2018 07 10 - 07 14 Tailwater Campground Iowa City, KOA Albert Lea, MN and Spam Museum, Pipestone, MN

Tailwater West, Coralville, Iowa - 10 July 2018

Just a short stay but a really nice campground. Those Army Corps of Engineers know how to build stuff. Double wide sites, mostly shaded with well placed utilities. May not sound like a big deal but trying to squeeze into some sites or manipulate for access to the utilities can be a big headache. 

Pups enjoy the relative cool on the banks of the dam spillway. 

Dakota looks like she is trying to decide if she should take the plunge. Bad idea. 

Enough room to park the truck along side the RV. The only drawback was the two pull-through sites were new and not shaded after about 10am. We continue to have stifling heat and humidity. Seemed like the air conditioner was running full blast almost all day long. 

KOA Holiday, Albert Lea/Austin, Minnesota - 14 July 2018

We are getting very familiar with corn fields as our basic view outside. We were amused by a new camper who parked his rig and immediately jumped out, ran over to the field and was very disappointed not to find any ears ready to be picked for his dinner. 

SPAM Museum, Austin, Minnesota - 14 July 2018

A little bit of schtick never hurt anyone so, of course, we took a Sunday afternoon to engage in some. I assume we both have had some Spam some time in our pasts but nothing that either of us could recall. Is that a good thing? 

This is not a tour of a packaging plant. Big surprise there. It's really just a few rooms with information. A couple of sample trays are carried around by SPAMbassadors (this is not a spelling error) but there are no other actual products until you go the Gift Shop. 

Monty Python's SPAMalot is referenced several times. Six ingredients sold in 44 countries at a rate of 403,660,800 cans per year.
Everybody sing: "Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam! Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!"

The SPAM mascot - Sir Can-A-Lot. Nope. We don't make this stuff up, folks.

Twenty cans tall. Eh, they can't really believe someone is going to reach 35.

Working the assembly line - Fill, bake and label SPAM cans. 
She is so fast her hands are a blur. 

We may not be as fast as the automated processing line, but 13 seconds per can seems pretty fast to us. 

Seventeen different flavors. And searching for the next big thing. 

Pipestone RV Campground, Pipestone, Minnesota - 16 July 2018

Finally, some cooler weather and a partially shaded site. 

Breakfast at Lange's Cafe. Not sure it really rated 4 stars but the prices were more like 1988. 

Split Rock Creek State Park, Ihlen, Minnesota - 17 July 2018

As in Sioux Falls, there is a lot of Sioux quartzite in local quarries that is used in many of the buildings and other structures. Since it is so prevalent and the second hardest stone on earth, it's an excellent choice for long lasting construction.

Interesting step dam with a walkway over the top. This side of the dam slows the water coming over the top by making the outer wall layered with extending steps which practically eliminates the "washing machine" turbulence at the bottom.  

Tori found a good spot for wading and since there was nobody else at this little beach we allowed them off their leashes to go as far as they wanted. 

Hoping they would just go out by themselves didn't work very well so Bob consented to removing his shoes and socks and encouraging them to join him further out. 

Dakota may be a newbie at this swimming stuff but she seems to enjoy it even more than Tori. I had to watch both of them as they seemed determined when they came out of the water to stand right next to me and shake themselves. 

Spotted Sandpiper

The former Rock Island Line Railroad Depot in Pipestone has been repurposed as the Keepers Gift Shop & Galery. The Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers is a non-profit formed by local Native Americans and tribal leaders to protect and educate the public about the nearby pipestone quarries and the carving of pipes. This red pipestone quarry has been used for over three thousand years. Outside the Depot is the World's Largest pipe.  Bud Johnston tells the story of how three different people told him about dreams they had that he would build a giant pipe to commemorate the use of Catlinite (a softer stone than Sioux quartzite) that is buried between two layers of quartzite. He originally drew a design for an 8 foot pipe. His eldest son was appalled and insisted the pipe had to be much larger. Standing 30 feet tall, it is not only the largest but the largest working pipe. The four stainless bands on the bowl represent the four winds or directions from which tribe members arrived to quarry pipestone. Often mislabeled as "Peace pipes", the Plains Indians ceremonial pipes are used for prayer as well as community building. It's believed the smoke from the pipe delivers voices to the Great Spirit.

Just up the street from the Gift Shop is the Pipestone National Monument where Native Americans still dig the raw stone and carve pipes inside the Visitor's Center. 

Constructed, as many buildings here, of Sioux quartzite, the Visitor's Center has two paths in opposite directions leading out to the quarries.

Buildings of Pipestone - 19 July 2018

The Calumet Inn - Built of Sioux quartzite with Jasper quartzite (the darker accents) has a 36 room hotel, 2 restaurants and 2 pubs. "Calumet" is French meaning pipe. 

The Moore Block Building was built by Leon H. Moore a local businessman, contractor and sculptor, who owned a quartzite quarry. He has sculpted numerous gargoyles in sandstone for the front and side of his building. The largest is just called "Moses" between the windows. Legend has it that Moore sculpted a nude for placement in the niche to the left called "Eve". Apparently, the townspeople were outraged and forced it's removal, never to be seen again.

Pipestone County Courthouse

Another L.H. Moore sculpture of a Civil War soldier. The placards surrounding the statue contain the names of Minnesotans who fought in the Spanish-American and Civil Wars.