The Corn Palace | Mitchell, South Dakota

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota:  First, a Big Thank You to my Sister-in-Law, Kris, for calling me last night from the Jimmy Buffett concert at the Rose Garden, during my favorite song! She held the phone out, so I could hear!

After a night filled with dreams of margaritas, tropical beaches and lost shakers of salt, I was gently shaken back to reality and realized we had a vibrating dog on the bed between us. The same dog, who a few days ago was going to save me from a wild coyote, had silently climbed up onto our bed and was trembling and scared to death because of a thunder and lightning storm raging outside. Some hunting dog Snickers would have been! I will admit, it was one doozy of a storm. Not much rain - just a lot of noise and lightning. No wonder the little guy was trembling.

No need to get up - there was no way the dog was going outside! Bladder be damned! After about thirty minutes, the storm calmed a bit, so we started moving around. I had to be very careful as I walked - I had a Beagle attached to my ankles! When the storm had passed, DT went out to wash the wind screen - only then did Snickers go outside.

So, we had a late start this morning. It did give me a chance to make a nice breakfast - Filipino style - fried rice with egg, made with rice leftover from dinner last night. We had one stop to make on our way out of town - The Corn Palace. Yes - it is a Palace made from corn. Built in 1886 to promote and showcase South Dakota agricultural products, the Corn Palace is a convention hall, theater and sports arena. The facade is redesigned and redecorated every year. A photo (or painting) or every year is on display inside the Palace. On the photo for year 1906, there are what appear to be swastikas. There is a sign attached to this photo stating "This is not a swastika - it is an Indian Good Luck symbol". (This is true.) We really enjoyed The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota and recommend a visit - I mean, seriously, who thinks of this stuff?

The Corn Palace


Detail of the building materials. Is this the Worlds Largest Birdfeeder?


A mural inside The Palace

As we left Mitchell, heading east on I-90, the thunder and lightning returned - this time even more dramatic than earlier. We rode down the freeway with a shaking coyote-killer between my feet. We continued down the road, swaying in the wind, the sky lighting up with flashes and thunder crashing around us, until we entered Minnesota. Just inside the state, there is a Visitor Center with possibly the friendliest, helpful and knowledgeable staff to ever woman a booth. Many roads are now closed in Minnesota. Not sure why, but since road construction seems to employee half the population of the middle-states, probably road construction??!! We headed toward The Twin Cities, following a series of roads which go either north-south or east-west (there seem to be few roads with curves).
 
Our second stop was to Pipestone National Monument (gosh, haven't we visited a National Park or National Monument nearly every day?) in Pipestone, Minnesota. A sacred Indian site, pipestone has been quarried here for centuries. Native Americans make peace pipes (and other carved works of art) from the pipestone. The monument offers a nice visitor center and a nature walk to a waterfall, but we confess to not taking the hike - though barely noon, it was dark. It was pouring and The Beagle was in Terrified-Mode from the thunder claps.

We continued on our way... until we were driving through Walnut Grove. Hmmm... Walnut Grove, why do I know Walnut Grove?? Ding-Dong! Little House on the Prairie! Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in Walnut Grove!  We toured through the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and did a swing through the gift shop. The museum has a quilt make by LIW and her daughter on display - it is very nice - and also many, many family photos and mementos. They have recreated the one-room school LIW taught in and I swear, Lisa's bathroom is larger! Six student desks with a pot-bellied stove in the center. The teacher has a desk and blackboard in the front. The shop "Pa" owned is now a private home.
 
The rest of the afternoon was spent driving, east and then north, east and then north, until we found ourselves in the outskirts of The Twin Cities. We are at a campground with full hook-ups, great cellular and Palm service, great satellite reception and a modem hookup. We could live here.
 
Not. It is still raining and cold, but no thunder!

RV Park: Town & Country (in Savage, Minnesota)