Westward Ho - Day 5

Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Keystone, South Dakota

One of the things I enjoyed about driving was all the quirky little places we came across along the way - places that wouldn't warrant a visit on their own.

The town of Mitchell, South Dakota really loves corn! The high school sports teams are called the Kernels, and their mascot is an ear of corn. The main building in town is the Corn Palace (our guide said she'd had 14 yrs of dance recitals, Jr. & Sr. proms & her high school graduation there). It was originally built in the 1800's OUT OF CORN. Now it's brick - but it is covered in murals made entirely out of corn, which they change each year with the new harvest.

There are also 12 permanent murals inside.

It was a good place to stop and take a break. The gift shop was kind of fun - everything corn. We also got some buffalo jerky. I hate jerky, but tried it and found it to be much more tender and tasty than regular beef jerky - not than I'm planning on making a habit out of it, but it wasn't bad. We also got corn to pop in the microwave still on the ear, and candy corn - which my kids were delighted to see at a time other than Halloween (a good "car restlessness" bribe.)

Jacob & Emily were both not feeling good this day & had fevers. We encouraged them to rest in the car as we drove & listened to "The Indian in the Cupboard" book on CD. I kept them comfortable alternating Tylenol & ibuprofen. We were glad when we reached Keystone (Mt. Rushmore.) I was happy that we had happened upon another great motel - Holiday Inn Express. It must be close to brand new, because it was spotless and smelled great. Another bonus - they had 3 queen beds and allowed 6 people in one room - so for that night we saved monye not having to have 2 rooms.
The town is small and probably sustained 99.9% by the tourist trade. We were in a small canyon about 2 miles from Mt. Rushmore and the view from the window was of the gray rock face of the canyon, thick Ponderosa pines, and a small creek running alongside the road. The air felt like "the west" and I felt my stress melting away from me. I don't know why I live in New York, I am SO not a city person.

A light dinner for those who weren't feeling sick, and warm baths, clean pj's and bed for all. Rick gave Emily and Jacob blessings and we all settled down.

Overnight I heard a huge thunderstorm, and rain pelting the roof. I had been really looking forward to visiting Mt. Rushmore and was upset to think we were going to have to see it in the rain. However, we awoke the next morning to crystal clear skies, cool breezes and a glorious day. Emily and Jake both seemed much better.

After a prayer of thanks, we were on our way.