ROAD TRIP! Day 3
Day 3: Windom, MN to Rapid City, SD
We started off early in Windom, MN. Half because we wanted to get on the road, and half because our hotel was a place Piero would never stay in…ever.
Stop 1: Mitchell, SD. The Corn Palace.
We went here mostly because there aren’t a lot of exciting stops (that we knew of) along the stretch of I-90 that crosses South Dakota. I had been before back when I was 7 or so. I just remember that we saw a building made or corn.
Deanna and I went inside. It was all set up for Shrine Circus. They were doing shows there at night I guess. We did find out they change the corn murals every year and they had photos of all the prior years, so I got to see what it looked like when I was there last.
Stop 2: Badlands, SD
The Badlands National Park was a nice change of pace from the flatness of what we had seen, and a nice warm up to the Grand Canyon. Huge vast area with a lot of erosion.
We took the most scenic way through…not turning off to get back on I-90. And it was good we did. After we passed the turn off to head to the freeway we saw buffalo, turkeys, prairie dogs, goats, and more buffalo. Right off the road.
Stop 3: Rapid City, SD. Mt. Rushmore
Rapid City is about 25 miles away from Mt. Rushmore. We stopped there to find a hotel and get some dinner. I wanted to see Mt. Rushmore lit up at night and Deanna had read that they left it lit for 2 hours. So, we ate and took off.
As it was getting closer to 9:00pm we rounded a corner and saw it briefly lit up. With only a mile to go we had raised spirits. We pulled up to the parking/viewing area at 9:02. Lights off. But, I did see it at night, even if only for about 20 seconds.
We’ll be going back tomorrow during the day to see it in the sun.