We woke up east of the Mississippi River but tonight we are sleeping well west of it. There have been quite a few changes in topography today. Our day began in Wisconsin, about 10 miles from the border with Minnesota. We crossed the entire state of Minnesota and about two-thirds of South Dakota today, where the posted speed limit is 75 mph. A lot of miles. And for anyone keeping track, and that would be just Lester, we have already logged almost 3000 miles on our little trip.
Yesterday we finished our second book on tape, "Moonwalking with Einstein", by Joshua Foer. It is an account of the year he spent training for and participating in the United States Memory Championship. During this time he learned to memorize completely random stuff - long sequences of random numbers, names and faces, the order of a deck or two of playing cards. He can do a full deck in about a minute - the best in the world can do a whole deck in about half that time. Apparently the U.S. is a memory backwater, the Europeans take it very seriously and we can't hold a candle to them. The process by which he memorizes this stuff utilizes something called the "memory palace" and is used by all the individuals crazy enough to join this "sport". The book was interesting but I wish I had read it earlier, when my kids were little. It should be required reading for all middle school kids. I really don't expect that they will participating in this event instead of soccer but it might help them remember the stuff they need to pass a History test! The book was an interesting look at a unique sub-culture and its inhabitants. Foer discusses the science and physiology of memory and introduces the reader to a few extreme examples of memories gone off the rails, both in a good and bad way. I also now know way more about the process by which the sex of newly born chicks is determined than I ever wanted to. The process is called sexing and it is done by sexing experts because (squeamish readers skip to the next paragraph) male chicks are considered worthless and discarded - used for purposes you probably don't want to know about.
This morning we started audio book three, "Triumph, the Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics". So far it is an interesting story but more about that at a later date.
In between listening to this book we we saw some pretty amazing (possibly too strong a word) stuff, like the SPAM Museum. Really. Below is the proof that the place exists. It was actually sort of crowded there. Lots of people seem to love their SPAM. Having tried a "spample" of the jalapeno SPAM, I do not count myself among them. For those among you who have never tried it, I'll try and describe the experience. It had very little taste, even with the jalapenos, but that was not the bad part. The texture was the bad part. Let's just call it...mushy. 'Nuf said about that packaged luncheon meat for the masses.
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| This is a wall compromised of approximately 3500 empty SPAM cans! |
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| Theater entrance to the movie "SPAM a Love Story" |
After our fill of the SPAM Museum (about 10 minutes) we headed to Blue Earth, MN. Home of the Jolly (ho-ho-ho) Green Giant! Don't know what the fascination is with packaged foods in Minnesota, but when in Rome...
He is approximately 55 feet tall. There is a ladder that one can climb to stand on the pedestal for a size reference and to see what is up his green skirt. However, since it was raining we didn't get out of the car, so use the trees and picnic table to help you gauge the craziness of his size. He's very big.
Our next stop was to be Blue Mounds State Park for a short hike. The rain had stopped by the time we arrived, the sun was out, it was looking good for a walk except the park was closed. Apparently there had recently been a flood so no hike.
We did, however, find this interesting road sign, can you spot the problem?
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| This sign is located at the intersection of a paved road and a dirt road completely surrounded by corn fields in every direction. |
If anyone can explain this craziness we would love to know how this works and why they use this system deep in the middle of nowhere.
We continued westward with a stop in Mitchell, South Dakota to view the Corn Palace. Our friend Brian was the first to bring this particular site to our attention and since we have seen it on other lists we decided a stop was required. We happened upon it as the new "siding" was going up but you will get the idea. Apparently once a year the town fathers, or whoever owns the corn palace, has a new artist cover the building in what are essentially corn cob mosaics. It is pretty amazing what can be done with corn as an art medium.
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| This is just one of the scenes, the building has about 10 such scenes all around a common theme. This year's theme is "Remember When". |
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| I'm guessing these mosaics are about 25 feet square but I didn't actually measure them as they were located at about the second floor level of the building. |
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| This display shows the process of creating a corn mosaic. |
Once you have seen the corn palace you have completed your visit to Mitchell, SD. We decided to push west towards the Badlands. Our drive had been pretty but the roads were desolate and the "towns" on the interstate ranged from rural to non-existent. So rather than wait to see what hotwire or hotels tonight would offer for tonight's lodgings, or more likely not offer, I went to a guide book and booked a room the old fashioned way, calling and asking. It took me three calls but I found us a room at the Triangle Ranch B&B. When I called Lyndy said it was a ranch and I'm not sure what I was expecting but we are indeed on a working ranch, in a beautiful Sears house from the early 1900s. It is simply wonderful. Last night we had a room just off the interstate with lots of truck noise. Tonight and tomorrow we have a quiet room in an area with no light pollution and lots of stars and nothing around to make noise except cows. Kenny tells us we might actually have a chance of seeing the northern lights. But since we arrived late, I'm guessing that will be an activity for tomorrow night.
Here are a couple of pictures we took on the way into the Triangle Ranch. I'll add more tomorrow but these should whet your whistle!
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| The view west as we drove down the 8 miles of dirt road through Buffalo Gap National Grassland, US Government owned grasslands complete with grazing cows. |
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| The view east of the rising moon from the front porch. |
This is a lovely spot we lucked upon - peaceful, quiet, beautiful. It makes Casa Patti & Chad (the Vermont house from the beginning of our adventure) feel like it's in the middle of a thriving metropolis.
Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and the Needles Highway tomorrow, among other things.
A&L
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