August 2, 2008 - Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota

Wisconsin
This was my final day in Wisconsin. I attended one last Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This one was celebrated by Archbishop Burke and was intended to consecrate Marian Catechists. Fr. Groeschel had already left. Parking was available in the lot. But again, I got there about one minute before Mass was supposed to start.

There are a number of people on golf carts who will take the elderly or disabled up to the top of the mountain where the shrine is located. Since this was not a major Mass like the one on August 1st, and I was late, I decided I would ask about getting a ride as soon as I saw someone with a golf cart. The first one that drove by abruptly kept on driving without even asking if I needed a ride. I continued walking up the winding road. Another golf cart came by and the driver asked me if I would like a ride up. I jumped on board. We began talking. I explained my major life change. He asked if I was planning to go into the seminary. I explained that I do not currently have plans for that though many people have asked. He explained that he is in the seminary now and had done something similar to me. He finally realized he was running from his true vocation. We talked for quite a bit. It was interesting how this conversation came about. The first golf cart driver was definitely a lay person and simply kept on driving. Had he stopped, I never would have had this conversation.

I was now fifteen to twenty minutes late for the Mass. I knew it couldn't happen twice in a row that I would walk in without missing anything. Yet, I walked in and the opening procession had not even begun at that point.

During the Mass I had the same problems with taking pictures from the back of the shrine. It finally dawned on me that the lens filter I was using was for outdoor use. When I switched filters, the pictures came out really well. It's too bad that I did not think of this when Fr. Groeschel was there.

Minnesota
After Mass was finished, my next destination was Austin, Minnesota. La Crosse, WI is right along the border between the two states. But, I was still surprised at how quickly I was in MN. The initial views of MN were beautiful. The pavement along I-90 on the east side left a bit to be desired. Still, it is nothing like the interstates in Nebraska and Oklahoma.

On August 2nd, I saw my first in a trio of "EXTREMELY IMPORTANT" national landmarks! I visited the Spam Museum. Yes, there actually is a museum devoted to Hormel's Spam. Austin, MN is Spamtown. The I-90 exit for Austin has a small sign (not the typical interstate signs pointing out the direction of hotels, gas stations, etc.) directing people to the museum. There was another sign about every quarter mile. They wanted to make sure people got there. It's THAT important! Of course, their web site does not list a street address, so it's not as easy to just plug that into a GPS.

The Spam Museum contains all you ever wanted to know (and then some) about spam. They have the complete history, information about Hormel's founder, explanations of how Spam is made, sample advertisements from each decade since Spam's introduction, etc. They had an automated "puppet show" of Gracie Allen interviewing a can of Spam. Of course, there is a gift shop with all sorts of Spam related items. Much of it was humorous. As silly as it was, it was definitely worth the trip (though it was also convenient because it was along I-90). See the photos.

I went to the vigil Mass for Sunday obligation at St. Augustine's Church in Austin, MN. This is a beautiful gothic style church. See the photos.

Because I wanted to put more time in other states, unfortunately I chopped out two days' worth of plans for MN. From what I've seen, it's quite beautiful. There are 10,000 lakes in the state. Hopefully I may have a chance to see more of MN on the way back home.

MN along I-90 is mostly flat. While some might consider this boring, I found it very nice. The vast views (even if they're only of cornfields) were so nice. We're used to seeing mountains and lots of trees, which obscures our view of the sky. These things are nice, but seeing the sky like this was so very nice.

While driving in MN, there were signs for Wall Drug and the Corn Palace. Both of these are in South Dakota. I think one of the Wall Drug signs pointed out that it was "only" 370 miles away. The Corn Palace was much closer. Signs for the Corn Palace said corny things like "Come ear!" or "Corn-sider the Corn Palace..."

South Dakota
I could tell I was in South Dakota when I started seeing advertisements for "casinos." Almost every gas station in SD has a "casino." This is typically a bank of a few video slot machines. The Sioux City area of Iowa has this as well. In my opinion, it's ridiculous.