Loading a 12 passenger van for seven people was easier than I anticipated and we had plenty of room for all our stuff. Our rental van has had many nicknames througout the day and probably will have a few more before we are done! The final thing to do before leaving was put the "Yellowstone or Bust" magnet on our van and take a photo. But that wasn’t really the final thing...I still had to get up and into the van. The very high off of the ground van! Now, my legs are not as nimble as they used to be, and my legs are quite short. Laughing, I hauled my carcass up and into it but something was going to have to be done to make it a bit easier in the long haul. Dan and brother-in-law, Tim talked a lady at a gas station somewhere in Iowa into giving them a cement block to use for a step! It works great! Dang, it stinks getting old!
Laughing and talking for the next four hours, we headed west. At noon we stopped at a very nice roadside stop in NW Iowa. We bailed out for a picnic lunch of sandwiches, Sandy's yummy potatoe salad, and chips. The sun was shining, there were several trees near the picnic table and the warm breeze brushed our faces. It was beautiful and lunchmeat sandwiches never tasted so good! This pull-out had a tower to climb to see the view, and from the top, we could see seemingly forever! Iowa has had plenty of rain and everywhere you look are varying shades of green from lighter limes, to the deepest emeralds and it was beautiful! Piling back in the van we were on the road again and Mitchell, SD was our next destination.
Arriving in Mitchell we went to our KOA and checked out our little kabins. They are small but we don't plan to spend much time in them. Off we went to the first thing that comes to mind of when you think of Mithchell, SD...The Corn Palace! The new mural for this year is currently receiving its grasses and some seeding that looked to this former farm girl like sourdock. New corn will come later when the harvest comes in. I ate an awesome popcorn ball - raspberry white chocolate. That thing was huge and oh, so good! It was made with marshmallows and butter similiar to Rice Krisopie treats so it was soft and sticky. I need to try making them that way, but my recipe with flavored jello is awesome too! This is Dan enjoying his popcorn ball next to his birth year photo of the corn palace.
The Corn Palace idea was dreamed up by a man who wanted to create something to put Mitchell on the map! I found myself wondering what could Orion do to become a destination for the masses. I have lots of ideas....I just need more time and LOTS of money! My winning a huge lottery would sure be good for Orion! Come on lottery!
Poking around the souvenir shops is always fun and we spent some time doing that and headed back to the KOA for supper. The traditional campfire supper of weiners and S’mores along with a couple of adult beverages rounded out our day and soon we found ourselves headed inside our Kabins for some much needed sleep. we had hoped to see the "Super Moon" tonight but as it turned out, it was just to cloudy.
About 20 minutes later we were congratulating ourselves for the smart decision of not tent camping because of the rain pouring from the sky! Not just little rain but a LOT of rain! And HAIL! And WIND! Locals told us the next day we had received 2.9 inches!
As exhausted as I was, I was certain that I would sleep like a baby. But that was not to be! I was on the hardest mattress ever created by human hands! Certainly leaves, brush, and pine needles gathered from the forest and then thrown on the ground would have been softer! I rolled and rolled the night away trying to find a comfortable spot. Yawn!
Enough for now, Sunday is ready to be experienced!
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