Road trip MN ~ Part 2

As we leave my sister's, we decide to hit a few spots along the way to Iowa. First of, the Spam Museum. Yes, can you believe it? One actually exist!

We decided to drive down South from Minneapolis and into the small town of Austin.

Looks like Charlie is 20 cans tall?! Ha ha!

We do love our Spam.  The boys have also grown to love Spam Musubi. It's like a Japanese snack that layers Spam with rice, and wrapped in seaweed.  YUM!!

It would be nice to have one of these little shacks near us. Ha!

Free samples!!

Funny enough, Bobby has never had Spam before.  Here we go, he's finally going for it!

At least he didn't throw up.  I tell him it taste like New Jersey pork-roll, but he thinks otherwise.  Even so, he actually didn't mind it.  See what you've been missing all this time?!

Here's the world's first bacon fueled motorcycle!

I think Charlie is looking at some ideas for when we get home.  Spam fries??? :-)

After the museum, we drive towards Iowa.  Decided to visit my housing here. But prior to that, we are looking for some dinner and checking out some mural along the way:

Awfully quiet around here but murals are pretty awesome!

A small part of a Czech Village near Cedar Rapids:

We ended up in a hamburger joint and guess what Charlie ordered - one with Spam. LOL!!

Pretty yummy dinner!

I can't remember what I had now.  It was a lot of food!

Another mural in the parking lot:

We check into the hotel for the night.  Having to use a sky bridge from the parking lot:

Charlie still travels with his puppy stuff animal. Ha ha!

Boys are still non-stop with their games on the phones:

The train tracks are literally right next to the hotel. Funny how they actually supply ear buds for a restful night!

I'm not sure if this is dessert or breakfast?!

I think definitely dessert!

A quick lunch reunion since staying with my host family back in 2009!

On the way home, we drive by a building that has large vehicles.  Bobby got so excited he wanted to go see it while the boys and I stayed in the car.  Ha!

Bobby is such a little kid here.  LOL!!

Okay, one more planned stop before going on - it's a truck stop!

They have their own brand of chocolate!

And OMG, warhead soda??! I can't imagine how sour soda would taste like. Sour, I'm sure!

I've never seen this before - Skittles soda??!!

Okay, here we are... largest truck stop along I-80!  Yeah, we had to check it out :-)

And looks like I-80 is the 2nd longest interstate in the US:

Charlie finds some bass fish shoes/flip flops??

Wow, grass flip flops?? This place has the weirdest stuff!

After a few more hours, Home Sweet Home!!  And still hungry.  Nothing like a bowl of instant spicy Thai noodles :-D

Good trip!! 

Road trip MN ~ Part 1 (end of Dec 2024)

After Christmas (2024)  we decided to visit my sister in MN.  Never a dull moment in this car when we have to take photos.  O. M. G... look at Bobby.  Ha ha!!

Pretty dreary and cold-looking outside!

It's nice that my sister is now only about 7 hours away compared to when we lived in CA.  I suppose if anything, Graham and Charlie are happy because it's the only time they get to eat McDonald's.  Check out this table at one of the restaurants!

And all I could think of was, "Please go wash your hands very well before you eat!!".

Bobby has this thing about not pushing his chair back.  Well, I guess we know who was just here at my sister's dining table :-P

We have some quiet time and so we figured it would be best to find some snowboarding boots. So many more to choose from here!

Some cousin-bonding time:

It's too bad the older cousin doesn't want to hang around too much.  He's missing out on some very yummy acai bowls!  

Come to think about it, that peanut butter was SUPER YUMMY! It was freshly grinded on the spot!

Waiting for a table for dinner.  Look how short Bobby is compared to the boys' cousin. Ha!

I think it was too busy at that restaurant, so we ended up at a Culver's:

The next day, ramen for lunch with my sister. YUMMM....

Down-time means electronics for these 2 boys:

We decided to try out curling one day.  Older cousin is still missing out on our activities!

Not the easiest, but it was definitely fun!

I didn't do so well.  Ha ha!

We spent some time at my sister's friend's home. Viking football game/watch-party. I think it was pretty close to the playoffs.  The boys kept themselves occupied with an indoor basketball court:

There was also arcade games - I think Bobby is having more fun than the kids:

Mini basketball hoops too!

Here's a quick photo of the mommies and their 2 boys:

And this was from just 2 years ago.  Look how much everyone has grown!

My 2 boys are still so short compared to my sister's boys. Ha!

While we're still in MN, we had to visit the Mall of America again.  I tried to take a photo of this MASSIVE Lego Transformer:

We're definitely not going into the Lego Store.  There's a line!

Okay, maybe this angle is better to show how HUGE that Lego Transformer is!

We find the Toys R Us store instead. What is this world coming to though - Charlie is on his phone instead of wandering around a toy store??!

We go into another store, and I can't help myself but take a photo of this.  Too funny!!

This mall is SOOO HUGE!!  An entire amusement center in it:

Okay, here's probably the best angle of that Transformer.  Can I say it again...? Massive!!

Graham, on the other hand is not as amused. I told him to stand there so I could use him as a size comparison. Yup, things your kids have to put up with. LOL!

Time for some boba. This one was super sweet but so yummy!

This is truly Charlie - he can only wish he had a boba drink that large!!

One last meal before we leave town in the morning!