What a day, what a day, what a day! Where do I begin ...
This morning we left Sturgis early because we had a 300 plus mile drive to Mitchell and we wanted to arrive early enough to finally see the Corn Palace. Thom started out as the first driver and I took over the second leg, which would take us to Philip, SD. The GPS fell off the window again but we "kinda" knew where we were going. We "thought" we had to take the Wall Drug exit so we did. Unfortunately, that was not the right exit. We pulled over and Thom fixed the GPS and I took the wheel. It was decided that we would get back on I-90 and take the next exit to Philip. Well, this is where the day gets a bit challenging!
At this point, I need to say, I should have listened to my husband when he said to turn right and I said I could go left and make the turn, to put us through the parking lot of an EconoLodge Hotel. Well, the photos below will show you why I should have listened to Thom!
Oh hell no! What have I gotten us in to? It looked like quite a jam!
Ut-oh! I did not hit the parked tour bus that was broken down!
I came very close though!
We very calmy unhooked the Jeep and then Thom backed the motorhome with such precision while I directed him, stopping him in time not to hit the second floor balcony railing! OMG, he did a great job getting us out of there. I guess, yet again, we had a roadblock that was just meant to be!
Our goal for the morning was to make it to Philip, SD, a town our son Phil had told us about. We didn't tell him we were going to go there, as we wanted to surprise him! This took us off I-90 and onto a really nice country road, again to a place we would never have seen had we not gotten off the normal path.
When we sent Phil a photo of where we were, he couldn't believe we went! He then asked if this was a "three traffic light" kind of place. We laughed! This small town, off US 14, has no traffic lights, but rather a few 4-way stops! Very, very rural with nice, easy to drive with little to no traffic roads. Unfortunately, we had to get back to I-90 eventually.
The drive on I-90 east today was probably one of the hardest drives I have ever done. The wind was a factor in itself but then you add two-way traffic with pylons in the center to keep east and west traffic separate for 15 miles straight and it is even tougher! The shoulders were not accessible or you could run yourself into another type of pylon they had installed there. It was truly a tough drive but it had to be done. To be perfectly honest, I was so afraid of the wind blowing us off course and into the west bound traffic that I had a death grip on that steering wheel; I had my forearms locked and prayed silently a lot, especially when an oncoming 18-wheeler would come past us! Idaho has a wind problem of their own, but this South Dakota wind was a force to be reckoned with! At least, as far as we know as of this blog post, we have not lost anything on the roof!
And speaking of the wind in South Dakota, early this morning, between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., while parked in Sturgis, the wind was coming through the area so harsh it was making the motorhome rock! You could hear the swirling of the wind and the slide covers flapping so hard. I was afraid we would wake up and find them damaged but thank goodness they were okay. We also thought the wind would knock us off the jacks! The temperature also dropped and with the wind chill factor this morning Thom had to put on long pants and a jacket for the first time in a long time. It was a biting cold wind, which we were glad to escape! Oh how you got to love Mother Nature!
We arrived at Mitchell around 5:30 p.m., a few hours later than we had hoped. We lost an hour due to now being in CTS and now find ourselves at 9:45 p.m. in the dark, something we have not seen this early in quite a while. We were, however, able to make it to the Corn Palace. We went through Mitchell in 2013 but we got in so late we didn't have the inclination to unhook and check out the world's only Corn Palace. We can now say we are glad we did so this trip! How unique to see the corn artistry; however, the palace won't be truly changed for 2015 until the end of July. We truly appreciate the suggestions from several of our friends to make sure we took it in.
For those who want to learn more:
Inside the palace there are what appear to be paintings but they are all made from corn! It is truly a remarkable sight!
All made from corn!
Zoom in the photo. The photo to the right is the blueprint of the artist's design and the photo to the left is how it turned out!
Tomorrow we head to Forest City, Iowa for the Grand National Rally (GNR)! We have received a few phone calls about the parking situation there and hope it has cleared by the time we officially check in on Monday afternoon! Apparently, due to the weather, the grounds have turned to mud and they had to park the early arrivals in the local school/college parking lots with no water, no power, and it has been hot, hot, hot!
Until next blog ...
Glad you enjoyed your visit to the Corn Palace. A very unique basketball venue.
ReplyDelete