Mitchell, Badlands, Wall, & Interior, SD

Thu (8-18-11):  Got up this morning and headed over to visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.  We got there just in time to see an interesting movie about the Corn Palace and then got a tour of the inside with an explanation of the corn murals.  Of course they have a gift shop set up just inside where you can shop after the tour--imagine that!  NOTE:  Just click on a picture and it will enlarge!

Corn Palace Panel

Inside of the Corn Palace

DonnaT and PattyH Shopping at the Corn Palace

We continued driving west on I90 where you could see for miles and miles because of the gentle rolling hills.  Saw lots of corn and wheat fields and also fields and fields of sunflowers.

Miles and Miles of Sunflowers Along I90 in SD

We drove south thru the Badlands National Park to Interior, SD where we are camped at the Badlands/White River KOA [800-562-3897] for the next 3 nights.  We ate at the campground tonight and each had an Indian Taco made on Indian Fry Bread which was very good.  This was cooked by one of the Full Time Work Campers here at the park.  [They were work camping in Virginia Beach up until last June.]

Fri (8-19-11):  Destination today was looking for the white prairie dogs, visiting the Minuteman Missile Control Center and Silo, Wall Drug, back thru another one of the roads in the Bad Lands, and a drive thru the very depressed town on Interior, SD.

Badlands SD White Prairie Dog

Wall Drug--LarryH Checking Out the View

Remind you of Stan and Ollie?

LarryH Trying on Hats at Wall Drug

Wall Drug--PattyH and DonnaT Getting a Hug from a Cowboy!

Minuteman Missles Control Center

Door to the Control Center Where the Keys to Launch are Contained--WORLD-WIDE DELIVERY IN 10 MINUTES OR LESS OR THE NEXT ONE IS FREE!

Control Room Where the Keys Are Kept in Red Box for a Missile Launch

Minuteman Missile II Site off I90 in SD

Buffalo In the Badlands

Burrowing Owl Hiding Behind a Buffalo Chip--CUTE!

Prairie Dog With Hole Right Next to the Road

A little hard to read here, but it says:  "I was born of wagons west.  The oldest town in the Badlands.  I've known drought and winters fierce storms.  Three times fire has swept my streets yet, my rodeos were known through out the N west.  Yakima Knute - Stroud - Earl Thode, champions all have ridden my arenas.  The great Jim Thorpe has played my fields.  The early music of Lawrence Welk has sounded in my nights.  This is a land that bred great indian chiefs and mighty warriers.  A land of neighbors.  WELCOME - TRAVELER."

This evening it was pretty windy at the campground, so after happy hour, LarryH decided to get his trick kite out and we headed for the field behind the campground.  It was fun watching his maneuvers and nose dives!

Happy Hour at Badlands/White River KOA

Larry Hellrung Flying his Trick Kite

Sat (8-20-11):  Went to the Badlands Visitor Center this morning and watched an interesting film about the Badlands.  Then we headed out to take another road where there were some hiking trails.  We did a short trail, but it was a strenuous one almost straight up.  At the end, we were high above the valley up on the meadow plateau.  What a wonderful view!  On the trek down, we found a fossil sticking out of the rocks.  Of course we left it there, but took a picture.  After all this exercise, we continued on up the road looking for an empty picnic table!  Being Saturday, shaded picnic tables were hard to come by, but we finally found one. 

View of Badlands from Visitor Center

Donna on Trail up to the Top of the Badlands

Looking Down from the Top of the Trail

View of the Grasslands at the Top

Fossil Sticking Out of the Rock We Found on Our Hike to the Top

 Yellow Rock in Badlands

Lunch in the Badlands in the Shade--Larry and Patty Hellrung and Chuck Tolson

Swallows Nesting Under the Bridge Next to the Campground

Windmill Near the Badlands KOA

At dusk this evening, we drove back into the Badlands to a spot that we were told we might see some animals.  We did see some Big Horn Sheep and a Golden Eagle in the distance but got a closeup view of wild turkeys flying up into a tree to nest for the night.

Turkeys Nesting for the Night

Golden Eagle in Badlands

Sundown at the Badlands

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Heading West to SD, WY & MT

Sun (8-14-11): Coach was all clean, so of course we started out traveling in the rain today. Stopped on US29 for breakfast at our usual McDonald's stop in Madison, VA. Then it was on down the road thru Charlottesville, VA and over Afton Mt. As we got over the mountiain, the sun came out and it was a great traveling day from there on I64 over thru part of WV. We stopped for lunch at the Travel Plaza in Beckley, WV. Chuck checked the radar because we could see black clouds ahead and fund that we were in for a red-celled storm. We decided to sit it out there and I got a little nap and did some knitting and reading. We were sure our Wal Mart "campsite" would still be there no matter what time we arrived that evening! We have "camped" there several times. When we stopped in KY to refuel, we discovered that a very important item was missing. We called our daughter and had her drive to our house to hopefully find our missing item--it was there! Overnight FEDEX is sure a wonderful thing and works well--for a price! Problem solved!! As we drove thru WV, we noticed several billboards that said, "Obama No Work Zone" sponsored by FACES. Turns out FACES is a coal organization. 

Mon (8-15-11): We continued to travel I64 thru KY, IN, and IL till we turned north just before crossing the Mississippi River into St. Louis and spent the night at Sundermeirer Campground in St. Charles, MO. I was hoping to get some posting done to this blog--BUT, their WiFi was down!

Tue (8-16-11): Headed out to Warrenton, MO to meet up with our friends at the Flying J there. Now that the Flying J's have Denny's restaurants, we have been stopping to have breakfast there. Good food and reasonable "Senior" prices. Here's what we saw there in the parking lot:

Marc Jacobs

CA and NY Clothing Stores - not sure what they use this for other than maybe advertising.

As we continued to drive across America, I thought about all the advertising I had seen and signs and billboards and how they tell a story. Thought about trying to capture some of them with my camera and then it started to rain, and rain and rain all the way to Kansas City. So much for that idea!

Because of the Missouri River flooding along US29 in sourthern Iowa and the road closures, we turned north just before Kansas City and traveled US35 up towards Des Moines. This was all new country for us and a very enjoyable drive. We spent the night at Terrible's Casino campground in Osceola, Iowa. $20 for full hookups and a crab leg/prime rib buffet that night and we were happy campers. 

Terrible's Casino

Campsite (Hellrungs) at Terrible's Casino

Wed (8-17-11):  This morning we continued on US35 up to Des Moines to I80 where we headed west to the Missouri Valley and got on US29 north thru Sioux City and up to Sioux Falls, SD. We had nice sunny weather and saw lots of turning wind mills.  As we got closer to the Missouri River, we could see flooded farm houses and barns.  In some places, the river came right up beside the road where they placed sandbags on both sides.  

Hellrungs 5th Wheel and Windmill in Iowa on US35

Sandbags on both sides of the road here along the Flooded Missouri River in Northern Iowa

Filled up with fuel at the Flying J in Sioux Falls and headed west on I90.  We spent the night at Cabela's parking lot in Mitchell, SD, where they had designated RV parking with really wide parking spaces.  They also had a dump station and water fill up.  Of course we went shopping at Cabela's where Chuck got a neat pair of sandals on sale!  There is a Walmart Supercenter here at 1101 E Spruce Street, so of course we stocked up.

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