than sightseeing.

Day #24 - July 7, 2010

Hamburg, NY to New Lebanon, PA to Cleveland, OH to South Bend, IN
549 Miles

Wow! It was a long day; hot & humid.

I left the hotel at 7:00 a.m. today and traveled west on Route 90 to just west of Erie, PA where I took Route 79 South to Route 358 East and Sandy Lake, PA and New Lebanon, PA.

This rural area of Pennsylvania is quite beautiful. I was searching for the New Lebanon Cemetery to pay my respects to a dear friend and roommate for 19 years, Dan Pae. He is buried here next to his grandparents. While I had been at the cemetery for his burial in 1986, I could not remember the exact location. A nice man in Sandy Lake directed me there.

After some searching I located the grave. It has been 24 years since I was here last.

Dan was a Korean War Veteran

It was an emotional but happy reunion. Dan significantly influenced my life and it felt good to be here again.

I returned to Sandy Lake to thank the man for his directions and I bought gasoline at his service station.

Then I drove west on Route 358 into Ohio and Routes 88 and 422 through Amish country. I saw several Amish buggies on my way to Cleveland.

CLEVELAND, OH

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is very cool. The building was designed by I. M. Pei and is stunning both inside and out. These photos really do not do justice to its beauty.

Photos were allowed in the lobby, but no photos were allowed in the exhibits due to an agreement with the artists and donors. Here is one shot of the lobby.

There are six floors of exhibits which are nicely displayed, starting from the beginning influences of rock & roll and going to the present day. Most exhibits have a written history, photos of performers, clothing and personal items such as guitars and other musical instruments, and a video clip of performances and interviews.

My favorite exhibits were Motown, Elvis, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix. The Special Exhibition Area featured The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen and was displayed on the upper two floors. It was quite extensive, including hand-written letters and scrapbooks that Springsteen had assembled as well as instruments used by his band and clothing worn when album covers were photographed as well as video performances and interviews.

This plaque explains why the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is in Ohio.

Here is a photo of the Cleveland skyline taken from the Hall of Fame.

This is the Cleveland Browns Stadium next to the Hall of Fame.

It was hot and I decided to drive west, not actually knowing how far I would travel today. The road conditions were good, so I ended up driving all the way to South Bend, IN and arrived here about 8:00 p.m., that's a 13-hour day. I took a short drive around the Notre Dame Campus. I may explore it further tomorrow morning. It's time for bed.

Day #23 - July 6, 2010

Niagra Falls, NY to Toronto, ON to Hamburg, NY
189 Miles

I got up early today and walked from my hotel room to the falls, about a 20-minute walk.

NIAGRA FALLS - AMERICAN SIDE

The Niagra Falls State Park leading to the falls is beautiful and nicely maintained.

It is a short walk west to the Horseshoe Falls.

NIAGRA FALLS - CANADIAN SIDE

I drove across the Rainbow Bridge and parked on the Canadian side. The area is much more developed and the falls are more spectacular there.

The light seemed to be excellent for picture taking, so I took a lot of photos. These are some of my favorites.

These formal gardens are across the street from the viewing area.

This shot was taken from the area shown in the previous photo.

There are boat rides available to see the falls up close, but I elected to drive farther into Canada.

TORONTO, ON

The trip to Toronto took about 1-1/2 hours because of heavy traffic. Canada is on the metric system and so all of the mileage and speed limit signs were in kilometers. Luckily, my Honda shows km in smaller red numbers next to the miles, so when the speed limit was 100 km. I was able to stay within the limit.

I stayed in Toronto for about 3 hours only. I had planned to stay longer, but the weather was quite hot and humid and the traffic was difficult to deal with. Also my GPS system and my cell phone did not work in Canada, so I felt a need to return to the USA. I would like to visit there again in the future to get a better feel for the city.

However, I did visit the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was one of the few places I wanted to visit that was indoors and air conditioned.

Each team has a special exhibit such as this one. I elected to photograph the Columbus Blue Jackets, even though I have never seen them play. I still hope to see them when they visit the Sharks sometime in the future.

Just like baseball cards, there are hockey trading cards.

And the best broadcasters have their area too.

There is a special section with old hockey memorabilia.

This is the interactive area where kids and grown-ups get a chance to test their skills against a computer-generated goalie.

And then there is the Stanley Cup. There is a special room just for displaying it.

I enjoyed the exhibit, even though I'm not a hockey fan. I may go to a few Sharks games when I get home.

Once back at Niagra Falls, I stopped at The Three Sisters Restaurant and had some apple pie.

Here is the description:

Caramel and toffee-studded custard surrounding Granny Smith apples on a shortbread crust. It sounds exceedingly sweet but it wasn't. Rich? yes. Very good? yes.