Headed Back to Rapid City

After leaving the kids in Wisconsin we headed back to South Dakota via Minnesota. Our stop in Minnesota was a KOA Kampground between Austin and Albert Lea. Part of our game plan was to stop at the Hormel SPAM Museum, however, we misjudged the dates and we arrived on one of their closed days. Minnesota was just an overnighter on our way to Mitchell South Dakota. We spent three days in Mitchell so we could visit several of their attraction. 

Mitchell South Dakota is most famous for the only Corn Palace in the world. The Corn Palace was first built in 1892 after Sioux Falls went bankrupt trying to built theirs. The outside of the palace was decorated with corn and other grain plants. Each year a new theme was chosen, and off they went.

After the theme was decided an artist would create concept drawings, they would be drawn on roofing paper hung on the building exterior, and craftsmen would mount the corn cobs according to the drawing. 12 shades of corn are used in the murals. One of the few times the theme was not changed was during WWII, all food was supporting the war effort. For more info: https://cornpalace.com/.

The next day we took a drive to the Prehistoric Indian Village Site. This museum is also an archaeological dig site of Native American villages. The first building tells the story of how man migrated to North America, and the building of tribal communities. The archaeological dig site is protected within a structure but is not being actively worked due to the COVID19 pandemic. There are story boards and artifacts on display as well.

The dig site is the communal area between all the living dwellings. For more information you can go online at: https://www.mitchellindianvillage.org.

There is a man and his wife that live in Mitchell and restore Mustangs. His business (Telstar) has been at the same location for 54 years. All the cars are their personal collection, some for everyday use, others for show, and some for sale. It's funny, all my pictures are some of the other cars.

The red car he designed and built himself. It is made from a lot of different cars, and is a one of a kind. The green '57 T-bird is for sale. This is a port hole hard top (not shown in picture) that was a full restoration. The shop owner still has his 1966 Ford Ranchero. Their collection isn't big and can be viewed in about 40 minutes on a guided tour.

We drove back home and I decided I was hitting the pool for some cooling down since the temperature was over 90 degrees with 75 to 80 percent humidity. We relaxed in preparation for our drive to Rapid City.

Breezy Hill WI 2020

So much has changed since our last stay two years ago. We were on the outskirts of the campground near an empty field, now our old site is almost centered in the back section of sites, which a good portion are now seasonal. As for activities, they have not changed. We ordered in a bin of wood for cooking and camp fires. I sorted the wood, stored it under the trailer in case of rain (which it did), and split some for kindling. We didn't use all the wood so we gave it to a friend that showed up before we left.

DISCLAIMER: I will not be posting pictures of our son's family, so you need to believe we have a son who is married with children.

Our granddaughter wanted a camping birthday this year, so our son and his wife rented one of the cabins for a part of their stay, and celebrate their daughter's birthday.

Our site this year was close to the center of all the fun, and across from the pool. This year the weather was much warmer than two years ago so the grand kids spent some time in the pool, and the swimming pond. If our grand daughter wasn't swimming, she was jumping on the blow up pillow or swinging, grandson and mom hung around the trailer with the grandparents, dad went to the fishing ponds in search of the monster bass. 

When we were all together we feasted on all the meat available in the county. We ate brats of all flavors, steak from many cows, and pig galore, not much in the area of vegetables, but there was some fruit. One night we actually had pizza; one was pepperoni, the other was lasagna. One morning I cooked chorizo bacon Carol found at one of the stores here, and it was a hit with everyone. Carol and I both feel the blah from so much meat, no veggie diet. We didn't even go for ice cream this year.

This year Breezy Hill celebrated Christmas in July. They encouraged each site to decorate for the weekend we celebrated Christmas. People were told to be on the look out for Santa (as seen pulled by a tractor). Saturday evening all the folks on the hay rides were driven through the sites, then had the opportunity to vote for their favorite decorated site. The winning site received a free night of camping. Our son, granddaughter, and I went on the hay ride and saw some pretty dressed up sites. 

Some of our guests for your enjoyment. The caterpillar will turn into a Whited-marked tussock moth. The spider is a yellow sac spider, not a big threat. Not much to say about the squirrel and grasshopper. 

It was a very enjoyable time with the kids and grand kids. We are already planning for next year, but for now it is off to Austin Minnesota.

Fort McCoy Wisconsin

The drive from Jackson Minnesota to Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin was a bit windy and a tiny bit of rain, nothing serious. Ft. McCoy was another overnight stay for us. Don't believe Garmin regarding which gate to enter in, the base has made some changes, closing the original gate to the campground. The new access is more indirect, just follow the signs. Having pre-paid we did not need to stop at the office for check in, we just went to our assigned site. Once we settled in I learned that non military can also use this campground. The campground was divided into areas, and further divided into loops. Most of the sites are back in, and fairly easy to get into. Our site was like backing into a forest cave, lots of shade, 50 amp electric, water, sewer, and cable TV. Carol and I would definitely stay again for a longer period. For children and adults there is miniature golf and a playground. Pets are definitely welcome at this campground, and there are a lot of areas to walk your dog. 

From Ft. McCoy it's a 2 hour drive to Fon Du Lac Wisconsin for a week with the grand kids and their parents, and a week to recuperate.

Jackson Minnesota

I survived the "Rip VanWinkle" effect; so let's try to catch up. 

We did make it to Jackson Minnesota, where we stayed at a working farm that is part of Harvest Host. Usually most of the Harvest Host locations are dry camping (no water, electricity, or sewer), this one had a 50 amp electrical receptacle available... yes we paid the $10.00 donation for the electrical because it was muggy and very warm. The farm is a 2500 acre farm producing corn and soybeans... and fresh eggs from chickens that roam free. For a donation they will gladly provide a dozen or so. We got a dozen ourselves, and guess you could call a 12 pack of color. The colors ranged from white, green, and brown. The host also provided flowers from her garden and a small loaf of sourdough bread. Like I said earlier, we were lucky to get the 50A receptacle. The silos next to us are only half of the farm's storage. The owners were very hospitable, allowing us and another couple to roam their farm. Behind where we parked there is a vegetable garden and out buildings. The other side of the farm is the home for the chickens at bedtime. Between our rig and the chicken house is the opportunity to play corn hole, or sip/drink wine. A little rain, good rest, and on to the next stop.

4th of July

We made it to Kennabec before the rains set in... and boy did the rains set in! The first site looked to be a nice site until after the evening down pour. The rain sounded like it was dropping Volkswagens on us, with a mixture of hail and 60 mph wind gusts. The next morning I looked out to see the damage, and I knew I should have put the pontoons on the trailer the night before.

 

The campground owners were kind enough to let

us move to higher ground. We pushed the barge to shore and moved to a site up front in the same row, with a nicer view. This is a KOA campground recovering from a massive flood that took out all their tent sites, damaged buildings, washed away all their site materials. They found their washed away cabin over a mile downstream from the campground. We didn't go looking for fireworks, they came to us, in the form of residents near by firing them off.  

We did venture out to a couple of places in the area. We tried to visit the "Sioux Museum and Cultural Center, but it was closed for the 4th of July weekend, who da thunk? We were determined that the day would be a success, and it was, we visited the "Destiny Monument".

The idea of the monument is to echo the interaction between the earth, sky , and people. This monument can be seen at the Chamberlain rest stop Tourist Information Center in South Dakota. The information center talks of the Lewis and Clark expedition through this portion of the territory.

This bridge is the Lewis and Clark Memorial Bridge across the Missouri River. The expedition traveled up and down the river, sometimes having to carry their boats around rough water. At one point while the team spent many days working their way around a large bend in the river, I believe Lewis walked 2,000 yards across the bend to their agreed camp. Anyway, we left here and went home to pack up, and head for Minnesota.

Finally Heading East

The doctor believes that we need to again support the manufacturers of blood pressure medication. Trust me when I say neither Carol or I wanted to go back on meds., we just weren't doing a good job the natural way, but we are improving.

We had a long drive to our next stop in Murdo South Dakota... brace yourself, it was a 130 mile drive. We are learning to adapt to hearty winds crossing some of these plains states. Anyway, our goal was to stay at the "Pioneer Car Show Museum"  http://www.pioneerautoshow.com. We are members of a group called "Harvest Hosts", which has various places like working farms, wineries, and museums that invite RVers to stay for a night or two at their property. In turn the RVers usually will spend some money in the establishments. The Pioneer Car Museum is one of these such establishments. This place is filled with all kinds of stuff besides cars.

Below is one of the unusual cars. For you electric car lovers, these are just two of the options available.

 This wood car took the owner four years to build. It has 2 Cadillac motors in it. 

Wood Car

Waiting for Ice Cream?

How about these characters...  

Did I Miss my Decade? 

You can find all kinds stuck in the past around this place. Some of the cars and items can be purchased if you are so inclined to take home a bit of trivia. There are 40 + buildings to go through, a lot are them are small and take no time to see. This place has you winter sports fans covered too. 

Here you go with the latest models in snowmobiles, guaranteed to get exceptional mileage in the snow. Our journey will continue stopping at Kennabec South Dakota for the 4th of July. 

Playing Tourist Again

Today was a fantastic day, the weather was sunny, upper 70's to low 80's, with a gentle breeze. We took a drive to Keystone to visit the National Presidential Wax Museum (https://www.presidentialwaxmuseum.com). It was started by a husband and wife. The wife came from a family creating wax figures for generations. Originally Katherine wanted to be a dancer, but after Mae West commented on the wax likeness of herself, Katherine dedicated her life to wax. Katherine retired from making wax figure in 1970.

Who should be president? a women, or someone concerned about health.

 

After the museum we stopped for lunch at a local eatery, then headed back home. However, on our way home we stopped at a placed called "Cosmos". It is one of those places where odd things occur to humans and non-human objects. You will show you water can run uphill. More info at: https://www.cosmosmysteryarea.com/.

Now we drove home after the short stop.

The rest of our days in Rapid City/Box Elder days were spent waiting for rain or doctor appointments...there was more rain than doctor visits.