Day Eight - An "A"-Maize-ing Day

One of the benefits of driving the Model A's is that you get to talk to people who come by to look at the cars. This morning as we were packing up a young fella (Dan was his name) stopped to check out the cars. He really liked the Model A's and said he had a 47 chevy...I told him that was alright, I would still talk to him. He lived near Mankato so I asked him about back roads heading towards South Dakota. He offered a few routes that would get us on to RT's 30 & 34. All I can say is if you are ever driving your Model A between Minnesota and South Dakota this is the route to take. Great for the Model A's, no traffic, little if any hills and plenty of wide open spaces.

I was impressed with one railroad trestle we passed that was built out of timbers. I expected to see a steam engine roaring by.

Driving along at Model A speeds we were blown away (literally) with the vastness of the corn and soybean fields. If corn is King around here, then Soy is Queen as these fields are wonders of modern farming. And they went on for hundreds of miles. Dick and I marveled at the huge tractors and other harvest equipment displayed at the dealers along the way. Nan seems to find the storage facilities kind of like folk art...to me they looked like spare parts for the Tin Man.

We were cruising along looking for a place to take a break, when out of the blue we see a sign to the End Of The Line Railroad Museum in Currie, MN. A quick turn off the road and we were there. What a quaint little place this was. It started out as a 4-H project and now is a full blown museum to pay homage to the trains impact on the area. It may not be on the scale of the National Train Museum in Scranton, PA but it sure showed life as it was at the turn of the 20th century. It was a perfect stop.

The rest of the day was focused on making it to Chamberlain,SD. Along the way we noticed the switch from farming to ranching. The fields of corn and soy had changed to large cattle ranches. It was no surprise that we also saw more wind turbines...the wind is relentless. It would be interesting to find out how much energy they produce for the local community.

By late afternoon we were well into South Dakota and we were cruising on RT 34 heading to our destination of Chamberlain for the night. The route down from the Crow Creek Indian Reservation (RT 50) was spectacular. The road followed the Missouri River from the high bluffs. What a sight.

We arrived in Chamberlain and checked into the hotel just about the time a Tornado warning was posted on the TV. We unpacked and then went outside to see the sky really churning. Thunder in the distance warned us that a storm was approaching. Given that the weather may contain hail, Dick and I moved the Model A's under the motel portico, just in case. The storm got closer, lightning was everywhere and then the Tornado Sirens went off. OK, time to seek some cover. Thunder and lightning was popping everywhere. The trees were whipping back and forth and the hail came as part of the torrential rain. The power went out for a minute and the little kids in the lobby were whimpering. The actual storm was over in a short time and the sun came back out. It was quite a end to the day that's for sure.

For those keeping track today we put on about 350 miles. Tomorrow we will be in Rapid City to take in the sights of the Badlands and Black Hill National Parks.