945. Go to the SPAM museum

 The SPAM Museum ended up on the bucket list thanks to Rick and Shannon. The day after their wedding, the rest of the family is having breakfast at Denny's and as we are walking out I stop at the travel brochures. I spot one for the SPAM Museum and grab it. That was 20 years ago. Since were going back through Minnesota, I convinced the hubby we were stopping at the SPAM Museum.

The SPAM Museum is exactly what it sounds like.. a museum all about SPAM -- the meat product not annoying emails. Although an annoying email museum could be just as entertaining. It is located in downtown Austin, MN. It is open year round and free to visit. 

As you enter the museum, you get your tickets and stickers. Then you can try a sample of SPAM. I did not as I did not know how long it was sitting there and it was still over 4 hours home. Then we were off to explore the museum.

I'll be honest we kind of rushed our way through the museum. I don't think either of us was overly interested in the history of SPAM. I do have to admit the exhibits were very well done and very informative. 

There were exhibits featuring SPAM from different parts of the world including Hawaii. 

A Military Exhibit featured SPAM through out the various wars it helped supply.

I particularly liked the SPAM musical instruments.

Like the mustard museum, it is one of those places you should check out if you are in the area but don't need to plan a trip just to go there. It is interesting enough that it is worth the stop. Besides where else can you buy SPAM socks?

3355. Visit the Pony Express Station in Gothenburg

 The one thing I wanted to do on our way across Nebraska this trip was stop at the Pony Express Station in Gothenburg. It is only open seasonally so coming through in March in the future would not work. I find all things Pony Express fascinating.

The Pony Express Station in Gothenburg is open from early April to the end of October every day. You can view the outside of it all year round. 

The Sam Macchette Station was built in 1854 on the Oregon Trail and used as a trading post and ranch house. It was also a Pony Express station for the 18 months that the Pony Express operated from April 1860 to October 1861. Afterwards it was used as a stagecoach station, bunkhouse, and private dwelling. It was moved to it's present day location in 1931 when Mrs. C. A. Williams donated it to the city of Gothenburg.

The building is not much bigger than my kitchen. It houses a small museum featuring what life would have been like as a Pony Express Station. It also had a nice collection of antique revolvers.

One of the reasons I wanted to stop here was to get a Pony Express stamp but since COVID hit, the National Park Service removed all the stamps and they never got it back. Oh well. I think I have one anyways. There is a pressed penny machine which might just become my next collection.

The Gothenburg Pony Express Station is worth the stop. You only need 15-20 minutes to see it, more if you really read everything. It is located in a city park so plenty of room for pets and kids to run around. There is also the Sod House Museum in town that is on my bucket list and should probably have checked out while we were there. Alas next time.

3353. Go to the Golden Spike Tower in North Platte

 One of the options I gave the hubby was the train tower in North Platte. He decided that we'd need several hours there and didn't want to make it stretch break attraction. Well.... when we were talking to the volunteer at the Cody Park Railroad Museum, he said we should check it out. I agreed since it was in town and we were ahead of schedule. I firmly believed we didn't need several hours there. 

Golden Spike Tower is an observation tower overlooking the Union Pacific railyard in North Platte. It is open year, seven days a week. The cost is $8/adult and $6/children. There is small museum and hall of fame on the ground floor and two observation floors in the tower.

The 7th floor has more informational exhibits about World War II and the food trains as well as an outdoor observation deck. The hubby did not go out on the observation deck and greatly feared me going near the edge for pictures.

The 8th floor has an enclosed observation deck. There was a volunteer up there that worked for Union Pacific and was very knowledgeable. 

The Union Pacific Railway in North Platte is a 8 miles long and over a mile wide. It features at least 8 tracks and two humps. I was fascinated to learn about a hump -- which is how they move cars to different engines. It is like a speed bump for railcars. A train car moves to the top of the hump and then gets sent down the hump on the line to connect to the new engine. 

We definitely did not spend hours watching the trains. We were probably there about an hour. Okay so maybe I speed things up a but since it was lunch time but we definitely did not need to spend hours looking at trains coming and going no matter how interesting it was.

It is fascinating to watch all the trains in action.. the ones going straight on through.. the ones getting split apart and moving to other destinations. If you are a train enthusiast or not, this place is amazing. IT is one of the world's largest railyards and it is worth a visit. 

3351. Go to Fort Cody Trading Post in North Platte

 When planning our trip across Nebraska for the second time this year, I made a list of 12 places that we could see between Denver and Omaha and told the hubby to pick 2. He said that was too many to choose from and I narrowed it down to four. Since Fort Cody and Cody Train park were in North Platte, that is what he decided on.

Fort Cody Trading Post has been around since 1963. Back in the day it was your typical tourist attraction that you really don't see too much of any more. It is a gift shop and mini museum. 

Inside the museum area you can find Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in Miniature. 

The most interesting feature is the two headed calf. This was worth the stop.

There is also a small exhibit on the old west. 

We did not go in the backyard. I'll be honest. I missed the door leading out there. The hubby peeked out and decided it wasn't worth it. I would have liked to see what was behind that stockade. Oh well.

We did not buy anything. I really didn't need another postcard and nothing else really caught our eye.

The hubby said Fort Cody is one of those tourist places from the 1980s that you don't see any more. It really wasn't that exciting. Good thing it's pretty much right off the highway and it's free to see otherwise it would have been a waste of time. If I had my choice I'd stop at the Archway in Kearney over Fort Cody

If you need a break driving through Nebraska, this would be a good stop to stretch your legs if you like the Old West.

6736. Go to Voodoo Doughnut

 When I was trying to figure out what we can see on Colfax Ave, I saw that had a Voodoo Doughnut on Colfax Ave. I've heard good things about Voodoo Doughnut and decided we were getting donuts for breakfast the next morning.

When I tell the hubby that we are stopping at Voodoo Doughnut after the baseball game, our conversation goes like this

Me; "We are going to drive down Colfax Ave and stop at Voodoo Doughnuts." 

The hubby: "Is this like a 24 hour doughnut place?"

Me: "No but pretty close. They close at 2 am and re-open at like 4. They have foo-foo doughnuts."

I didn't expect that parking down by the capitol on Labor Day to be a problem but it was. We parked on a side street and walked about two blocks to get to Voodoo Doughnuts.

Then we had to figure out which of the fifty different varieties of donuts to get. Lucky for they have a rotating display case with all their donuts in them plus picture menus. 

The hubby surprised me with going with Portland Cream (Bavarian Cream) and a Chocolate Ring. I went with Chuckles (chocolate frosting, peanuts, and caramel drizzle) and Chocolate Coconut Cake. They lived up to my expectations. We will definitely go back if we come across another one.

If you find one, check them out and definitely try one of their more exotic donuts.

301. Drive down the longest street in the US

 When we decided to go to Denver, I wanted to try to get to longest street in the US. This is just one of the weird bucket list ideas that I'm not even sure how it ended up on the list. I probably heard of it somewhere and decided that I had it to do. 

Colfax Avenue is the longest continuous street in the US, running over 50 miles from Strasburg to Golden Colorado. As much as I would like to drive the entire length, I knew that would not be feasible and opted for a short section.

The first thing I discovered was that the Colorado State Capitol was on Colfax Avenue. This made crossing off Colorado State Capitol and drive down the longest street in the US very doable especially since they weren't too far from Coors Field.

After leaving the baseball game, we headed towards Colfax Avenue. Our first stop was the State Capitol. I snapped a picture from the car at a red light. I'm all about just seeing the capitol building and getting a picture versus touring it. 

Then we headed east on Colfax Ave for about a mile We stopped and got some donuts and head back west on Colfax Avenue before heading out of town.

Even though we only drove a short portion of the longest street in the US, it was still fun to be on it. Maybe one day I we will drive the whole thing.

2022 Baseball Tour -- Coors Field

Since we have been to all the Major League Stadiums in the Midwest, it was time to branch out. There were only a handful of teams playing on Labor Day that we've not seen and most of them were not within reasonable driving distance. By default Denver is our destination of choice. We were headed to Coors Field.

Getting to Coors Field was an adventure I prefer not to repeat. I-25 was under construction and then shut down in both directions due to an accident. We followed the GPS and for the most part was okay until we got closer to Coors Field. We bought parking for Lot B but the ticket said to enter from Wazee and Park Streets which according to the map was Lot A. They do touch. We followed the signs for parking once we got closer and ended up in the right place. Lot B is a free for all... no one directing you way to park and no one really watching you cross streets or anything. 

The walk from Lot B to the stadium was a good 15-20 minutes in 95 degree heat. Yes there were shuttles but then we would be waiting for one. However, the only gate we could go in was the centerfield gate. There was no option to walk around the outside of the stadium in you just followed the walkway. You'd need to know where you were going to get to the front of the stadium. 

Getting into the stadium was a challenge because the Rockies use Ticketmaster and in order to forward his ticket to the hubby, I had to do it in my Ticketmaster account. The hubby had to accept it in his (non-existent) Ticketmaster account. Finally he was able to do this but still had trouble scanning once we got to the gate.

FINALLY we made it in to the stadium and got my passport stamped. Then we attempted to head up to our seats. Like usual we bought the cheap seats behind home plate. We found the ramp leading up to upper decks but the hubby's vertigo and fear of heights kicked in due to the more open ramp. We ended up watching the game, in the shade, from the right from corner standing room section. I may not have gotten to sit in the purple seats but it was too hot to be in the direct sun. 

Food was like everything else.. over priced and not very good. I got a brat. It was a foot long but supper skinny on a toasted bun which did not do it any justice. I just ate the brat. The hubby said his chicken tenders were fine. Ok course they had Coke products and I'm not a huge fan of Coke but wanted soda instead of water in the heat. I did refill my cup with water later after giving half my soda to the hubby. 

The game itself wasn't too bad. The Brewers ended up winning and we got to see Victor Caratini's go ahead homer to right really well. We thought it was going to be a long game since the Brewers were down 3-0 early but battled back and won. 

Coors Field does not rank high on our list of ball parks. We have no desire to go back. I'd go back to Atlanta before going back to Coors. I think between Ticketmaster and Parking it just ruined our day. The ballpark was plain. 

However don't let our experience keep you from checking it out when you are in the area. It is definitely worth checking out. I'd pay more for parking or take public transit. Enter from the main gate so you can see the front of the ballpark. Make your way to the upper deck so you can sit in the purple, mile high seats. Just enjoy the view of the Rockies and some baseball.

5669. Go to Devils Tower National Monument

 When we started planning this trip last year, I was telling my boss about where we were going and explaining that we would go through Wyoming to Colorado. The hubby overheard this and asked if we could go to Devils Tower if we were going to Wyoming. I told him it was a 2 hour detour and the ball game started at 2:10. He was like we can leave at 4:30. 

That is how I ended up at Devils Tower just as the sun was coming up. The hubby wanted to see Devils Tower ever since his buddy told him about it and wasn't going to let a 2:10 baseball game get in his way.

Devils Tower is a butte that towers over 1200 feet in northeast Wyoming. It is sacred to Native Americans.

Devils Tower is open year round and around the clock. Since we had the National Park Pass, we didn't have to worry about paying via a QR Code since we got there before the entrance attendants were even awake. 

We were not the only ones in the park at the crack of dawn. Several climbers were getting geared up to make the technical climb up Devils Tower. There is a path around the base of Devils Tower but if you want to actually go to the top you need to scale it with ropes. 

We didn't even walk the path. I was a bit disappointed the hubby just literally wanted a picture and we could leave. I got my stamp, he got his picture. 

We also stopped along the road out of town to get some more picture of Devils Tower from various angles. Sunrise was a bit hazy so it wasn't as pretty as I thought it was going to be. Sunset is supposed to be gorgeous.

Devils Tower was the one place we actually saw wildlife. We saw deer, both white tale and mule deer, and prairie dogs. There was an eagle in a tree that I didn't get a picture of.

If you are ever in South Dakota take the detour to check out Devils Tower. It is worth the detour. Spend time exploring the path and learning about the sacredness of the place. I hope to get back one day so I can walk the path and climb some boulders but at least I got to see it.

AP US Mini Golf Tour 2022 -- Keystone, SD

The AP US Mini Golf Tour continues. This time in South Dakota -- a state neither of us has been to prior. Going to a big touristy area, I knew I'd find several options for mini golf. It turns out our hotel had a mini golf course so that was an option. Then I found a place in Keystone that looked interesting -- Holy Terror Mini Golf. It said it was a challenge and not for the faint of heart.

The hubby said we were only playing this course because I liked the name. Honestly I didn't even noticed the name when I first discovered it. I saw that it was a challenging course and figured it was right up the hubby's alley. They advertised that you would be yelling mulligan. 

Challenging is an understatement. The course had your climbing stairs and going down hills to complete each hole. The real kicker was that majority of the holes were on top of very slight incline. The green may have been flat but to get the ball in the hole, you had to hit it just right or it would roll down the other side. VERY FRUSTRATING.

The hubby who usually can shoot near par kept using 4+ strokes to get it in the hole. This course didn't even have a par which tells you how messed up it is.

I did manage to get the only hole in one even without a mulligan. Alas even with that hole in one, I lost by one. I am currently 1-2-1 for the season. I have a slight hope that we will get another round in when we go to the UP at the beginning of October if the course in Munising is still open and we have time. Otherwise it is another losing season for me.