Travels out West continued

Thursday May 14- Illinois, the Land of Lincoln and on to Iowa

8:30 am

Ha Ha Hamvention! Um, this morning’s staff told us the convention was for HAM RADIO OPERATORS, not pig producers! What a funny realization that was! We made some sweet space tracks from Ohio and continued on through Illinois, the Land of Lincoln. Uh oh, Eric’s drinking coffee and promised things would get crazy.

9:30 pm

Motel 6 Sioux Falls, Iowa welcomed us very sleepily tonight. We were happy the frogs had a place to stay in the hotel pool, and glad it was closed for their use. Mike at the front desk shared some great Pennsylvania trivia with us. Awesome shower and very nice room made for a comfy rest.

Friday May 15 – South Dakota and the Corn Palace

8:00 am 

Audio record shares our location to be just shy of Sioux City, SD. The weather is overcast, cool in the low 60s. 

11:00 am

Mitchell, South Dakota has become one of my favorite places because of one particular attraction: THE CORN PALACE!!! The theme this year is destinations (I think) and of course it smells of popcorn when we walk around the building! We bought some more popcorn (best I’ve ever had) and some baked corn nut-type snacks. Our first meal outside of the car took us to Jitters Coffeehouse for some well-deserved proteins and a yummy smoothie. 

1:00 pm

Bow is it windy in the Badlands! We almost blew over a few times getting out to take pictures. Of course it’s always breathtaking here, with plenty of prairie dogs and Pronghorn antelope. Enjoy the video coverage of a prairie dog and the pics of wildlife. 

Custer State Park and the Needles Highway

Wind Cave National Park, Curt Gowdy State Park, Medicine Bow National Forest

Saturday May 16 –South Dakota 

3:55 pm

Audio report: Eric says we’re in Cowboy Country! We just saw a guy pulled off the side of the road taking a picture of Boner Ranch. Ha. We are still uncertain of the road conditions because we haven’t had computer access since yesterday in Rapid City.