The Heartland

This portion of our trip should be entitled, "The Heartland" for a couple of reasons. First, it truly is the heartland of America...down to earth, continuing to welcome peoples of all nations, and rich with farming traditions. Second, it is the home of my mother's birth; therefore, a "heart"land for me.

We left the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota and continued East through the Badlands to Wall Drug of Wall, South Dakota. For miles prior to arriving in Wall, the billboards boast that Wall has everything one could possibly desire: 5 cent coffee--free for honeymooners; Western wear; Sheriff on duty; Silver dollar display; Homemade pie; and a Shooting Gallery, among others. As you can see, Wall Drug also had a life-sized Jackalope which allowed Jan to realize her lifelong dream of riding one! HA The Badlands are just that. Not many redeeming qualities there. And, of course, once we got close to the middle of South Dakota, we had to visit the Corn Palace. The outside is decorated with various types of corn and husks to create historical displays...yes, all in corn. And much to our dismay, the polka dancers were on their lunch break when we were there. Truly, I would have loved to have seen them all dance with their flippy skirts and shiny shoes! On to more sophisticated musical pursuits...we toured the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. You could have blown us over with a feather when we saw the historical collection before us. A couple of Stradavarius violins, many beautifully painted harpsichords, Martin and Gibson guitars, and a variety of international instruments could be seen...and heard. The museum provided audio players so we could hear each instrument's sound as we toured. All in South Dakota! Dexters: You really must go there some day. We'd had a long day, but thanks to the Saligers, we went to Chili's that night for dinner in Sioux City, Iowa. But we didn't know where we were going to lay our heads that night. Well, as luck would have it, we saw a bunch of RVs across the river from Chili's. To our complete bewilderment, the campground was in Nebraska...across the wide Missouri! So, we're able to add Nebraska to our list of states, after all! Nothing like camping right on the river with a riverboat/casino flashing its neon all night. The reflection was beautiful and the campground pristine.

The next day, we headed for Popejoy, Iowa, the home of my mother's family. Aunt Carol has lived in the same house for 85 years. One might think she's led a sheltered life, but, no, she's traveled extensively and is very sophisticated. We parked the camper right in the front yard and hooked into her electricity. It was wonderful smelling the rich soils of Iowa again. There's something about that particular moisture that allows my brain to reach into its deepest recesses for good memories. For those of you who truly know me, my memories are mostly of food! HA And we made good food memories again while we were there! Aunt Carol arranged for Cousins Bob & JoAnn and Second Cousin, Barbie & her husband, Frank, to meet us at a great restaurant one night for dinner. I hadn't seen Barbie since she was 16 and I 18. She looks the same and, after all these years, we've discovered we have some things in common...older husbands (!) and cats (she has 30!). For my birthday, we also went for great Chinese food, then JoAnn had us back to her home for birthday cake. Thank you all for making me feel so special. Another unexpected historical note in Iowa are the Civil War Memorials. Neither Clint nor I really thought about the Civil War veterans from states like Iowa...We spent four days in Popejoy and enjoyed every minute of it...even the unexpected thunder, lightning, and pouring rain.

Then it was on to Minnesota and the SPAM Museum in Austin. But not before a final stop in Iowa to take some photos of beautiful Clear Lake for our friend, Bobbie S. The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake will forever be known as the town where Buddy Holly, Richie Vallens, and the Big Bopper gave their final concert prior to their airplane crash. But I'll remember it as my mom's dance hang-out in the '30s where she listened to the likes of Frank Sinatra when they toured through Iowa. Well...what can I say about SPAM? It's certainly a food I ate a lot in my childhood. Mother would slice it thinly, dip it in egg and cracker crumb, then fry it. I'd slather it in mustard and it was so yummy. I haven't had it in years, though. The museum is very nicely done with lots of historical information regarding SPAM's use during the war years, both in the U.S. and in England. And did you know that Hawaiians eat more SPAM than any other state or country? From there, we continued East through Minnesota to Winona. Winona is on the Mississippi River and now is a very successful college town. But, there is evidence that Winona has always been successful. Its architecture is amazing...spires so high I couldn't photograph them, mansions so large they wouldn't fit in the camera frame. Winona also offered more thunder, lightning, and rain through the night.

But the next morning, Saturday, September 27, dawned bright and sunny as we crossed the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. My friend, Jean, is from a gorgeous area of Wisconsin called The Dells. Her actual town is Reedsburg. Jean: Do you recognize anything in one of the photos? We walked through the village of Wisconsin Dells and found it harkened back to the '50s kitschy beach towns and touristy areas. We've never seen so many miniature golf courses and water slides! Truly a fun place for families. We had fun there, too. The International Crane Foundation is based in Baraboo and we happened to arrive on the one day a year that they offer guided tours to learn about the cranes. We learned so much and found the whooping cranes to be beautiful. We were lucky to get one of the last camping spots in the county that night at Mirror Lake. Luckier, still, because our camping neighbors invited us to share their campfire and conversation...not to mention their booze...that night. We learned that if a Wisconsin campsite doesn't offer a full bar, the campers must be from out of state! What a great group of Wisconsinites we met that night. Bright, hard-working, fun-loving young people. They tell us that if a Wisconsinite leaves to live elsewhere in the U.S., a huge percentage of them return. I can certainly understand why. Wisconsin is beautiful and well-tended. (As I write this, I'm in a gorgeous public library in Kenosha.)

One of the young people we met, Darren, suggested we take a jet boat trip up the Wisconsin River through The Dells the next day. So we did. And we were ever glad! What a hoot! Our captain, Dylan, opened up that baby to 45 mph, then put it into a 360 degree spin! Whoooeeee!!! We were the only guests on his boat and he gave us a thrilling ride! He'd go slowly so we could catch some photos of the pretty scenery, then step on the gas until we were flying. All of a sudden, he'd put on the brake and we'd get whoooooshed with water! I haven't giggled that hard in a long time! Then it was time to head through the artistic areas of Wisconsin to see Taliesin (Frank Lloyd Wright's home) and The House on the Rock (it's just that).

Today, we went to the Jelly Belly Factory where that Chism bought $13.00 worth of Jelly Bellys--that silly! And now that I'm about to close, we're heading north into Milwaukee to go to Etzel's Polka where we'll find...well, we're not sure what we'll find...it just sounds interesting. 'Til next time...