Minnesota and South Dakota

As I begin this entry, I was not able to download any pictures.  We are camped at Badlands/White River KOA.  This KOA is about 12 miles off the interstate and located along the White River in a valley.  For the most part there is no internet or even cell phone service.  The brochure we were given states "Tower access is limited at this KOA.  If you can't get your provider, try going up hill outside the campground on either direction on Highway 44.  Remember, we are down on the river here."    The KOA provides internet service but in the evening hours so many people are trying to use it that service is slow or non-existent.  Anyway, I was able to get on the blog so I want to get our day in writing before this old feeble mind forgets.  I will try to post pictures either late tonight or early in the morning.

After a good night's rest, we got on the road at 8:00 a.m.  The day was cloudy but we don't mind.  This part of Minnesota is flat but green so they must have gotten enough rain.  We did see a sight we had never seen before on the road.  We saw a Bald Eagle trying to score his breakfast on road kill.  We have seen lots of crows and other scavenger birds eating road kill but never the mighty, American symbol Bald Eagle.  It surprised us to see the eagle so close on the road.

We cross the "Golden Stripe" again.  The Golden Stripe is similar to the Golden Spike of the transcontinental railroad only it commemorates the final connection of I-90 from Boston to Washington.  It is the longest continuous road in the U.S. of 3,082 miles.    We passed by Pipestone National Monument.  We didn't take the time to stop but it sounded interesting.  This site is sacred to the Indians as their ancestors quarried red stone from the rock quarries for their pipes; thus "Pipestone National Monument."

Once we crossed into South Dakota, the speed limit became 80 MPH.  We stayed in the right lane traveling a leisurely 60 MPH and let the rest of the traffic pass us by.  There was a strong wind blowing from the south so it hit the motorhome broadside.  This was even more reason to maintain a slow steady speed of around 60 MHP.

We stopped at a Welcome Center when we entered South Dakota and picked up some brochures on the area around the interstate.  Last year when we came east on I-90 we saw these huge set of horns peeking over the top of a hill and there were other metal creations in that same field.  We discovered that is part of the Porter Sculpture Park.  A farmer/artist created the metal pieces from scrap iron and farm implements.  The bull's head is nearly 60 feet tall.  Again, lack of time caused us to only observe and appreciate his work as we passed by on the interstate.

Interstate 90 is nearly 400 miles long across South Dakota. At mile marker 260 the interstate crosses the Missouri River.  On the eastern side of the river, a rest area has been created to honor the Native American culture in South Dakota.   A 50 foot sculpture stands on the bluffs overlooking the river.  The sculpture is of an Indian woman wearing a quilt across her back.  The quilt features 128 stainless steel blue diamond shaped designed to flutter in the wind.  At night, LED lights cause the diamond shapes to glow.   It was very impressive and the view across the river was beautiful.

We arrived at the KOA at 5:00.  We drove 450 miles in 9 hours.  We are set up for three days and four nights.  After supper, we sat outside enjoying the outdoors.  Their was a nice breeze blowing so we felt comfortable.  We haven't turned on the air conditioner but since we will be leaving Sandy home as we explore the area, we will turn on the air conditioner tomorrow.  This KOA has a "cook shack" which serves breakfast and supper meals.  The menu is posted at the office and it sounded interested so I am sure we will try it out sometime during our stay here.

This KOA is very different but nice.  It is almost like camping in years past.  We don't have the electronics, telephones, or television (we receive only two PBS channels).  We are camped under trees.  It is very dusty, first of all because of the terrain in the Badlands area; and second, because they haven't had much rain.  We were told this area is 7 inches behind in rainfall.  The showers are hot, the winds are cool, trees provide shade, and no interstate traffic sounds can be heard.  What more could we want for four nights?

The car is unloaded off the dolly and is waiting for us to explore this area tomorrow.

The morning sky as we traveled west on I-90.

Sandy's favorite thing to do when we are driving.  The chair gently rocks as we move down the road so she is being rocked to sleep.

The rest areas in South Dakota are very nice.

This is the Porter Sculpture Park  with the 60-foot metal cow.  Other sculptures can be seen.

It looks like I-90 is headed straight into the Missouri River.

View of the Missouri River from the top of the bluff rest area.

A family donated one million dollars to have this sculpture created and set at this rest area.

The back of the sculpture showing the quilt.

There are acres and acres of sunflowers grown in South Dakota.

We passed through a small part of Badlands National Park to get to the KOA.