Time for the car packing puzzle again. We left Rapid City around 10:00 and head to Sioux Falls, SD. Since it was about 350 miles, we knew we would be driving for about 5 hours straight.
As we drove, we did see a grassy field loaded with dandelions. What a beautiful sight!
However, we mostly saw fields and fields of nothingness.
We knew the time zone would change from MDT to CDT along our path, but we weren't sure where. The only thing we could do was watch our phones as they updated. Somewhere after about 1.5 hours, the phones switched. Now, we lost an hour.
We did see a cool bridge running parallel to the road.
We stopped at a rest area shortly after Belvidere. Sharon and Robin went into the restroom. Robin got stuck in the stall. There wasn't a knob or a handle to hold onto to pull the stuck door open. Sharon had to use "hip" action from the outside in order to get the door open. We had to have a good laugh. We went outside and saw a cute, little chapel in the field behind the rest area. It was right on the fence line which seemed a little out of place. It was quaint.
A little over an hour later, we crossed the Missouri River and kept driving.
Next, we stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. We had seen some advertisements for the Corn Palace and thought we should check it out since it was right on our way. Of course, the first thing we dealt with was the construction immediately around it. Then, we saw the Corn Palace. Wow! What can we say? The outside had murals all made from corn. We went inside and were informed that there would be a movie telling about the palace in about 5 minutes. We headed back to where we were directed and found an arena. The Corn Palace is a community arena, hosting entertainment, sports games, and much more. The entire upper half of the walls were more murals. We watched the movie, trying not to look at each other so we wouldn't crack up at the seriousness of the movie. After the movie, we went through the "gift shop" on the gym floor. Robin's mother would have loved all of the corn-related gifts since everyone called her Corny (short for Cornelia). We did have to admit, the artwork using the parts of the corn was amazing! However, the amount of work that these people do to create all of the murals was incredible. The murals were changed once per year. It took farmers all over the area to help by growing different kinds of corn to make the different colors and parts needed. It is being done completely as a community project since the entrance was free. Everyone from the area donates their time and materials to create these murals. It was a very unique experience for all of us!
We continued on to Sioux Falls. Falls Park was absolutely beautiful! The grounds were green and well maintained. When we got to the falls, they were breathtaking. We were able to walk out on all of the rocks to get a closer look at the tiers of falls. We took lots of pictures from different angles and just listened to the rushing water. We walked the rocks a little, watching the water swirl around other rocks. At one point, the water had created an accumulation of foam in the water. Sharon spotted a chipmunk scurrying under the rocks. Robin spotted another red-breasted Robin in the grass. Fall Parks also had an observatory tower and a restaurant right on the water. We didn't want to leave the beauty of this park, but we still had driving to do.
Our hotel reservations were in Sioux City, IA. We drove 90 miles in about 1.5 hours until we finally crossed the state line into Iowa. After we checked into our hotel, we went to Famous Dave's and had barbecue. It was delicious!
We went back to the hotel and turned in for the night. Richard and Sharon were flying home the next day and had to pack.
