We really did work quite hard at avoiding toll roads in and around Chicago. And by and large, it worked pretty well. It took us a little longer to get to our meeting place with Jon and Emily, but we had plenty of time to spare and didn’t really mind driving through lots of towns along the way. After our dinner we decided to drive right through downtown (on the non-toll expressway) since after all, it was 8:30 at night and a Tuesday. How busy could it be? It wasn’t actually too bad – we just kept to our lane and let the other crazy drivers go around us. And of course I tried to document the drive – especially trying to catch the beautiful Chicago skyline in the fading light.
Here you go -

The Checkmarks of Chicago

The Inchworms of Chicago

The Candles of Chicago

The Candy Canes of Chicago

The Birds of Chicago.
Kinda gives you a whole new view of the city, doesn’t it!
Needless to say, I either need a better camera or a smoother road, or a perhaps both!

Today we drove out of Minnesota, and through most of Wisconsin.
It was a lovely drive -

but we were not alone.

Apart from our Mt. Rushmore, and Custer State Park touring (all very excellent and highly recommended!), we spent a little bit of time in downtown Rapid City. Some of that was taken up with some frustrating stops to government offices (both for us and for our buds), but we were struck with how lovely “center city” was. On most corners there are statues of the presidents (it was fun trying to identify them without actually stopping) or notable Native Americans, and the city landscaping was in full bloom.

It seemed that even the close to downtown industrial section was working to spruce up their appearance!

But as interesting as the area was, and regardless of how delightful we found the city, EAST was still calling our name.
Thursday morning we were on the road by 5AM, and while we enjoyed another lovely sunrise,

driving east in the early morning does involve just a little bit of sun glare.

But while the road pretty much looked like this

and this

or this

or this

or this

(honest, those pictures were NOT all taken within 10 minutes, they were spread out over several hours) we did get a make a couple of stops to break up the drive.
Like Wall Drug, in Wall, South Dakota – “America’s Favorite Roadside Attraction”.

(For my East Coast friends, think South of the Border done Mid-West style!)
We were there pretty darn early (remember that crack o’dawn departure? Wall Drug wasn’t even open when we arrived) so we didn’t see all of the fun, free, family attractions, but at least we can say we were there.
Our other main stop along the way was the Corn Palace, in Mitchell, SD. Also FREE, and very interesting. The decorations on the outside of the building are all made of corn or seeds or grasses and they are changed every year! Since 1892! These are last year’s murals, since this year’s corn crop isn’t in yet! They use specially grown colored corn and locally grown grasses/grains for these decorations and are currently working on redo-ing the grasses and other parts that are already available. This is truly a must see if you are driving along I-90 in South Dakota!

(The murals inside are also amazing and are both symbolic and honoring to the different artists that have designed the murals over the years. They are refreshed about every 10 years.)
We crossed the Missouri River for the first time (of course, there’s no getting around that if you’re driving across South Dakota!),

and enjoyed the scenic views from the Rest Area on the other side. This area is full of Lewis and Clark history – very interesting!


While even though the road stayed pretty much the same (and would have been perfect for me to have taken a turn driving except the wind was blowing about 30mph and even Gary was challenged to keep us going straight!), there are alway interesting things to see along the way.

The early morning sun on the newly harvested fields.

The beautiful grasses waving in the “breeze”.

Don’t you think this would be a hard way to stack hay rounds? How did they get that top one up there? Things we may never know.
As we approached Minnesota, the wheat/hay fields began to turn into corn fields -

But just what is THAT?


After a little Google research, it turns out that was the Porter Sculpture Park and while we didn’t stop, it certainly was fun to see along the way.
Never underestimate the value (and fun!) of looking out the window!
It was a long (straight) driving day for us – almost 400 miles, but we made it into Minnesota!

(who even had a rest stop right by the sign so I didn’t have to try and snap it on the fly!)
It was a good day of driving through the Heartland of America – what a beautiful and diverse country this is!
This weekend we’ll be visiting with friends outside of Minneapolis, then a quick stop to see some family (and a new great-neice) outside of Chicago and by this time next week we should be hugging these cuties -

(not to mention their Mom and Dad!)

The tires are turning – better get this posted!

We were back on the “big road” on Saturday, and even though the bright blue skies were just a memory, it still was a lovely drive!





And the good part was that those long ribbons of road led to South Dakota – a totally new state for us.

Back, oh, a lifetime ago, it seems, we had planned on working a SOWER project in Rapid City. Our plans were changed with Gary’s hospitalization, but we still wanted to spend at least a couple of days checking out the sights around Rapid City. And as an added bonus we’re hooking up with some good buddies that are going to be working that SOWER project in July. Today, after we worshipped at a friendly neighborhood church, we checked out The Journey’s Museum, which had been highly recommended to us.

It started with the dinosaurs,

explained all of the geology in the area

had some great displays about the Lakota Indians (which I failed to photograph ) and then moved on to the settlement of Rapid City itself.

It was a good day!

We’re still in boon docking mode (tonight we’re enjoying a nice quiet Cabela’s parking lot), but tomorrow we’ll be heading into a campground as we move into full-fledged tourist mode! It will feel very good to push out the slides and not worry about the length of my showers!

Mt. Rushmore and those Black Hills – here we come!

We had a great day today – combining some scenic non-interstate roads with a little history, some wonderful wildflowers and a little bit of good neighboring.
Here are some of those ribbons of road -





With all that road stretching ahead of us, it only made sense to break up our drive at Independence Rock -

During the middle of the 19th century, the rock was a prominent and well-known landmark on the Oregon, Mormon and California emigrant trails. Apparently it was about half way – and folks often reached it right around Independence Day – hence the name. We could see why it was a good stopping place – there was water, and lots and lots of grass for the livestock. We hiked around it and found many spots where the pioneers had left their mark on the rock.
Here are some shots from our little hike!





All along the way around the Rock there were beautiful wildflowers – I had to combine them into a collage so you wouldn’t tie up all your bandwidth with the pictures!

As we returned to the rig we noticed an older couple with a 5th wheel that seemed to be having some trouble with their awning. And even though Gary is not supposed to be doing ladder-type things (ahem), there is something in his nature that requires him to help. It wasn’t a permenant fix, but I think it will get them to civilization and a true repair!

Later we stopped to see if we (he) could help with a flat tire – but they seemed to have it under control.

I love this man.

The wildflowers along the way were also stunning.

And a couple of times Gary even pulled over so I could get a closer look!


Those seed “puffs” were about 3″ in diameter. So cool!

We’ve made it to Gillette, WY – just a stone’s throw from South Dakota, and it’s back to interstate driving (I-90 this time). It was delightful to take “the road less traveled” today, and it was especially nice that we did indeed get to stop and “smell the roses” along the way!

PS – there are a couple more shots from our day HERE just in case you’d like to see more!