The Hot, The Bad, and The Corny

Hot Springs, SD is full of springs and castle-like structures, but sadly we had no time to explore it. Today was our loooooooooong travel day with our main stop in the Badlands.

It's so beautiful—such green and other colored grasses and of course the formations. We got to watch bighorn sheep show off their climbing prowess as well.

Somewhere, I believe along the stretch of SD and amid the signs for Wall Drug, we spotted the following on a billboard: Nature in Action—Taxidermy Exhibit. Hmmm. I rather preferred the action of the wild sheep and other creatures actually out in the wild being active.

So we nixed going to Wall Drug, even though Elvis was sighted there and they advertised free ice water, and after the Badlands we drove and drove and drove. Somewhere along the way, well in Mitchell, we did seek out another tourist stop: The Corn Palace. It wasn't what I was expecting; the whole building isn't covered in corn, but the corn murals are impressive. Inside just feels as if you're going to a concert or a game, but there are more murals and much merchandise.

Before we knew it, okay not really—it took a while, we were in Iowa. The flooding was still extensive around Sioux City—trees up to their armpits in water, playgrounds drowning, sandbags everywhere, roads closed. Our destination for the night was Des Moines, so that on our last day of travel we could first take a break and visit the state fair. We were late into the city and all the restaurants were closed except the fast food places. I guess that means we saved room for fried fair fare the following morning!