South Dakota - Minnesooota - 8,336 miles

We woke up to the sounds of the Burlington Northern Railroad passing by every hour. It was a bright sunny morning, a beautiful one for the ride down to Mt. Rushmore. You know, the mountain with the four faces on it. George, Tom, Ted and Abe. Kidding aside, in spite of the early summer crowds, it was worth the trip. The mountain sculpture's beauty is enhanced by a very nice and respectful memorial building which brings you into the viewing area. Columns with the flags of all 50 states line the walkway.




We drove east from Mt. Rushmore but had to stop along the way at the world famous "Wall Drugstore in Wall South Dakota. This place is like five miles of Myrtle Beach compressed into a quarter mile of stores. However, and fortunately, they do sell aspirin and other over the counter pain killers there. Since it is right off the highway, it's worth a chuckle to check it out. Heck, they even sell Davey Crockett "Coonskin Caps".



And then, for all you maize lovers of the world, ethanol junkies extraordinaire, supporters of Willie Nelson's efforts to save the family farm, in downtown, metropolitan Mitchell, South Dakota is the fourth, over the last hundred years, CORN PALACE. Yes, it's a large building with turrets and all, covered with pictures made from dried ears of corn. And yes again, there are 12 different colors of corn, even I didn't know that, and each year the pictures are painstakingly changed by local talent. It is truly unique. I only ask, why?






We did have delightful dinner in Mitchell at the Station Restaurant, which was a converted railroad station which offered a free T-shirt if one could finish a 48 ounce steak. We saw one patron order this meal, and I doubt their T-shirt inventory went down.

We did stay over in Mitchell then drove through all of southern Minnesota stopping in La Crosse Wisconsin for the night. This was not uneventful though. The landscape was very nice, rolling, gentle hills, neat rows of knee high corn and soybeans, cows leisurely feeding on green pastures. We could not help leaving the highway at Austin, Minnesota to tour the museum dedicated to the world famous production of SPAM. Now I don't mean all those bothersome emails, I mean that meat in those funny little cans that are known the world over and sold in more then 160 countries. I wonder how you spell SPAM in Senegalese or Kazakhstanese?





The landscape just east of Austin, to the Wisconsin border was filled with windmills. Very large, white, and gently rotating in the breezes providing clean energy to that region.



Next, Lambeau Field, Upper Michigan - UP'ers - eh!