We decided to take it easy today and give the driver a break, so we drove a short distance to the Badlands State Park for a hike. The weather was perfect–65-70 degrees, sunny, no humidity, and blue skies! The smokey skies cleared with the nice north breeze, so the formations appeared much more colorful today.

We entered at the Pinnacles Entrance and were greeted by thousands of chirping prairie dogs, scurrying around until humans invaded their personal space, then into their burrows! (They were cute little varmints, as they stood on their hind legs). The next sight was a herd of Pronghorn, unfazed by humans as they grazed by the roadside and crossed in front of traffic. Our last wildlife close encounter included Bighorn Sheep, grazing on grasses.

We stopped at dozens of overlooks, but decided today was the day for a hike, so we hiked the Castle Trail. At our age, we did not push ourselves to go the entire ten miles, but we hiked about 21/2 miles. Neither of us thought to apply sunscreen, so we did not hike as long as we would normally. There were no trees for shade, but beautiful even terrain, with grasses and wildflowers, some rocky climbing, and views that were spectacular.

It’s a day to relax and recover, take-out food to our cute cabin, and some sports for Bill. Tomorrow we head to Deadwood!

Just when we thought our accommodations were the best at the lodge in Mitchell, we have pulled in at the end of  a long drive and an adventure-filled day at the Frontier Cabins in Wall., South Dakota. (OK, we did the Wall Drugstore at the suggestion of friends, but we could not get out of there fast enough:) These cabins are appointed with log furniture and details I would not expect from a rental, and Bill is excited that we will be here for a few days with a log rocker on the porch for his cigar and scotch:)

We were sorry to have missed (cool name) Woonsocket, S.D., but took back roads through grassland prairies, dotted with hay bales, separated by huge acres of sunflower fields. Their heads were bowed, as the smoke from west coast fires and end of the season has them drooping, but I had no idea this was a crop of significance in this region! We headed to Pierre, the capital, where Bill hoped to get a glance of Kristi Noehm, the beautiful governor. (No such luck.) We had a picnic at a sweet park on the Missouri River and headed to the Badlands.

Through Crow Creek Reservation, along stretches of flat prairies, the only thing to be seen for miles was short grass and barely a tree in sight. We laughed as we came into the Badlands, with billboards “Feed Me Tacos And Tell Me I’m Pretty” and “Mexican Food–Local Water”, so we ate Mexican for dinner at a Cantina in Wall. (Take-out) The last sign was “In Wine There’s Wisdom. In Water There’s Bacteria” hahaha

We had a quick stop at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, where we viewed a part of our history that we have not forgotten. For thirty years, 1,000 missiles were kept in this area of South Dakota, on high alert in case of nuclear war. Bill and I have memories of the drills we had in our schools in case of this event, and to this day I remember the fear of the Cuban Missle Crisis.

The highlight of the day was a spontaneous stop, screeching to a halt to take a 20-minute helicopter ride from Aldo, who delighted in swooping down into the cavernous monuments of the Castle formations, White River, trails, and interior of the Badlands. We still had good visibility at this low level and the colorful striations of the rock. It was my first helicopter ride, so Bill let me sit up front and I loved every minute.

Aside from a “feeding the prairie dog” farm, which we did not visit, we were happy to see Bison and Pronghorn grazing beside the park roads when we left the park. Tomorrow, weather depending, we are either hiking or visiting Mt. Rushmore.

It was a corny and spammy kind of day. (I will explain later.) We were up bright and early for our drive from Rochester, Minnesota to Mitchell, South Dakota, passing more cornfields than I have ever seen in my life! Wind farms punctuated the flat prairies, as we drove along red roads. I could not figure out why they were red until later in the day, but we took back roads as much as we could, so we could see the little villages along the way. Only beanfields bisected the cornfields, which added more color on this fall day.

My husband loves Spam, so we had to stop at the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota. It was worth the stop and one of the most comprehensive exhibits we have ever seen. We had to pass four inspections to get into this empty morning spot, but after temperature, mandatory tracing information, questionnaire, and thorough handwashing, we were given a stylus to use on the exhibits. I had no idea there were hundreds of varieties of Spam sold all over the world!

We had a picnic at a rest area before our next stop at Sioux Falls Park. Our answer to red roads–the Quartzite or Jasper rocks featured at the falls is still used in the paving of the roads in this area. We were sad the observation tower was closed, but donned our hiking boots and walked around the whole park, admiring the falls from many angles, thankful to get out of the car.

Our afternoon tourist stop in Mitchell, South Dakota landed at the famous Corn Palace. What an amazing structure, with the history of the crop art dating back to 1891. Home to concerts, sports, and community events, the murals are re-designed each year with 325,000 ears of split corn of all colors.

We have been eating early afternoon to avoid crowds and had a great outdoor meal at the Back 40 Taphouse Grill, with extremely eclectic decor, before settling into a cute lodge for the night. This might be the last cool day for a while, as the temperature is supposed to go up, but we are ready for any weather. (Including snow!) Badlands or bust!

We ended our last night in Appleton at an empty little cigar bar, except for me and my cigar-smoking hubby, so I had a little flavored cigar and was pleasantly surprised by the choice Christian selected to accompany my Grand Marnier. Bill had a nice Perdomo, paired with Johnny Walker Blue, which he had never tried. We walked back to our little loft and fell asleep to the sounds of late-night party people, traffic, and the longest train in history:) To offset our night of revelry, we walked to the juice bar in town for healthy smoothies before we hit the road.

Triple AAA helped us decide which route to take to the Badlands, which was the middle route down the west side of Lake Winnebago to Oshkosh to Ripon, driving through more beautiful rolling Wisconsin farmlands. Old stately homes with exquisite flower gardens, horse ranches, and dairy farms dotted our route. I love driving through the towns with homes unique to the midwest, including quaint Montello, with waterfalls bordering the park. I snapped a photo out the window of an elderly gentleman sitting in front of one of them, promoting Blue Lives Matter.

We took a hike to see the expansive and scenic view of Lacrosse from the top of Granddad Bluff, which was 590 feet above the city. The Mississippi River snaked through the bowl-shaped valley and we were grateful for the clear weather to take it all in. The National Weather Service has a forecast office up there, with a doppler radar, which was an unexpected sight as we rounded the curving road. We also passed a relaxed young woman reading a book in a roadside pull-off, with her red hammock stretched between two trees. Other interesting views on our way included massive hills covered in trees that reminded me of the fake trees used on model railroad displays.

We could not leave Wisconsin without cheese!  Bill and had a tailgate picnic in the parking lot of the Carr Valley Cheese shop before heading to our final stop for the night in Rochester, Minnesota.  We are directly across the street from the Mayo Clinic and we seem to blend in with patients in wheelchairs with our masks but are grateful for our health.

We had a great meal at the Blue Moon Cafe in Ludington last night and woke to a glowing orange orb (thanks, sadly, to California and Oregon fire smoke). The S.S. Badger pulled out of port with a crowd, but we had a tiny little stateroom where we could escape with two berths and a private bathroom. It was a gusty, warm, and hazy crossing with passengers masked up, except the Badger Bingo players, who must feel like gambling and luck gain immediate crowd immunity:(

Our four-hour ride landed in Manitowac, Wisconsin. We jumped into our vehicle and took a beautiful Lake Michigan drive to Sheboygan for lunch at a little cafe on the inlet, before driving to Fon Du Lac and Appleton for the night.

The most impressive sights of this part of  Wisconsin were rolling farmlands with patchwork crops of color, meticulous farms with stone-based ancient barns, and tidy little towns. The biggest surprise, after the vivid blue of Lake Michigan, was the impressive homes bordering the lake flanked with cornfields. I’m assuming the fertile soil is not to be wasted on mere dwellings:)

Tonight we have settled into a downtown Appleton loft, with busy train tracks beneath our window. We are off to see what downtown bars and restaurants have to offer. Safely. Masked. Distancing. Loving life.

Our 2011 Traverse, loaded down with our worldly goods for a month, pulled out of Maqua this morning with 190,500 miles on the odometer. Decked out with new tires, a tune-up, and topped off with gas under $2.00/gallon, we were ready to roll. Saying goodbye each summer is not easy, but each season our packing is less stressful and more organized.

It was a sunny, cool day as we headed across the state of Michigan, over rolling hills sprawling with Christmas tree farms, already tagged and ready for cutting. Our guide, Google maps, gave us the scenic route, which led us past beautiful farmlands, apple orchards, and quaint towns decked out for fall. Gusty winds whipped across inland lakes with white-capped waves, tossing the few boats that have not been taken out of the water.

Traveling by car means I can beg and wheedle Bill into stopping when a scenic overlook or wonderful Kodak moment grabs my attention. I made him stop twice this morning, before arriving at our very clean hotel room, (which I gave a second Covid wipe with disinfecting wipes.) The first stop was a view of rolling hills that are just beginning to show color. The second was to stand up close and personal to sunflowers the size of platters.

We are giving ourselves a month to see our great country and discover sights we have only seen in photographs. Our vacations with our four kids have either been to big cities since we lived in the country, or to Michigan for our summers on the lake. Bill and I took vacations without kids to Europe, to National Golf Course Owner conferences in beautiful cities all over the U.S., and various anniversaries have included two-day spontaneous drives.

With students back in school, cool temps, and cheap gas, we figured now was a good time to go west and visit the great parks, hike, and stay in some unusual lodging. We had planned to drive all the way to San Francisco to see our much-missed family, but Covid and wildfires changed our mind, so now it is Montana or bust!