We were loaded and ready to head north to South and North Dakota on a girls adventure on Tuesday, June 25.
The Dakotas were two of the three states that I had not yet visited, so I was excited. We made a brief stop to sleep before heading into South Dakota on Wednesday. We were appalled by how much flooding there still was throughout northern Missouri and Iowa.
Our first stop was the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.
The entire outside of the building gets new designs every year based on a new theme.
All of the art work is made out of corn and a few other grains.
Inside the building are more mosaics made of corn,
plus a huge gift store dedicated to corn. We of course, bought some corn products! We explored downtown Mitchell
before heading on to Corsica. Along the way, we stopped in for some local cheese at Dimock Cheese store.
We also drove down memory lane for Margaret, where she showed Chris and I all her old stomping grounds since this is where she grew up. We got to go visit her brother (the Mayor of Corsica)
and tour his garden, which was lovely.
We also had dinner with more of her family.
After a good nights sleep, we were once back on the road heading to North Dakota. On the way we made one more stop in South Dakota at Wall Drug,
which got its start offering free water to weary travelers. Today, this small drug store has turned into a whole community of shops with souvenirs and restaurants.
I had a buffalo burger and of course, bought some souvenirs.
I think Chris and I have been blown away by the vastness of South and North Dakota. I knew they were large states but they are massive, and not highly populated. We have driven almost 1500 miles in just three days. We have seen pronghorns (antelopes), buffalo, wild turkey, deer, and a white pelican on the drive. We saw field upon field of yellow.
It turns out it is an introduced species called yellow sweet clover Melilotus officinalis.
Bee hives were everywhere, since this supposedly produces excellent honey.
Next adventures--North Dakota!