May 26, 2024 Sunday
Second
Day. Temperatures ranging mid 50’s to mid 70’s, heavy rain to partly sunny. 450miles,
6 3/4 hours. 920 miles/14 hours total driving. Left Janesville, WI 8:15AM CST. Arrived Brandon, SD 3PM CST.
33mpg. $3.45/gal small town gas
in MN.
Last night
was an adventure. The Quality Inn is a
wooden structure so we could hear the people above us moving around. A family arrived late in the evening and let
their very young children loose to run the halls and the parking lot outside
our window. They quieted down after
midnight. The AC had to be turned on but
it was a wall unit and so loud and difficult to regulate. Pat had sinus headache through the night and
when we awoke it was obvious with the big storm that had moved in. Mediocre breakfast included, ate very light
but coffee good.
Moving
westward along I90 west. We have not had
to pay any highway tolls since Illinois.
It rained very hard for the first 4 hours and careful with hydroplaning. Heavy dark gray skies but not conditions for
tornadoes. It is obvious WI has had
major rainfall, the ground is drenched, rivers high. Mostly mega farms with livestock and grains. Many Native American operated casinos of
small size. After Madison, WI moving
westward toward famous vacationing area, the Wisconsin Dells. This area has large natural eroded golden
sandstone sculptures and water features.
We would like to have stopped but the weather was not good for it. Maybe on the way home. We near the Wisconsin – Minnesota border.
State lines divided by the Mississippi River, the whole area is incredibly
impressive. The River is more than a
mile wide at this point with islands and with rain it is really high. There is a river barge with a load docked
along the shore. The River shoreline has
high sculpted sandstone bluffs. Along
the road is a continuous chain of pyramid shaped high hills joined together by
small valleys. They are heavily forested
but when an area is revealed it shows these are sandstone hills.
We enter
Minnesota, more mega farms for dairy and grains. We are traveling the southern tier of the
state just north of Iowa. AND there are windfarms, hundreds of
turbines. The older barns and local
country church look like Scandinavian architecture, reminiscent of those who
settled in this state. A lot of
Minnesotans live in Alaska. It might be
because of the land give away by the government in early days and Minnesotans
went for it. Many of the farms have the old prairie style
windmills near their houses. The soil
looks very rich and they have had heavy rainfall. The rain is lessening and patches of blue sky
begin to show. Of note, we have not
encountered much road construction and are surprised. Traffic continues to be fairly light. Partly due to weather and it’s Sunday in the
middle of long weekend?
We enter
over the border of South Dakota without much fanfare. The rest stop at the border (and at all state
rest stops) has a large replica of a Native American teepee. There are many reservations and tribal
identities in the state. They have grown
in political power and have a lot of clout in state and federal governance. We arrive in Brandon, SD. not far from Sioux
Falls. It’s a small town but has a
Holiday Inn Express along the highway.
The hotel is relatively new, with a pool, new, clean rooms and central
air. Nice new equipped fitness room;
excellent bike for Pat to use. Walked
next door to Tailgators, a large family style pub with many large TV’s with
sports playing. Everything else in the
area is pretty much closed, roll up the sidewalks on Sunday. Really loved the spinach artichoke dip app,
my taco salad was mediocre. Chuck’s
chicken wings were very hot sauced, he ate them all (2 lbs.). Clear skies and nice sunset to come. Anticipate continued no rain tomorrow. Our room is very comfortable with two large
queen beds, lots of pillows, central air and big bathroom. Anticipate good sleep tonight!
