Corn is A..Maizing...

We had a short driving day today so we weren't in a hurry to get started.  We got loaded up and got back on the interstate as we wanted to go into Nebraska and have a look at Omaha before heading on to our destination today which is Mitchell, South Dakota. 

We head north after our trip through downtown Omaha and we again see nothing but endless corn fields for miles and miles but also bikers coming back from Sturgis which is the big bike week there this week.  We saw a group of Spyder drivers today too Dave.  Soon into our trip we get a tire warning light and of course have to drive miles to an exit that said there was a gas station but we never found it.  We went back to the expressway and went to the next exit where we were able to determine that the driver's side tire was about 8 lbs low on air.  We filled it, made a pit stop and got back to endless miles of corn fields.  When we get to Sioux City we were going to find a memorial to a plane crash that happened there in 1989 but we never did find it so we went on to Sioux Falls, SD. We stopped at the Welcome Center in South Dakota and found some brochures on things to see on our way and we  decided we would go see the memorial for the USS South Dakota.  This was very nice and the memorial had an actual size outline of the ship with the bow anchor and the propeller complete with guns.    After leaving there we went to Falls Park to see the falls.  Very nice park and the falls were pretty but the smell of nasty, dirty water was everywhere so we made it a short visit and then drove through the area where the John Morrell where they process meat and sausage.  Old stockyards that were used years ago which were falling apart but nonetheless interesting to see.

More corn..but then it is the cornhusker state...

USS South Dakota Memorial

This name always made us laugh...Minnehaha

Sioux Falls, SD

Stockyards across from the meat plant.

After all the stops we were starving but decided we were almost in Mitchell and we would wait to get there to eat.  After two days of nothing but corn and bikers it was a welcome thing to have a steak for dinner and relax.  Then we went to none other than the Corn Palace!  Murals and all kinds of art done in corn cobs, corn husks or just corn.  I had no idea there was this much corn in the world let alone just this area of our country!  I have to say this was an interesting place and we had a good time looking at everything.  We also found many other goofy things to photograph and we making Debbie turn around and go back so we could take pictures of the Sinclair dinosaur because we haven't seen a Sinclair gas station in years and my dad used to work there.  After all the picture taking we decided we needed a Dairy Queen before settling into our room for the night.  We enjoyed it but came out to find that someone had hit the van and put a nice dent and scratch in the passenger side rear..bummer.  It's not horrible but put a damper on the day.  We do have a wonderful room at the Hampton with so much space tonight.  I want to finish this up and get a shower and head to bed.  Lots to see tomorrow as we will arrive at Rushmore tomorrow for the night.

My dad and my uncle both worked for Sinclair.

Towel art in our hotel bathroom and we aren't even on a cruise ship!

Clydesdales and Corn

We had such a fun day today.  We got up and had breakfast then headed to our tour at Warm Springs Ranch in Boonville, Missouri which is the breeding facility for the Budweiser Clydesdales.  It was very informative and fun.  We got to see the baby whose name is "Hope".  She was the one in the Superbowl commercial and we were told she was only 3 days old when they filmed her for the commercial.  After learning more than I ever really thought I needed to know about their history and care (BTW Dave, they are originally from Scotland) and the tour finished, we took a bunch of pictures and headed on our way towards Omaha/Council Bluffs which is our next stop for the day.

Beautiful Warm Springs Ranch

They are just huge horses.

 



 

 



 

 

A few exits down we saw a sign for Russell Stover Outlet and decided to do a walk through.  When we were pulling into the parking lot which was next to a huge truck stop gas station, we saw one of Taylor Swift's road trucks.  This will be of interest to Lindsay and Paige...maybe.

 

 

Taylor Swift's Tour Truck

So we are back on the road and heading towards Kansas City which is our next actual change of interestates which will send us toward Omaha/Council Bluff which is our next stop for the night.  Somehow between "Bitchin Bertha" Debbie's new huge GPS/Navigation system and Kay's GPS on her phone, Debbie misses the exit and we are now in the ghetto in Kansas City and hopelessly going in circles.  Dead ends, rivers and railroad tracks later we finally make our way back to the interstate and then almost get into an accident by some guy that tried to run us over!  How we missed him I don't know but we did.  We passed the stadium for the Kansas City Royals too.  

Kansas City Royals Stadium

This is where we went wrong....

Then we were trapped in endless dead ends in a very scary part of town.

Working our way out

Yay, back to the interstate

 

 

Driving through Missouri and now Iowa, I have never seen so much corn in my entire life.  This is also the flattest land so you can see for miles and miles and as far as you can see it is nothing but farms with corn!  We eventually arrived at our hotel with a beautiful view of the Missouri River (the description in our room and the barge picture below was taken from our hotel window) and it was cramped but we made do.  It was attached to the Ameristar Casino so Debbie and I took off to there while Kay went for a walk along a bike path where she met a family of deer that she photographed on her phone.  We met for dinner about an hour later and I had left the casino up by $2.65!  Woohoo!   By the time we finished, we were all done in and ready to go to bed. 

 

Some sort of bridge sculptures

Then the teapot water tower

As described in our brochure..the scenic view of the Missouri River...



 

Away we go!

Today started  out well.  Debbie and I got up and had coffee, packed the van and left.  We texted Kay and all woot, woots were exchanged and things appeared to be in order.  Soon we had a text from Kay stating that she was being encroached upon by the guy in the seat next to her and she was still in Greenville..not good.  We told her to give him a 10 yard encroachment penalty.  Next she said Atlanta had them on a ground hold because of weather and they were sending them back to the gate.  Oh no!  At that same time Debbie and I started into a terrible storm as we crossed into Missouri.  We could barely see so we decided to pull over and get out of this mess.  We found a little casino on the Mississippi River in Caruthersville, MO to wait it out.  It actually turned out to be a cute little place that was fun although not profitable.  We stayed in touch with Lady Kay  and found that she finally got out of Greenville and was rerouted on another flight to St. Louis that was to arrive around 2 instead of her original 12:16 time.  Debbie and I were starving by this time and got off the expressway and found a cute bakery-deli  combo place and had a great sandwich and a drink.  The placed smelled devine too and we had to resist buying all the sweets they had in their case but we did buy some pie for Kay!   We hear from Kay during this time that she is in St. Louis but her luggage did not make it on the flight.  It is on the next flight from Atlanta that will now land at 4:16 PM.  Debbie and I stop to buy a lottery ticket for tonight’s drawing and then we drive to the airport.  We have been waiting in the cell phone lot.  Kay just called and said the flight has landed and she would call when she had the bag in hand.  We still have 100 miles further to drive today.  We are heading to get her now and I will finish this tonight when we get to the hotel. 

We stopped at a place called Nostalgiaville on the way to the hotel which was a cute place filled with 50’s memorabilia which was a really cute place.  Debbie bought a salt and pepper shaker that was a Yogi and the Park Ranger set which was really cute.  We came on the hotel only to find we did not have the room we requested.  Then we get to the room and it did not have a sofabed and the room was still dirty.  After much ado they gave us another room and we were finally able to drop our things and head to the Bennigan’s next door for dinner.  We enjoyed dinner and now we are back in the room preparing for bed.  We need to be up early tomorrow.  We have a tour at Warm Springs Ranch which is the breeding facility for the Budweiser Clydesdales.

It is raining so hard....

Waiting in the cell phone lot for Kay at St. Louis Airport

This was a really cute place.

If you are ready to ride say woot, woot.

Did You Know?

There are more people hurt by bison than by bears each year in Yellowstone. Park regulations state that visitors must stay at least 25 yards away from bison or elk and 100 yards away from bears.


This message was posted on the Yellowstone website.  They can trust that I will be staying more than 100 yards away from all wildlife and inside the car!  We are ready to go!  Woot, woot.



We forgot to bring a tape measure so how will we know?