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Trip: Relatives 2005-A (R05A)
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Relatives, November 16 - November 25, 2005
Just another Thanksgiving visit to my relatives. This time I tacked a few extra days onto the trip so that I could swing across South Dakota and back to finish off its counties. I went far enough across the state that I got a nice visit to Badlands NP in on this trip, too.
I have created some entries on Worldisround where you will find pictures from my trip:
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Wednesday November 16 -
I flew to Minneapolis today to start a Thanksgiving week visit with my relatives in Iowa and Minnesota. But I also planned a bit of South Dakota sightseeing before I'd visit the relatives, so I came in a few days early.
I stayed in the city tonight. I had planned on having dinner at Copelands, but I was disappointed to discover that the chain's downtown Minneapolis restaurant had closed. However, I've got a couple favorite nightlife spots downtown, so I checked out the scene at the Saloon and Gay 90s. Of course, since it was a Wednesday night, there wasn't a whole lot going on, and I didn't stay out too late.
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The guy sitting next to me on the plane to Minneapolis was a farm kid from Texas, now a Navy plane maintainer who works on an aircraft carrier. Several of his fellow soldiers sat in nearby seats. They were en route to Minneapolis for the funeral of one of their own. |
Thursday November 17 -
I hit the road before sunrise this morning. I had a long drive ahead of me, and I wanted to avoid Minneapolis rush hour traffic delays. I was making a sightseeing trek across South Dakota and back with the goal of finishing off its counties. So my routes out to Badlands NP and back were designed mainly to hit an assortment of counties. Any interesting sightseeing along the way would just be due to luck.
And I had some luck. I visited the Corn Capital of the World in Olivia, MN, Gnometown in Dawson, MN, Prayer Rock a.k.a. Medicine Rock in Ipswich, SD, and the Cathedral on the Prairie in Hoven, SD.
The sun had set before I reached Pierre, SD, so I checked out the state capitol at night. I also stopped at the office of Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in Cactus Flats, SD, so technically I could claim that I had visited the unit. Actual visits to the missile silo are by guided tours with reservations.
I reached Wall, SD, where I spent the night. After checking into a hotel, I headed downtown and found a restaurant where I got some dinner.
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Along the route in South Dakota, I stopped at a marker near the sight where young Abbie Gardner was turned over to her rescuers after being held by the Sioux for 83 days following the 1857 Spirit Lake Massacre. I would hit the Spirit Lake Massacre site in Iowa later in the drive. |
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Henry, South Dakota, is home to Old Dead Guys Junk Antiques |
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Sign at Clark, South Dakota: Pheasant & Fur Country - Activists Unwelcome |
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Prayer/Medicine Rock on display in front of the library in Ipswich, SD, features petroglyphs that look like imprints of hands. An information sign next to the rock was somewhat oddly worded, suggesting that the locals were a bit unimpressed by the Indian's explanation for the handprints: "Found near Mobridge, the impression was tediously incised by some old Indian intent on building himself up as a medicine man. Once formed it was a symbol of great power and was venerated by the Indians who believed it was the work of the ''wakan'' or great spirit." |
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Ipswich is also a spot along the Yellowstone Trail. Turns out that the trail was laid out only in 1912 to promote auto travel across the U.S. |
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St. Anthony's Church in Hoven, SD, is known as the Cathedral of the Prairie. As opposed to the Cathedral of the Plains, which I saw in Victoria, Kansas, earlier this fall. |
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Sign at the cathedral in Hoven: "A Little Slice of Hoven" |
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I saw more than a dozen dead housecats along the roads of northeast South Dakota. Temperatures had dropped below 20 degrees last night, which makes me wonder if that was a factor. |
Friday November 18 -
Today was a great day. I began the day with a quick stop at world-famous Wall Drug Store. Wall Drug is a tourist trap, to be sure. It started on that path back in the 1930s when the owners figured they could pull traffic off the highway if they put up signs offering free ice water. That did the trick. Wall Drug has grown since, offering all sorts of items that might appeal to tourists, including food, dining, souvenirs, moccasins, clothing, a chapel and an apothecary shop. And of course free ice water. Signs all over the U.S. let drivers know how far they are from Wall Drug, and during summer about 20,000 people a day make a stop there.
They weren't there when I was there. I doubt that there were more than a dozen customers in the store then, but it was early in the morning in mid-November. But I took a tour of the store and checked out the giant jackalope out back before picking up some snacks for the day's drive.
I hit the road, heading south. One of the main entrances into Badlands NP is located less than 9 miles south of Wall. I hit the Pinnacles Entrance and then headed west on the Sage Creek Rim Road, which provides great views of the Sage Creek Wilderness Area in the park.
The badlands of Badlands NP are part of a large area of sedimentary deposits and volcanic ash deposits that have been eroded into colorful canyons, gullies and spires. Not as impressive as sites like Bryce National Park, but still quite interesting. Roads and trails let visitors explore the geological formations. The park is also home to a lot of wildlife, especially bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs. I got a pretty close look at bison and a few prairie dogs along the Sage Creek Rim Road, and I'd come across a small herd of bighorn sheep later in my visit to the park. After reaching my turnaround point on Sage Creek Rim Road, I headed east through the park, stopping at most overlooks for photos, and taking the short Fossil Exhibit Trail hike.
Instead of taking the park exit that would lead to I-90, I instead headed southeast out of the park. I had a string of counties to hit on my way toward Sioux Falls, where I planned to spend the night. Except for a stop (in the dark - sunset comes early in November) at the Laura Ingalls Home Memorial Site at DeSmet, SD, I pretty much drove straight through.
Nightlife at Touchez, the only gay bar in Sioux Falls, I think. I was rather impressed with it when I stopped there for the first time a few years back, but it had underwhelming crowds each visit since then.
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Sign for the Mitchell, South Dakota, Corn Palace: "We are all ears" |
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Huron, South Dakota, claims to be home to the World's Largest Pheasant. I think the ones I saw along the Enchanted Highway north of Regent, North Dakota, were bigger. |
Saturday November 19 -
I made a few stops on my drive from Sioux Falls to Cedar Rapids. Near Sibley, Iowa, I finally got a look at Hawkeye Point, the highest point in Iowa. Not a hill, not a mountain. Just a gentle rise in the landscape. Near a silo, of all things.
At what is now Arnold's Park at Okoboji I visited the Gardner Cabin State Historic Site. This was the site of the Spirit Lake Massacre and where Abbie Gardner was kidnapped - I noted seeing her release site a couple days ago. Gardner would eventually return to the site in the 1890s, where she bought the cabin and surrounding land, and operated it as a tourist attraction for 30 years until her death. A marker identifies the settlers who were massacred there. She is buried at the site.
I reached Cedar Rapids by mid-afternoon, where I would stay with my brother and his family for three nights. Family time this evening. I checked out Club Dragon and Club Basix for nightlife.
Sign I saw at Leland, Iowa: "A Good Place To Call Home". Except I didn't see a pay phone in town from which I could call home.
Sunday November 20 -
I spent the day with my grandma and uncle. Evening with my brother and his family. No nightlife tonight.
Monday November 21 -
More family time. We took advantage of the nice weather to hike a stretch of the Sac & Fox Trail at Indian Creek.
Tuesday November 22 -
Today I made the trip from my Cedar Rapids, Iowa, relatives to my folks in Eden Prairie, where my sister and her family would be joining us for Thanksgiving. I usually take the route through Oelwein and Decorah, Iowa - I went to high school in Oelwein, and the family frequented Decorah when I was growing up.
I made a few other stops along the way this time, too. In the village of Brandon, Iowa, I checked out the "Largest Frying Pan in Iowa". It is 9 feet across and has a 5-foot handle. Near Festina, I visited the smallest Catholic church in the world, the St. Anthony of Padua Chapel. The chapel was the result of a promise made by the mother of Johann Gaertner. She vowed to build a chapel if her son, who was drafted into the French army and served under Napoleon, returned safely from the Russian campaign. Gaertner did return, and he is now buried near the chapel. In Cresco I checked out a sculpture dedicated to Dr. Norman Borlaug, a native of the area who won the Nobel peace prize in 1970 for his work in agriculture.
From there it was straight through to Eden Prairie. Afternoon and evening with the family.
Tire shop sign near Independence, Iowa: "Bald Head? Not a Safety Issue. Bald Tires Are."
Wednesday November 23 -
Visiting with the family today and this evening. They all turn in fairly early by my standards, so I headed downtown to the Saloon for some nightlife.
Thursday November 24 -
Thanksgiving with the family. No nightlife tonight.
Friday November 25 -
As I usually do with these Thanksgiving trip, I headed home today, the day after Thanksgiving. Traffic at the airports is usually pretty light, and I get some weekend time at home so I can set up my own holiday decorations. I hung out with the family this morning, headed for the airport by late morning, and had an uneventful flight home.
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