Iowa 80

Our first stop in Iowa was Iowa 80, the world’s largest truck stop, or so they claim.  It was definitely the biggest truck stop I have ever seen.  It was almost like a little mall, with different rooms for trucker merchandise, clothing, gifts, souvenirs, and a convenience store.  There were multiple restaurants, fast food and sit down, showers, a theater, and even a chiropractor.

We continued our drive, stopping at the largest frying pan in Iowa.  It was a quick stop, but fun to see the oversized pan.  In the interest of time, we skipped the stop at the Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption.  The change in route ended up taking us into Minnesota.  We ran into more wind issues as we crossed the state.

We started to see windmill farms in Illinois, with many more of them in Minnesota.  Wind farms are controversial, but I enjoy them.  There is something very peaceful about the smooth movement of the blades.  It was fascinating to see the alignment change as we drove by, with multiple windmills lining up and spinning together perfectly for a few seconds before the view changed as we moved.

Our last stop before getting to the campground was where Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota join.  It was a non-descript spot at the corner of two country roads.  There was a round marker on the ground at the actual spot where the states meet and a marker nearby to commemorate the spot.  We arrived just before sunset.  As we drove to the intersection, we noticed a hot air balloon in the western sky.  It was really cool seeing it floating there, surrounded by the beautiful orange hues, especially being the second balloon we saw in two days.

Palisades State Park

As we returned to the car, Chris spied a pheasant in the field next to us.  We followed the country roads the short distance to Palisades State Park.  It was fun to see the truck’s shadow beside us as the sun lowered in the sky directly to our west.  The sky took on the beautiful colors of sunset as we approached the park.  The last road was a washboard dirt road.  Just before we made it to our destination, the check engine light came on.  Chris stopped, allowing me to witness another pheasant crossing the road in front of us.

We checked in, bought two bundles of firewood, and headed to our site.  We drove around the entire campground loop and could not find our site.  We looked online for a map and realized that we had passed it without realizing it.  We were in a primitive camping section before the main loop.  We picked the flattest spot and set up camp.

While we enjoyed the fire, we noticed a few raccoons spying on us.  Chris shined the flashlight at them, which just made them freeze.  He had to yell at them before they crept back into the woods.  We could hear them fighting not far from us.  Curiously, raccoons sound like cats when they fight.  After one of the yowls, we suddenly smelled the very distinct odor of skunk spray.  Apparently, the raccoon had been fighting with a skunk and got blasted.  We could only hope that neither the skunk nor the stinky raccoon would come near our tent.

It was a cold night, but we slept comfortably with the wool blanket we bought for the trip.  That was probably the best $40 we have spent on cold-weather equipment.  For the third time on our trip, we heard coyotes howling in the distance.

In the morning, I came out of the bathhouse to find Chris using a turkey call on his phone.  I was curious until I saw the flock of turkeys nearby.  It looked like a momma with her five babies.  The young male delighted me when he kept puffing up like a tough guy.

Our first stop of the day was at the auto parts store to check on the engine light.  The only codes that came up were the same ones that our Hum device had previously alerted us about.  We were under the impression that the issue was not big, just affecting our gas mileage, and planned to address it once we were settled in Colorado.

Sioux Falls

We spent the rest of the morning playing disc golf at Tuthill Park Disc Golf Course and then went to see the sculptures and falls.  A one-mile stretch down the main street in downtown Sioux Falls is dotted with various sculptures from all over the country.  We even found one that came from Virginia.  The SculptureWalk ends at Falls Park, where the river tumbles over Sioux Falls.

The falls were beautiful, crashing and cascading over the rocks before plunging below.  A train crossed a trestle as we were looking at the falls.  There was a walking bridge across the river.  The maps we had seen on our walk were not in the park.  We only had an hour and a half on the parking meter, so we chose not to cross the river as we could not remember how the path went.  As it turns out, the walking trail crosses the river and follows it on the other side, crossing back over further down.

Before returning to the car, we walked two blocks toward the river to a small park where we found the Statue of David.  We made it back to the car with 15 minutes to spare.  We returned to Palisades State Park, where we found the most spectacular rock cliffs rising above the river just behind our campsite.  The walls rising above the river were beautiful, with the sun setting in the distance.

A Fun Night

When we returned to our campsite, we found that we now had neighbors.  A couple was staying in the cabin at the other end of our little field.  They invited us to come over to play cornhole.  Chris was hesitant to play as he had tweaked his back earlier in the day.  I gave him some ibuprofen for the pain.  He decided that it would be nice to visit with them even if he wasn’t up to playing.

Once the ibuprofen kicked in, he changed his mind.  We played a few lively games with Megan and Gabriel.  We started playing with couples as teams and then switched to girls against boys.  The girls conquered the guys in a devastating victory.

As it grew dark, we moved to the campfire.  Megan and Gabriel cooked up brats, which they shared with us.  We had a great time with our new friends.  Later, another car pulled into our area.  We saw a red light walking around the campsites.  Chris and Gabriel went to see what was going on.  It was a stealth camper looking to see if any firewood had been left in any of the empty campsites.  The guys invited him to join us.

Connor had been on a month-long trip, camping with his dog from Vermont to as far west as he could without getting into the wildfires.  He was near the end of his trip.  Chris heated the Pesto Alfredo Turkey Casserole we had planned to eat for dinner, and we shared it with everyone.  It made me very happy that everyone enjoyed the food.

We enjoyed the stories of Connor’s trip and talked until very late before retiring for the night.