Today we started our day with about the worst breakfast
we have had this trip. The only thing
worth eating at our Hampton Inn was English Muffins and the paper plates. On
the positive note, the coffee was excellent.
It was cold all day today, the highest temperature
reaching 11 degrees but the wind howled all day at over 30 mph. We began the
day in Sioux Falls, SD, just south of I-90. We were soon in Minnesota which is flat land that
is primarily farmed for corn. There is one magnificent farm after another each
with large capacity grain silos.
Long trains carry the grain from the farm to its end
destination. One hundred car trains are not unusual. Babs caught this train
loading grain hopper cars at a mega silo.
The temperature at the time we took this photo was 7
degrees and the wind was blowing strong. How would you like the job these folks
have repairing the rails?
Our first stop of the day was Pipestone National
Monument, located in Minnesota. This is where native Americans have quarried a
hard red rock known as pipestone for hundreds of years. These magnificent
horses were right outside the boundary of the monument.
The Pipestone national Monument visitors center shows a
very interesting film which is rather entertaining and educational. It
demonstrates how the native Americans consider the places pipestone is quarried
ias sacred ground. The stone is located under many layers of hard quartz. Only
tribal members can mine the quarries and they do it totally by hand just as
their ancestors did. Inside the visitor’s
center are exhibits of both the raw rock and the pipes that have been fashioned
from the stone.
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| Actual working pipestone quarry |
Also located within the monument are gigantic boulders
that were deposited there by glaciers that once blanketed the land.
Leaving Pipestone, we headed north east to Wisconsin
for another National Park site. Like most plains states, southern Minnesota is dominated by
massive farms, grain silos, and wind farms.
Those massive silos are probably used to store grain
used at Ethanol refineries like this one.
These pink farm buildings caught Bab’s eye. They really
stand out in the snow!
Wind and blowing snow sometime made driving difficult.
At times the wind caused the blowing snow to appear that it was really falling like a blizzard.
An unexpected treat that Babs somehow missed in her
research was the world’s largest ear of corn located in Olivia, MN.
Our route took us through St. Paul, MN the state
capital, so Babs wanted to photograph the capital building. These photos are of
the downtown and capital.
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| Capital building |
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| We spotted this car |
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All along the route to Wisconsin, there were frozen
lakes. All of the larger lakes were
dotted with fishing huts on the ice. Some lakes had both cars and trucks on the
ice out in the middle of the lake.
When yoou're off the beaten path, you just don't know what treasures you'll find. Our last unanticipated local attraction was this giant
teapot welcoming you to Lindstrom, MN.
When we arrived at our hotel, I remarked that the 3
degrees outside was cold. The desk clerk said, “Heck we’re glad it has warmed
up. Monday the high was -18”. Tonight the low is forecast -21.
Dinner tonight was at the restaurant across the parking
lot from our motel. It is called the “Tippy
Canoe”. The food was great. The place was packed with people all playing bingo while they ate and drank. We also joined in on the game while we ate. Although we didn't win we had an
entertaining and enjoyable evening.
Tomorrow, Eastern Iowa and another National Park, of
course!
Babs
says: Just heard a report on TV regarding outdoor recess for
students. Guidelines: Anything 0 degrees and above the children go out. If wind chill is
-10 or greater degrees then stay in. Brrr!!
