Day Three - Mitchell SD to Keystone SD

As I write this I can look up and see the unbelievable view of the north side of Mt Rushmore glowing in the rising sun. But I'm getting ahead of myself....

Wednesday started In Mitchell SD as a sad and rainy day but then turned spring blue as we drove west on I-90.

Our first side trip was the Badlands National Park where Victoria got shutter-happy.



God did some awesome work when he carved the Black Hills and set the forces of nature loose on them.



Of course, one cannot drive through Badlands National Park and not stop at Wall Drug in Wall SD.



Who knew that “Nickel Coffee” (5 cents) and “free ice water” would be the magic formula to draw people from all over the world to this drug store in the middle of nowhere?



We ended our day in the little historic town of Keystone SD. Buffalo burger, ice cream, a nice hike rounded out our day. We were back inside by sunset, before the mountain lions started their prowling, according to the locals.

We literally stayed in the shadow of Mount Rushmore at the K Bar S Lodge. We just could not have asked for a better view from our room.

Day Two - Moline IL to Mitchell SD

Hello northern Iowa, southern Minnesota and eastern South Dakota!

Did you know there are rest areas and then there are “modern” rest areas in Iowa?



You want the modern ones, trust me.

BTW, there is still snow in northern Iowa!



And yes, Minnesota IS the land of 10,000 lakes.

Eastern South Dakota kind of went on and on after a long day’s drive.

What is that interesting formation in the distance?

Who knew that in the middle of nowhere we would find a sculpture park along I-90? The behemoth bull’s head and a humongous hammer from Porter Sculpture Park are now forever etched in my memory.

After about 500 miles of driving Tuesday, we were intrigued enough to stop and see the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.



After that bit of excitement we found a comfy place to rest. We hit the treadmill and elliptical to counteract some of the sedentary hours we had spent sitting in the rental car, and capped the day off with a restful soak in the hot tub. Ahhh!

Day One - Xenia OH to Moline IL

Before we locked the door, we promised Samoa (the cat) that Darren would be there soon. She was grateful because she's really a people cat even though she doesn't like to admit it.

We loaded up the rental car and began our journey west. Our first stop was Oxford OH where we dropped off the van for Kayla to use during our trip.

Once we left Oxford it was a short drive into Indiana. Soon after crossing into Indiana we witnessed the beauty of this very spacious land of ours. Historical sites like Whitewater Canal and the little town of Metamora Indiana.



During our 400+ mile day of driving we experienced lots of rolling farmland across Indiana and Illinois. We called it quits in Moline IL. Not quite as far as we had hoped for the first day but far enough.