Rapid City to Sioux Falls, SD

We headed out early Wednesday, about 7 a.m. and headed east…didn’t know where we would end up spending the night as we had a couple of stops to make.

First stop east was Wall, South Dakota about 55 miles from Rapid City.  It is the home of Wall Drug Store.  Started back in the 30s when Ted and Dorothy Hustead bought the drug store in Wall, SD. Ted gave the new venture 5 years to succeed. They struggled up to the last few months of the 5 year deadline.  One day Dorothy went to take a nap but soon gave up because of the noise of the jalopies on Route 16A.  As the history on their website says, “Well, now what is it that those travelers really want after driving across that hot prairie? They're thirsty. They want water. Ice cold water! Now we've got plenty of ice and water. Why don't we put up signs on the highway telling people to come here for free ice water?”.

And as they say, “the rest is history”.  They modeled their signs after the Burma Shave road signs and soon people were buying stuff after refreshing themselves with the free iced water. 

Walking through the many connecting stores	Coffee is still 5 cents
There is wonderful collection of western art	They are known for pecan rolls and free iced water

Wall Drug is interesting but basically a tourist area.  There are many, many shops all interconnected.  But it is one of those things you have to see as you tool down I-90.

After a while we came to Mitchell, SD and their famous Corn Palace.  Here is the description from their website.

“The original Corn Palace, called "The Corn Belt Exposition" was established in 1892. Early settlers displayed the fruits of their harvest on the building exterior in order to prove the fertility of South Dakota soil. The third and present building was completed for it first festival at the present location in 1921. The exterior decorations are completely stripped down and new murals are created each year. The theme is selected by the Corn Palace Festival Committee and murals are designed by a local artist.”

Yes, everything on the building is made from different colored corn cobs, the corn husks and some other grains. They draw the designs on tar paper and fill it in with the corn cobs following the abbreviated color terms.  Here’s a simple example.

Note LR=light red cob etc

Finished project

The workers were in the process of taking down the 2010 designs and had put up the tar paper with the designs for next year.

Admission is free and inside it is set up for basketball games.  There are beautiful corn cob designed scenes on the wall of the auditorium as well. The detail is extraordinary!!!

We carried on down the road and ended up in Sioux  Falls at a very nice Walmmmmmmart (sorry, bumpy road in southern Wisconsin). We had driven about 400 miles…long day. This was the first time we have spent the night at a Walmart in our new rig and it was really a good experience. I only had to move the two driver side slides out six inches and I  had full use of our whole rig.  I cooked dinner and used the computer and we didn’t feel cramped as there is about 2 feet of space inside even with the slides completely closed. We slept well…not even noisy right there on the major road…

Yesterday we drove through all of Minnesota and saw some beautiful scenery, including a peek at the Mississippi River.

We spent the night at Fox Hill RV Park, a Passport America park, in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  It is a very nice and quiet park we really liked. 

Well, we are off this morning a little later than usual, but we had to dust and vacuum and get ready for company….we get to see The Mossman's today…..hallelujah!!!

Remember, you are loved!