From Iowa to South Dakota

On the road again, yes, we are on the road again!
After two days of rest (we both needed to not do a thing!) we continued to head west. I know, we live east of here, but right now, we live where we park it! We are headed for Nisland, just north of Mt. Rushmore for our next assignment. Last Saturday we saw a lot of cars, vans and even several buses, carrying bicycles west. Found out there is an annual bike ride, where the participants dip the back wheel of their bike in the Missouri River, ride across Iowa, and finish with a dip of the front tire in the Mississippi River. Check out the route at http://ragbrai.com/index.php/routemaps/2010-daily-maps/. It is really pretty awesome!

On our way out of Iowa, we visited Orange City, a Dutch town in NW Iowa. We were very disappointed that the ONLY bakery in town was closed for the week. And every one knew it, from the lady at the postoffice and the butcher, to the lady at the Bible book store!! They all missed morning coffee!! We did find a wooden shoe factory that now has a coffee shop and were able to get coffee, chai tea latte, and a pastry.


and a meat and cheese place where we got some Woudstra Brats, famous for being noted in the Des Moines Register as "one of 100 things to eat in Iowa before you die". We would have to agree... they are great!
We enjoyed the walk around town, finding interesting buildings,


and even a phone booth in the shape of a windmill!

And especially enjoyed the park, with examples of several types of windmills!




Although there were beautiful flowers in bloom, I think the best time to go back is May, for the Tulip Festival!


After leaving Orange City, we took a detour north into the SW corner of Minnesota to see Pipestone.
The town is known for the quarry at Pipestone National Park. It is the only place the red stone used to carve indian pipes is found.

There were displays, and demonstrations at the visitor center.

According to the treaty when the Indians gave up the land, only Indians are allowed to quarry, and can as long as they want in the future. They usually do in the Fall when water level is down and it is cooler.

We took the 3/4 mile trail through the site and, in spite of the heat and humidity, was worth the effort.




Buildings in the town are built with the purplish stone found above the red pipestone.

We have seen a LOT of road construction during this entire trip! Obama's stimulus at work! Leaving Pipestone, heading west, we saw a sign - road closed 1000 feet ahead, then another 500 feet ahead. We had missed any previous warning. Right at the border of Minnesota and South Dakota, sure enough, the road was closed!
Here, the motor home is straddling the Minnesota/ South Dakota state line, with the right wheels in Minnesota and the left ones in South Dakota! The sign in front of the RV says Welcome to Minnesota!!

Of course corn fields on both sides.... where do you go with forty feet of metal: You don't make a U-turn! BUT, we were able to disconnect the Jeep and Paul was able to do a three pointer!

And on to South Dakota via a different route!

Our next stop was at the world's only Corn Palace, that is difficult to "Cornceptulalize", where the local high school "Kernels" play basketball, where there is "bushels" of fun, and where we saw "A-Maizing Ear-chitecture" to quote a few corny sayings. It was quit amazing, and interesting to learn about.
The theme added in 2009 was transportation.

Inside murals are permanent displays.

This one at the front of the auditorium depicts the differences of the White man and the Indian, with the shaking hands the unifying center.

We were able to watch them replace some of the grasses on the side of the building,


but the murals will be replaced in August, followed by their festival. There are 13 different colors of corn they choose from when creating the murals.
And of course, we met Cornelius!

Next along Highway 90 heading west is Wall's Drug Store, which really is a frontier town in itself!!

Getting into the spirit, Paul insisted we trade in the motorhome for the horse and wagon.

Of course, can't miss the hungry dino!

It really is more than a drug store these days! But they still offer free ice water and plenty of free entertainment and a variety of stores!

They even included a travelers chapel.

Along the way at the rest stops we have also seen little church buildings for individual worship. Glad to see in these United States!