Marathon Roadtrip 2024, State #7

Leaving the state of South Dakota, we found ourselves in Wyoming. Our home for two nights was  Belle Fourche River Campground.

You can see we are near the Devils Tower National Monument. And that is why we are here. You may remember it from the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The 2-mile hike (can it be called a hike if it is paved and has benches for breaks?)

provided lots of information about the rock formation and Native American Spiritual practices.

Located near our campground was the Circle Wind Sculpture.

 Like the other tourists, (of which there were many) we were fascinated with the climbers.

The campground is ‘first come, first served.’ Knowing this, the planner (aka Captain) had us arriving shortly after the check-in time. When we checked in there were only about 1/2 dozen rigs, by sundown the 45 sites were full. Good planning, Captain! Although the  campground was full it was remarkably quiet, and due do to the lack of electricity, very dark. Yes, we slept very well.

Our evening entertainment consisted of walking around the campground conversing with other travelers and looking at the various configurations of camping styles and rigs.

                     

Although we didn’t have an opportunity to meet the occupants of these RVs, our camp hosts said they were from Europe and Australia. He explained Europeans and Australians often ship their rigs to the continent, usually starting in Canada or Alaska and traveling 5-6 months throughout the states, Mexico and beyond. These appeared to be young families traveling together.

If we became bored, we could drive up the road a bit and watch the prairie dogs.

With four straight nights of boondocking we were pleased to have an abundance of sun to power our solar panels, providing electricity for lights, refrigeration and other modern necessities. 

We are now headed to a campground with full hook-ups!

Marathon Roadtrip 2024, State #6

For us, South Dakota was a state we had to drive through to get to our destination. However,  I-90 from Sioux Falls to Rapid City did not lack for tempting road side attractions. A Corn Palace, an  original 1880 Pioneer Town, Sioux Museum and Culture Center, a tractor museum, a Safari Reptile Museum, a Dinosaur Park, a sculpture park and, of course, Wall Drug Store to name a few. 

With the exception of a tiny church on the Prairie,

      

Located near a rest area on I-90, the church conducts

services on Sunday Morning.

we opted to stop at a couple that allowed us to park overnight.

Our Harvest Host on Tuesday night was Porter Sculpture Park, just off I-90 and about a mile down a gravel road near Montrose. 

There were over 60 sculptures, as well as poetry distributed throughout the rustic park. Here are a few of our favorites.

    

     

Note Captain, is in the photo

More interesting than the attractions are the people we meet. Sculptor Wayne Porter was a welder by trade and for several years a sheep farmer. He has a degree in political science and history, but never took an art class. As his art around the welding shop drew cars and buses from the highway, he decided to focus his welding on what he loved. He bought farmland near I-90 and moved his sculptures. The park is surrounded by cows. 

Meet Inspector 122. He refuses to stay fenced in, but grazes along the fence.

He told us this was a lot better than sheep farming.

After a peaceful night we woke to a beautiful sunrise.

Spending the morning relaxing, we then moved on down the road.

Our host for Wednesday night was the famous Wall Drug Store. We didn’t know what to expect but were surprised to find it a large, city block size souvenir shop with a restaurant. 

We did not buy the 5-cent coffee but did take advantage of the free overnight parking.

As we continue westward we are looking forward to calmer winds. 

Marathon Road Trip 2024, State #5

 

Entering Minnesota at LaCrosse, we decided to take The Great River Road north toward Minneapolis. Ms. Garmin was not at all happy with that! She consistently encouraged us to take the fastest route. We did not give in and enjoyed a nice scenic drive. We will spare you hours of video and share a photo that pretty much describes the entire drive.

Arriving at our campground in Savage, MN (just outside Minneapolis) we were happy to find we could get the TV network that allowed us to watch the Texas A&M/Notre Dame football game, Well, that didn’t turn out the way we had hoped.

So close to the Mall of America, we had to check it out. OMG! We have no words to describe it! With over 500 retailers, 60 restaurants, an amusement park with 5 roller coasters, a climbing wall, a theater, an aquarium, an arcade and no doubt things of which we were not aware, there was no way to photograph the experience.

Can you find the climber on the wall? Hint: she is in the United States.

Let’s just say, capitalism consumerism is thriving. If ever in the area, we recommend you check it out. Be sure to take a dose of patience as it was very crowded and lots of children.  For us, it is one of those “been there, done that” and have no plans to return.

More to our liking was a 2.8 mile walk around Lake Harriet. It was impressive to see so many people walking and bicycling.

Interestingly, there was a separate path for bicyclists.

At the recommendation of our friends, Jeff and Geri, we stopped by Wooden Ship Brewing Company.

Even though we were by far the oldest patrons, we enjoyed being a part of a neighborhood gathering.

Being a holiday weekend, most campgrounds required a minimum of three nights stay, which gave us some down time to catch up with laundry and housekeeping chores.  It was nice to have full hook-ups, which meant we were connected to the campground water and sewage and didn’t have to be concerned with running out of water or overfilling the holding tanks

Not always having strong cell and Wi-Fi signals, we sometimes have taken our devices to where we can get a connection. 

The inconvenience makes us appreciate the strong signal at Town and Country campground that allowed us to watch our home church service on the internet and post our blog without a lot of ‘work-arounds.’

 

We found the folks in Minneapolis to be very friendly. Expressing this to a local, he replied, “You haven’t been here in the winter, have you.”

With so many people, traffic and road construction, we have renewed appreciation of living in a small town. However, we have no complaints with the weather; in fact we are glad we packed flannel pajamas.

Minnesota completes our 10-year challenge of staying overnight in all of the Lower 48 states.

The Wanderer continues westward.