Today we drove out of Wisconsin,
through Minnesota and completed our journey at Chamberlain, SD. Along
the way we saw more corn growing than we imagined possible and we
stopped in Sioux Falls and saw the eponymous falls and in Mitchell to
see the Corn Palace and the Prehistoric Indian Village and Archedome.
We managed an early start from the
hotel as we had a long way to travel today, over 450 miles. We had
imagined that it would be just a boring slog, but as we drove through
Fort McCoy, just outside of Tomah, we felt a surge of excitement when
we saw the sign that read, Caution; Artillery Fire Crosses This Road!
After that it was corn fields, followed by corn fields, followed by
you get it. We crossed the LaCrosse River and then the Mississippi to
leave Wisconsin. Minnesota was boring, but Jilly found a couple of
possible interesting places to stop in South Dakota once we reached
the state.
Our first stop was Sioux Falls to see
the eponymous falls which we were quite impressed with. They are a
remnant of the last ice age which diverted the Sioux River and
exposed Sioux Quartzite which has been eroding for the last 14,00
years.
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| Sioux Falls |
From there we moved onto Mitchell to
see the Corn Palace, an homage to the main crop throughout the upper
plains. Murals have been created inside and ou of the building using
just the corn plant, amazing.
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| The Corn Palace, exterior mural changed each year |
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| Example of exterior mural |
Then we moved onto the Prehistoric
Indian Village in Mitchell that is being extensively excavated. The
village sat on a high bluff above a creek and was only discovered
about a 100 years ago. It dates back to around 1000 AD and was lived
in for about 100 years. The tribe was not nomadic and had an
agricultural and animal diet. They are able to undertake excavations
year round at the site as they have built a dome over one of the
lodge houses, the Archedome!
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