Whew, the end of another long day driving and sight seeing. I know, it's a tough life we lead on a road trip. :0) But it's 2:20am my time as I am writing this and I am one tired puppy.
We began the day in Minnesota, leaving from our KOA cabin by 6:15AM. We
were headed for South Dakota and Custer, where we would stay for the night at yet another KOA.
More road construction kept the trip slow and long but we enjoyed the change of scenery as we entered South Dakota and left the land of 10,000 lakes behind.
Soon we began seeing signs touting a "world-famous" corn palace. Wondering what this could be, we eagerly took the exit and wound our way downtown. Apparently the first corn palace was built in 1892 in this city of Mitchell. The idea came from Louis Beckwith to showcase the crops grown in the area and to attract people to settle in the town. Every year since the first corn palace was created, a new decorating theme is chosen and the old outside of the palace is stripped and redecorated with new corn and grains. Over 3,000 bushels of milo, rye, oat heads, and sour dock are tied in bundles and attached to the building. Murals are created that tell a story or showcase something in the U.S. Over a half million ears of corn are sawed in half and nailed to the building to create the pictures. So now you know what a corn palace is.
Around 1PM we stopped for lunch in a small town that touts itself as an "1800" western town. Although we didn't pay to see the western town, we did eat lunch in the train diner and that was fun. Pictures will follow on the blog tomorrow.
In the afternoon we drove through the Badlands National Park. To me, it was like a miniature Grand Canyon. The scenery was breath-taking. We stopped many times to take pictures or to explore. Walking along the boardwalk at one point, we saw a sign warning of rattlesnakes. I was just about to jump down off the boardwalk, when we actually heard a rattle. Not wanting to risk a snake bite, I decided to stay the path. But on the way back, we did get a picture of the sign.
The Badlands Park is 244,000 acres of landscape where the wind and erosion have created eerie moonscapes of deep gorges and jagged sawtooth ridges. Rock layers painted in subtle hues of rose, gold and green add to the splendor. (Again, pictures will follow tomorrow.)
Coming to the end of the loop through the park, we entered a town called Wall. Apparently Wall is home to the "world-famous" Wall Drug store. The store is a combination of mini mall, souvenir shop, restaurant, and photo ops. Jeryl and I enjoyed having our picture taken with a Jackalope and a buffalo. It was fun wandering through the store.
Finally getting back on the road, we headed for Custer and arrived around 5Pm local time (mountain time). We registered and unloaded our stuff, then headed to see Mt. Rushmore. The monument is basically in the middle of nowhere and you wind through the mountains for about 30 minutes, getting tiny glimpses here and there through the trees of the majestic presidents. One neat thing we did, was after taking some pictures and then getting something for supper, we stayed for the 9PM lighting of the monument. A story was told about each president and then each face was slowly illuminated. It was a beautiful sight indeed.
And now this entry is far too long once again and it's way past my bed time so until tomorrow....happy trails to you.......we are headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming next..........R & J
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