The Corn Palace and Beyond!

(Not surprisingly, internet service is a little sketchy out here, so my posts may be a little less than timely. My apologies. Anyway...)

We're off to the Corn Palace! Definitely stop-worthy. Not the Taj Majal, but they sure tried. We met Cornelius the mascot and saw the movie on why it is there – they were in a battle with the nearby town of Plankinton who were erecting a Grain Palace in the late 1800's and the Mitchell-ite's were not going to be outdone. And apparently they weren't - because 100 years later there's a big shiny Cabela's at the Mitchell exit and bupkis at the Plankinton exit. Take that Palace O'Grain!

We spent about an hour at the Palace and had a great lunch at Teresa's Cafe. Teresa's was quite a hip oasis in this cowboy/western town and the frozen lemonade and chicken salad was delicious. We highly recommend it and it's on Facebook.

We did stop by the Cabela's because the were hosting a Quick-Draw Pistol competition, (and also because it was Cabela's). It appeared to be a national competition and they were indeed quick. I honestly couldn't tell if the shooters were in costume or they just always dressed like old west gunslingers. The women were dressed a little less flamboyantly except for one who looked like Mae West with a gun – not a good look in 100 degree heat.

Next, about a 3 hour trip to the Badlands area. First, we made a trip to the Minuteman Missile Launch Site. It is one of the newest National Historic Sites and was semi-interesting. They had a good movie for kids which explained the Cold War and why we had these missiles placed all over the West and a Jr. Ranger Program. Maddie got her picture taken with both Rangers - apparently a first, very exciting. We then made the short drive over to the actual Missile Silo. There wasn't a lot there, but there was an actual missile in the ground - viewed through a lovely skylight. They were not able to do a tour that day or else we would have been able to take the elevator down. That would have been cool, but it was still neat to see.

We decided to stop at Wall Drug before going into the Badlands Park. That turned out to be a good idea, because Wall Drug was as kitschy and commercial as promised but it was a fun stop. However, it really would have looked silly in comparison the the Badlands, so we're happy we did it first. Maddie got a cowboy hat, (green of course), and we picked up some homemade doughnuts for Sunday's breakfast – they were quite good. Maddie is still searchin for a real-live Jack-a-Lope.

Then we were off to the Badlands where we were staying for the night. Right past both Main Entrances to the park are scenic overlooks and they are both just spectacular. Driving in you see some of the formations in the distance but it's a very boring drive overall, so to pull in and see this incredible panorama of shape and color as far as the eye can see is overwhelming. The first sight of it doesn't even look real. We stopped at some more outlooks on the way to Cedar Lodge. We saw the prairie dog town and a big horn sheep and her baby. Half of the Badlands are prairie so we were going through a lot of that too. It was a fun loop.

We got to our cabin which was tiny, but had a bathroom and as they say, location, location, location. There are not many lodging options in or around the Badlands. Cedar Pass has these cabins and a campground. It's worth it to stay, because anything else would be a really long drive and not much better unless you drove over from Rapid City, which is about a 2 hour drive. Book these cabins early. There are only about 30. As tiny and as old as these cabins are, (at least 50 years old by my guess), they were immaculately clean. There was not a speck of dust or grime. John thought he'd lost his wedding ring and we searched the room high and low. Even around the beds and chairs were spotless. (John found his ring in his wallet, so we're still married.)

The lodge has a restaurant which was fine. Nice servers and simple food and frankly, no other options. By our third meal we were ready for a change, but grateful it was available. After dinner we were off to the Ranger led Night Sky Program. Now, I was very excited for this and went on and on to Maddie about all the stars and galaxies she was going to get to see. She's a city girl who is out like a light by 9p.m. most nights – she's only rarely seen fireworks, so this was going to be awesome. Well....it was a beautiful night, with just a few clouds and a big, brilliantly white moon to light up the entire sky. I think the Ranger was more disappointed than I was. All we could see was the big dipper and Mercury – and a beautiful moon! Oh well, we were definitely ready for bed. Sunday – more Badlands!