Thursday, May 21

Kelly
Today was equally long, but less exhausting due to us spending more time outside of the car. We’ve discovered that all depressed river towns are similar, as both Sioux City and Sioux Falls reminded me of Manchester. After checking out the namesake falls, Mom and I stopped in Mitchell, which is the home of George McGovern, but more importantly is the home of the world-famous Corn Palace, a tourist trap that advertises from 100 miles away. It is a local rec center that is decorated entirely with corn and corncobs. It’s… well, it’s impressive. The corn is made into murals.

From there, we tested out the car’s long-range high-speed capability as we crossed hours of prarie land to get to Badlands National Park. It reminded me of Tatooine from Star Wars, or similar alien planet. Tonight we’re in the equally fun tourist trap town of Wall, home of Wall Drug, which, they claim, has signs for it in Kenya. Think South of the Border, but in the Dakotas.

Faye
We saw several dozen highway signs advertising the Corn Palace, my favorite being one about “Ear-chitecture.” Like corn mazes, an artist designs a new theme every year for the building, then it’s put together with ears of corn cut in half and glued on to the facade, with other grains and such filling in as needed. They do great work!

Throughout Illinois, Iowa and South Dakota we passed signs for numerous American landmarks. Even though we are not on a deadline, we decided we didn’t have time to see: Ronald Reagan’s college, Herbert Hoover’s homestead and museum, John Wayne’s birthplace, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home or souvenirs from “Dances With Wolves”. Most disappointing to Joe, I’m sure, is that we not only passed up “Reptile Gardens” with its very large collection, but also The Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, one of his favorite spots. Sorry Joe.