SUNDAY, 3 JUNE 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE, SOME BIG STONE HEADS!

Today there will not be as many miles to travel. First stop was Wall South Dakota to visit Wall Drug. Wall is another small town, and back in the early '30's a man and his wife, Ted and Dorothy Hustead, bought the town pharmacy and moved there. Business was slow, and Dorothy came up with the idea of posting signs on the highway offering free ice water. It worked and today Wall Drug is a multi million dollar business. 

Looking at the map I saw we would be going by Badlands National Park. Since I bought an annual National Parks Pass in St Louis when we visited the arch we decided to check it out. It was unique and different and just another place that makes me wonder at the creation of this earth by Heavenly Father.

On to Keystone and Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse is a monstrous stone carving planned to be Chief Crazy Horse riding his horse. After 64 years they have managed to finish his face. It reminds us of Gaudi's cathedral, Sagrad Familia, in Barcelona. I don't think it will ever get finished.

SATURDAY, 2 JUNE 2012

ONTO THE DAKOTAS

Today is the longest day of driving, across North Dakota. The people of North Dakota seem to like BIG metal and concrete sculptures. First stop, world’s largest buffalo in Jamestown, North Dakota. It is associated with Frontierland, which contains replicas of old time stores.

Next stop, the LDS temple in Bismarck.

After leaving Bismarck Jim saw a giant Holstein cow on the hillside.

The highlight of the day was the Enchanted Highway. A retired school teacher/principle from the small town of Regent decided to create large metal sculptures and place them along a 32 mile stretch of road from I-90 to Regent in hopes of luring more people through Regent who would stop and boost the town’s economy. We got there during early sunset, so the light was great for Jim’s pictures. The sculptures were very entertaining.

Geese in Flight, the largest metal sculpture

Deer Crossing

Pheasant Family

Teddy Roosevelt

Towns with motels are few and far between in the plains regions of the Dakotas. Regent had no motels, so we decided to drive 120 miles beyond to the town of Faith, South Dakota. 

As we entered South Dakota Jim noticed an empty coal train coming toward us, so we drove back to the overpass and watched him go by.

this is actually the rear of the train

Suppertime was upon us, but there were no signs of places to eat. The small town of Lemmon was a welcome relief as we found a few places to eat. We chose a steakhouse that seemed to be popular, but we were very skeptical about what quality of food we would get. Much to our surprise my fingersteaks were very tasty and tender, as was Jim’s rib steak. The motel in Faith was, well, it had a bed to rest our weary head, but the pillows were almost non existent. The Doubletree for two nights spoiled us!

FRIDAY, 1 JUNE 2012

A DAY IN THE TWIN CITIES AND THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI

Seven AM arrived all too soon, but it brought some nice photo ops at Mounds Park.

St. Paul Minnesota skyline

capitol

Mississippi River

sacred Indian mound

Wabasha Bridge in St. Paul provided some more nice views.

St. Paul, Minnesota

Raspberry Island

grain barges

On the way to Minneapolis we stopped to see St. Paul's Cathedral. It is absolutely beautiful.

and the capitol

Next was, Stone Arch Bridge, in downtown Minneapolis. There is a small dam and several locks.

At 1400 we took a short cruise up the Mississippi. It was supposed to go downstream, but the river level was high from recent rains, and the boat couldn’t navigate under a nearby railroad bridge, so we went upstream, through an industrial area.

Minneapolis, Minnesota skyline

After the cruise we went to the Mall of America. The size of it is impressive. It’s neat for the locals to have a year round amusement park inside.