South Dakota and Minnesota

Day 4: Rapid City, Wall, Winner & Reliance


Lori has many relatives in South Dakota, so our itinerary includes three days for visiting South Dakota's charms and jewels.






Continuing our way east from Rapid City, we stopped at one of South Dakota's charming places: Wall Drugstore. There are signs for miles advertising all of the ameneties such as free ice water and 5¢ coffee. But for some reason, I don't understand, they don't advertise the delicious donuts that they make fresh daily and serve up warm.  With donuts and postcards in hand, we continue our trek east making a detour through the Badlands.

At the entrance to the Badlands National Park, we saw bison and prairie dogs. Driving on, we stopped at the first viewpoint to take in the vast and beautiful scene. The stricking geologic deposits contain one of the world's richest fossil beds.

At one of the pullout areas, we stopped to observe the huge prairie dog city. They were everywhere, and "barking" to one another so loudly, that Tsuki heard them and almost jumped through the truck window. How she likes to think she could actually catch one of the critters.

From the Badlands, we hightailed it to Winner where Lori has two sets of Aunts and Uncles. After a

short visit, we traveled on to Reliance where Lori's Aunt Gladys, and cousins Keith and Kent ranch is. This family run ranch was established in 1909, and the Stewart family continues to work the land to this day. Keith's son, Sheldon and Kent's son Grant are working alongside their dads and look likely to carry on the family business.

Aunt Gladys took us out to the Golden Buffalo Casino on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation where we enjoyed a prime rib dinner that was big enough to provide lunch the next day.

Day 5: Reliance to Sioux Falls

A "short" drive to Sioux Falls from Reliance. In Sioux Falls is Lori's cousin Lisa, daughter of Aunt Gladys. We had a wonderful visit with Lisa and her husband Duane. Their daughters Jamie and Janna joined us for supper. We also got to meet the grandkids: Jaden, Keegan and Linden. All three were cute, friendly and rambunctious as only kids can be. Duane took us out on a ranger drive through their 40 acres of oak forest. Tsuki followed along with us, and got to chase the deer and turkey we saw along the way.  She was pretty tired by the end of the short trip.

Day 6: Sioux Falls to Minneapolis

We crossed into Minnesota and were able to place the next state sticker on our USA map (Thanks Ben!).  Stopped for lunch in a Nature Park near Mankato, and then rolled along the shore of Elysian Lake, rimmed by spacious vacation homes. Paradise indeed.





Driving into Minneapolis, we saw the first full-scale city since we left Portland. Traffic, smog, lines at restaurants...

We arrived at Matt and Naomi's house in
Minneapolis in time for dinner. Naomi is George's niece. We went to a local trendy restaurant, Wise Acre Eatery, recommended by Jane & Michael Stern. We had roasted beet humus, pea salad, locally-made summer sausage, and thick-cut smoked bacon. This town is almost as foodie-friendly as Portland. Mathew and Naomi have a lovely home, and we availed ourselves, for the first time in a week, of an indoor bed.


Today we enter terra incognita, and we proceed across Wisconsin into the Upper Peninsula or Michigan. Tonight, the shores of Lake Superior!