Jana writes: We cut across Minnesota on the two-lane hiways, per Charlie's sense of adventure and navigational willingness. It was satisfying to finally see so many of the small towns I hear mentioned on severe weather alerts: St. Cloud, Willmar, Marshall, Clara City, and finally Luverne. The boys definately noticed the changes in trees and landscape as we left the pine forests, passed thru the hardwoods and then into the prairie. This is their first trip west of Duluth environs, so they were noticing everything. Note: There is a very cool city swimming pool/waterpark and skateboard park in Mora. Why doesn't Duluth have this??
On the way, we saw all the amazing wind turbines that are shipped into Duluth and sent out on big trucks. I LOVE IT!
We spent our first night at Blue Mounds State Park, at the very southwest tip of the state. I've always wanted to see the park, but we didn't stay nearly long enough to explore. Just spent the evening next to a pond where we camped, listening to the blackbirds, crows and ducks. We found cactus growing in Minnesota!
Unexpectedly, it rained the first night, and we had to pack up a very wet tent after waiting until nearly 9am for it to quit enough to go out to pee. I hate that.
Then, it was a long day of driving across South Dakota. I love the prairies, so it is no hardship for me. The boys enjoyed it as well; they've grown up in the woods and are quite unused to wide open spaces. Of course, as soon as we crossed the border into South Dakota, we began seeing signs for Wall Drug. Ah, the anticipation...
We like taking pictures of tacky tourist things along the way. The opportunities are plentiful on I-90. We listened to a book I downloaded onto the ipod, and ate goodies out of the cooler as we went.
We stopped at an overlook at the Missouri River for a picnic lunch--the wide Missouri. Francis Case Lake, now that the river is dammed up. I wrote all about these Missouri River lakes for Sportsmans Connection a few years back, and so I felt a bit of a homecoming to lay eyes on the water I wrote so much about. The overlook rest stop has a great museum about Lewis & Clark's voyage in 1804--the kids and I spent too much time lingering there.
Then finally the prairie rises and rises and the Badlands appear to the south. Now the boys feel like they're out west. The many oohs and ahhs from them was so great--I love trips like this! Wishing we had time to stop in the Badlands, but we have many miles to go. Charlie is making a list of all the things we should go see next time we're out here (next year they think). We also ahve a long list of lisence plates from other states we've seen. Road fun.
Wall Drug was everything it promised to be, and Ben could hardly take it. So much kitch to choose from! We got ice cream, a few silly tokens (including a bumper sticker for the cookstove) and we were on our way.
My friend Val in Ely, who goes on a roadtrip out this way every year, suggested a campground in the Black Hills. We were able to get in the campgroup, get set up and eat a bit of supper before dark set in. And we saw our first buffalo as soon as we got in the park. Soon thereafter, we found out that Charlie misplaced the stoppers for the blow-up mattresses. After a bit of lecturing from the camp mom who was not pleased, we rigged up a couple of plugs with duct tape. The mattresses stayed inflated most of the night.
Being here brings up lots of mixed feelings for me. But mostly I'm keenly aware that this land was stolen in such a horrible way from the Sioux, and then the heads of the white guys got carved on their mountain. What an insult. The boys are learning a lot from my history lectures.
I found the exact campsite where my family stayed when we came here in 1976--I remembered it as clear as day. Called mom to tell her about it.
Today, we went wildlife looping with the ranger, then panning for gold. Spent the late afternoon at the lake swimming. Tomorrow, we head to Wyoming.
On the way, we saw all the amazing wind turbines that are shipped into Duluth and sent out on big trucks. I LOVE IT!
We spent our first night at Blue Mounds State Park, at the very southwest tip of the state. I've always wanted to see the park, but we didn't stay nearly long enough to explore. Just spent the evening next to a pond where we camped, listening to the blackbirds, crows and ducks. We found cactus growing in Minnesota!
Unexpectedly, it rained the first night, and we had to pack up a very wet tent after waiting until nearly 9am for it to quit enough to go out to pee. I hate that.
Then, it was a long day of driving across South Dakota. I love the prairies, so it is no hardship for me. The boys enjoyed it as well; they've grown up in the woods and are quite unused to wide open spaces. Of course, as soon as we crossed the border into South Dakota, we began seeing signs for Wall Drug. Ah, the anticipation...
We like taking pictures of tacky tourist things along the way. The opportunities are plentiful on I-90. We listened to a book I downloaded onto the ipod, and ate goodies out of the cooler as we went.
We stopped at an overlook at the Missouri River for a picnic lunch--the wide Missouri. Francis Case Lake, now that the river is dammed up. I wrote all about these Missouri River lakes for Sportsmans Connection a few years back, and so I felt a bit of a homecoming to lay eyes on the water I wrote so much about. The overlook rest stop has a great museum about Lewis & Clark's voyage in 1804--the kids and I spent too much time lingering there.
Then finally the prairie rises and rises and the Badlands appear to the south. Now the boys feel like they're out west. The many oohs and ahhs from them was so great--I love trips like this! Wishing we had time to stop in the Badlands, but we have many miles to go. Charlie is making a list of all the things we should go see next time we're out here (next year they think). We also ahve a long list of lisence plates from other states we've seen. Road fun.
Wall Drug was everything it promised to be, and Ben could hardly take it. So much kitch to choose from! We got ice cream, a few silly tokens (including a bumper sticker for the cookstove) and we were on our way.
My friend Val in Ely, who goes on a roadtrip out this way every year, suggested a campground in the Black Hills. We were able to get in the campgroup, get set up and eat a bit of supper before dark set in. And we saw our first buffalo as soon as we got in the park. Soon thereafter, we found out that Charlie misplaced the stoppers for the blow-up mattresses. After a bit of lecturing from the camp mom who was not pleased, we rigged up a couple of plugs with duct tape. The mattresses stayed inflated most of the night.
Being here brings up lots of mixed feelings for me. But mostly I'm keenly aware that this land was stolen in such a horrible way from the Sioux, and then the heads of the white guys got carved on their mountain. What an insult. The boys are learning a lot from my history lectures.
I found the exact campsite where my family stayed when we came here in 1976--I remembered it as clear as day. Called mom to tell her about it.
Today, we went wildlife looping with the ranger, then panning for gold. Spent the late afternoon at the lake swimming. Tomorrow, we head to Wyoming.
2 comments:
Ooh, the prairie is so beautiful! Nice pic of the sky.
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