We had a couple of stops on our journey from Mt. Rushmore across to Minneapolis. First day we drove into Rapid City where we took a quick walk around the streets. On every corner they have a bronzed statue of all the American Presidents. A quick visit to Starbucks (seems to be the only place to find half decent coffee over here) and on we go. Took a detour off the I90 into the Badlands National Park. Took a scenic drive through, which only took around an hour in the car. No animals sighted through the 'canyon like' landscapes. Scoop thoroughly enjoyed it as he is now a National Park junkie! Myself and the kids thought it was very bland and sarcastically thought of the song line from Bruno Mars........"Hmmm here we are .....this is great!" Camped the night in our tent in Mitchell - South Dakota.
Mitchell is the home to the world's only 'Corn Palace!' We took a tour through the complex the next morning on our way out of town. It consists of a large building with it's entire exterior covered in artwork made from purposefully grown coloured corn cobs (12 colours) and husks of which they change each year. 275,000 ears of corn in total! It was pretty amazing - check out the pics. Inside the building is a basketball stadium. For college basketball it is the most preferred venue to play at outside of Madison Square Gardens!
Stopped at Sioux Falls along the way for lunch (massive waterfalls run through the towns mains gardens). Kids got time to ride their scooters along the bike paths and burn off some energy before making the long ......boring.......straight.......flat stretch of road that took us to the North Dakota border (State # 13) purely just for the photo of the State sign. 4 hours of my life of which I will never get back! **Tony & Dianne - David got his way! However we did see our very first Bald Eagle and a nice black Trans Am (with BANDIT) license plates.
Not wasting anytime in North Dakota - took the first right, drove for 10 minutes and headed into Minnesota (state #14)!
Headed east towards the I94, which will take us in to Minneapolis, and found a little place called Alexandria to set up camp for the night. Took us a while to find a campground and eventually had to settle on a ........RV park/campground which also doubled as the local "SHOOTING RANGE!"
The locals blasted off clay targets and shots for a few hours as we set up then left as the rain started to fall. Couldn't wait to hit the cities again for the luxury of a motel!! Had been told that there was a 'heat wave' heading towards Minneapolis for the w/end so off in search of good weather.
Packed up in the rain and headed into Minneapolis. Jackson said.... "Oh I can't do this camping thing anymore!" So long without Television and a real fridge - the kids had done well.
It RAINED ALL DAY in Minneapolis! Very warm but still rained. Minnesota is notorious for it's lakes. It has over 10,000 of them - seriously, it's written on their number plates!
Headed into "Mall of America" - this is America's biggest mall. It is all indoor and has over 300 - 400 shops, which surrounds around 7 acres of Nickelodeon Universe! Roller coasters, rides, Ferris wheels, characters to meet etc.
Day 2 - It RAINED ALL DAY in Minneapolis! Headed into "Mall of America" again. Jackson and I also got hair cuts. And then it THUNDER STORMED all night!
Day 3 - Woke up this morning and it was overcast and quite muggy. Locals and Weather presenters have been predicting such terrible heat conditions for today and into next week. Up around the 90 - 100 degrees. This only equates to 32 - 38 degrees, so bring it on we say!
It is similar to Cairns weather here, the best way to describe it. Went and found the Vikings NFL Stadium and then found some nice lakes near the city centre and walked around them. Around 6 - 8kms - Looked like Lake Wendouree but with more water and fancier houses!
Day 4 saw our absolute highlight of the Minnesota tour. Friends we had met at Yellowstone National Park had invited us into their home for an early "Thanksgiving dinner" (as we have to leave the country before the real one in November). It was amazing! I have never seen a bird so big......a 9kg TURKEY, with all the trimmings, finished off with PUMPKIN PIE! .....Mum I will get you the recipe. xoxo
A day filled with good food, good wine, good friends and even good weather! Mike and Becky (our hosts) had a lovely home in Plymouth which backed onto an open with 3 soccer fields, a baseball arena and ice hockey rink, where we played with the dog, went for a walk and played 'bean bag toss'. A huge thank you to them for having us into their home for the day/evening. If everybody we meet along the way are that nice, we have some more good times ahead.
Headed off from Minnesota this morning which now sees us in Green Bay (home of the Green Bay Packers NFL team) Wisconsin (State #15).
Stay warm,
Team Connor USA.
