Sioux City-Days Inn

Today we departed early from Chicago...a fine and sunny Chicago!...for Iowa. Pretty much a day of transition with a few surprises. The country side is wonderful to look at as it is full of corn and soy bean fields. We stopped mid morning in a place called Galena. Galena is like a time warp ...a better description is that it looks like a movie set with fake looking buildings but it is a real town. The historical significance is that the ...

... across South Dakota to our destination for the night, the North Sioux City KOA Kampground. On the way, Maggie pointed out that we were going right by the famous Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. It's listed in the book 1000 Places To See Before You Die. So of course, we had to stop. The local corn farmers have been decorating this with corn cobs and corn husks after the harvest each year since 1892.

Total Miles: 1537 Total Hours In The Car: 28 Hours, 15 Minutes Total States: 5 Quote Of The Day: "I love the smell of asphalt in the morning" Bob Travis Tourist Activities: Badlands National Park SD, Wall Drug, Wall SD, Corn Palace Mitchell SD Cultural Differences ...

... I wasn't that impressed. And I walked out of the Mall of America empty handed. Yes, I didn't buy one thing. (Chris is now happy, knowing our bank account is safe.) Sioux City had a great little theatre. Actually, it wasn't little at all, but it was very quaint. Here is a picture of our dressing room. It was a great, full crowd. You could tell they really enjoyed the show. Too bad, the critique who was also there did not...

... Dakota, finally stopping in Mitchell, S.D. at the Corn Palace. The only one in the world decorated entirely with corn! They have been re-doing it every year for over 115 years with a different theme each year. 2007: Salute to Rodeo. Needless to say, it was A-MAIZE-ING. At a cross roads, we had to decide whether to go through southern Minnesota or Iowa or some combination to try to reach Chicago. Paul had not been to either state (neither had Abby). We thought ...

... After that we drove on up I-29 North towards Sioux City through more water-logged fields which seemed odd as it was blazing sun at 86F. At one point the highway went down to one lane as the other lane was pure mud. Apparantly St Louis may now be in danger of some flooding. Usual stop at McDonalds for a late lunch - there are lots of them, they are very cheap and the food is ok. I had a chicken wrap and the best strawberry ...

... zone so we had to go back through security. Of course this was after our bags were checked and Jim found out that the bottles he was carrying from the duty free store in Lima could no longer go as carry on. He finally ended up giving it away, but was able to save a unique bottle once it was empty. Fortunately, we had plenty of time between flights to get all that sorted out. We even had time to get a bite to eat. Then it was on to ...

... appreciated the help.<br><br><br><br> Brian took us to the airport where we met the Kings. After checking in we all had lunch together...Jim, Carol, Chad, Todd, Joyce, Brian, and me. After lunch the boys took off and we headed to security. Our plane was a little late leaving, but nothing major.<br><br> <br>

... get foreign workers who come over for the summer and then go back home. It reminded me of working in Glacier Park. I guess Wall Drug is in many ways similar to Glacier Park. Well, I'll have to think about that one. We picked up a few necessities and got on the road. <br>Then what? We drove all frigging day again, with a couple short stops to break it up. South Dakota is really huge!! I must say that Allison suggested very early on that we take back roads whenever we ...

... Nothing much else of interest for the rest of the day, just more driving. We're staying in Dakota Dunes, SD tonight. This town is right on the border with Iowa and Nebraska. We actually ate dinner in Sioux City, IA (just 3 miles down the road) and then headed over the Missouri River to South Sioux City, NE, where we spent about 10 minutes driving around. Now Emily can add Nebraska to her list of states visited.