The Longest Leg

When we planned our trip west, we front-loaded the journey with long drives. Three 400+ mile drives in a row. The third of these from Andy's place in Central Wisconsin to eastern South Dakota, was the last of these. We drove over 430 miles through southern Wisconsin and Minnesota, and on into South Dakota.

I planned on driving half of the way. I didn't anticipate 30 mile an hour gusts of winds with 90 degree temperatures. Marty did most of the driving. I only drove about 100 miles whining all the way. The sun shone and the grasses rippled in the heavy winds. As Marty did most of the driving he chose when we stopped. It was getting time to stop and I saw a sign for the Spam Museum. Marty's sister, Amy brought Marty souvenirs from the Spam museum when she lived in Minnesota so it seemed like a good place to stop. Marty can tell you about the Spam Museum. The town that is home to the Spam Museum is Austin, Minnesota. What a lovely place! There is a main street with lots of flowers, shops and restaurants. It was a lovely break.

The Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota

We arrived in Palisades State Park near Sioux Falls, South Dakota very hot tired. Our camp site was on a cliff above a creek. There was an incline from the road where we parked the car and the campsite. The weather forecast was for hazardous thunderstorms. After the high winds, we decided to put everything into the van before we went to sleep. We went into town for some groceries and firewood. Garretson, South Dakota looked like a movie set.  We went to s small grocery store on Main Avenue across from a small storefront library and US Post Office. Parking was diagonally in front of the stores with no parking meters. The stores were small.  We had a pleasant supper and Marty made a nice fire. The rain came but not as much as the forecast warned.

Palisades State Park in eastern South Dakota.

Picturesque downtown Garretson, South Dakota

We got up and on the road early. We had breakfast with the ranchers of South Dakota. The parking lot was full of pickup trucks. I don't think that there is another driving option in South Dakota. Back on the road again. The winds were worse than the day before! Marty drove again.

The big changes in the landscape from Minnesota to South Dakota were the roadside attractions and billboards. The land wasn't as flat but there were all these billboards. Some of the attractions were the 1880 Town with Dances With Wolves Costumes, the Corn Palace, The Rushmore Borghum Story. Wall Drugs started with billboards 395 miles out. One favorite billboard was "Tacos so good, President Trump will build a wall around them."  We crossed the Missouri River, passed the South Dakota Hall of Fame and stopped in Oacama for a flea market,  to boot shop at Ray's Western Saddlery in and ended up in Al's Oasis. After a refreshing break we hit the road again with even worse winds.

We stopped in Kadoka, near the Badlands, to do a little laundry. There's a run down campground in town with an equally run down launrdromat. Only a few machines worked, luckily enough for us to get what we needed done. The place was "guarded" by a number of dogs, one really friendly and the others with reactions ranging from suspicion to "all bark, no bite" hostility. We made friends with the easy-going one, which Marty named Flerffins.

The Kadoka Laundromat

Laundromat 'guard dog' Flerffins was an expert at getting petted

We got back on the road with the Badlands not far ahead of us. On the way into the Badlands National Park we stopped at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. We watched an interesting movie about the silos in the plains. It was an interesting aside. We then drove into the Badlands National Park. We stopped at the first lookout and walked around in spite of the high winds. Truly a unique and spectacular place. 

Outside the Minuteman Museum

First view of the Badlands

It's a little windy, can you tell?