The Road to South Dakota

The road to South Dakota is truly a testament to God's beautiful creation because we pass through a variety of awe-inspiring landscapes on our way.   As we drive through state after state, scene after scene we find ourselves laughing as we independently, (yet around the same time), begin to sing "From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam..."

Ok, now that I have all of you out there singing along -  let's just go ahead and finish it all together...  "GOD BLESS AMERICA - MY HOME, SWEET HOME!!".  

(Can anyone object to asking our God to bless one of the many lands he has made?  Even if we are specifically asking Him to bless our homeland...I find it no different than asking God to specifically bless our own families.  (jmho)

Below are a few thoughts & descriptions as we pass from state to state:

Illinois - rolling green pastures framed by large blue sky; dotted with sprawling farms and red barns.  All make for a beautiful, artful canvas.

Wisconsin - as we pass through the pretty, rolling hills & valleys of the outskirts of Wisconsin Dells - suddenly the childhood song "Farmer in the Dell"  begins to make some sense.   (Yes - once again we break out in song as we drive through this wonderful countryside).

Of course along the way, we must stop and purchase not just one, but several, delightful cheeses at Ehlenbach's Cheese Chalet.

Before long we find ourselves eating dinner at a restaurant aptly named "North and South". Not only named so because the husband of the couple who owns the establishment is from Minnesota and the wife from Texas; but because this menu clearly lives up to the name as well.   My Texas friends would be proud of the brisket served, (which the waitress brings us a free sample once she discovers we are from the South).

Yet one of our unique memories of Wisconsin will be the fun fact that a dear friend from back home, (Gloria Green), will actually pass us on the highway as we travel across Wisconsin.  Gloria is headed towards Green Bay for a gardening convention and I had told her to watch for us in case she passed us along the way.  Amazingly enough, she actually does!  How cool is that?

As we leave Wisconsin we experience for the first time the famous, northwest gusty winds while driving  "Beauty & the Beast"  (the name of our big 60 ft truck & RV rig).  Thankfully, we make it just fine...but nonetheless it is very stressful in the beginning.

Minnesota  -   As we cross over into Minnesota it is absolutely gorgeous!  Large, green, tree-covered hills frame the Missouri river as we drive across a magnificent bridge that connects Wisconsin to Minnesota.  It quickly becomes clearly obvious why this state boasts of it's "many islands".

The rest of the southern Minnesota landscape is not that much different from the mid-south, until we move further west.   Eventually we encounter breezes flowing through tall-grass prairies and big blue skies - which are dotted with occasional white windmills. Definitely picture perfect grassland!

It is windy as we leave Minnesota and we run into lots of road construction, (with narrow shoulders and these horrible metal bars straight down the middle of the two-lane), ... let's just say that it is definitely "white knuckle" for this rookie female driver. Needless to say, after a stout glass of much needed wine with dinner, I manage to sleep well that night.

Entering South Dakota - The first thing we notice crossing over into South Dakota, (immediately after the white knuckle road construction of MN), is the 80 mph speedy limit!  Oh my!!! Fortunately the roads are extremely flat and straight and the traffic is basically non-existence.

The highway is actually very peaceful as we travel, (thank goodness on a full tank), through the long, deserted road to our night's destination.  The thousands of billboards that line the flat, straight highway provide much needed entertainment - all of which are practically sitting on the ground (seriously - because the landscape is so flat).

Especially notable are the well renowned billboards advertising "Wall Drug", built in 1931.(Actually, the first billboard we noticed for this historical site was 355 miles away in Minnesota).  My brother-in-law, James Draper, once used the vast marketing strategy for this landmark (which originally advertised "free ice water" to parched travelers), as a great illustration in a sermon.  As you can see the draw is now 5 cent coffee.

As we drive farther into central South Dakota one can easily recognize the beautiful prairie land which boasts as being "the home of the great author Laura Ingalls".   Rolling hills that go on forever and small towns occasionally situated in the valleys below.

We finally reach our destination of Midland, SD for a two-night layover.  On Sunday we attend a small, wonderful church in the heart of Midland (population of 101, if you count dogs & cats).  Later that afternoon we explore Midland's call to fame - a nearby 1880 historic town replica and enjoyed a beautiful sunset which God blessed us with that night.

More to come as we pack up and head to the black hills of South Dakota. We plan to spend several days exploring magnificent & historical sites along the way.

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