Day 3 - Roadside Diversions

We left our Iowa campsite this morning with two detours already in mind. I'm not sure if that is best way to start the day or not, but it seems to be the way we travel. First off, we made a stop in the town of Winterset in Madison county. This small sleepy town can boast itself as the birthplace of one great man... Marion Robert Morison, better known to the world as John Wayne.



Of course, we soon learned that Winterset is also home to not only a great man, but also it can claim ownership to at least one great van...


After snapping a quick photo out front, we made our way to main street (John Wayne Drive) to also check out the town itself. Everything was still moving quiet and slow, but this gave us the chance to explore and snap some great shots of the shops, cafes, and even the downtown movie theater.


Madison county is also known for its covered bridges. According to our sources (the KOA travel book that is) the film, Bridges of Madison County was partially filmed in this area. We followed some old dirt back roads and found hogsback bridge which was constructed in 1884.


Along the country roads we also came upon this old stone one room school house, and, yes, that is an outhouse out back.



Finally we made it back to the highway and tried to make up for lost time. This worked well until we arrived in Souix Falls, South Dakota. Of course, we had to go see the city's name sake, a roaring set of falls which runs almost through the center of town.

Carl and I could just not help exploring the park set up around the falls. We lost many a precious travel minute hopping from rock to rock, exploring the remaining buildings of the power plant that once used the water's powerful flow, and taking photos from the lookout points, but it was all worth the time loss.


The Falls Park visitor center also offers a chance to climb a five story observation tower for a bird's eye view.


Shortly after Souix Falls, we could not resist a visit to Michell, SD, home of the WORLD'S ONLY CORN PALACE. It is a building which the town has been constantly redecorating with corn since the 1800s. Each bit of detail and design on the interior and exterior walls is down completely out of corn husk and other vegetation grown locally. It began as a way to prove that the region could support a farming community, today it proves that an entire town can profit from a well planned tourist trap.




Still, what would a trip to the corn palace be without some popcorn? Carl caught this picture me munching on a snack bag . Now I can say that I had popcorn at the Corn Palace!


The Dakota country side is beautiful. We went by lakes and hay fields all the way from Souix Falls to Rapid City, but the most amazing thing was to see how the terrain changed from flat fields to hillsides as we drew closer to our destination.



We made it a late night in order to make it into Rapid City, but the view at sunset made it worth it.


Just when we thought we had seen it all, hills and fields, falls and rocks, palaces and ruins, we came upon this...


That's right... it is a skeleton man walking a skeleton dinosaur. We like to call it Skele-saurus-Rex. Just goes to prove that you never know what you'll see on the road.