"Through the Ages" Corn Palace 2010

The Corn Palace is still considered to be one of the best basketball arenas for High School basketball in the upper Midwest. When it isn't hosting a game, the arena floor is the home of a large gift shop, where tourists can find everything from corn on the cob holders to fine jewelry.

The corn murals on the outside of the palace are removed at the end of August and the new  facade is completed by the beginning of October. Designs are created according to that year's chosen theme, with thirteen different colors of naturally colored corn, grains, and native grasses, including red, brown, black, blue, white, orange, calico, yellow and green.

The World's Only Corn Palace of Mitchell, South Dakota is worth visiting. It is easy to get to from Interstate 90 and the best views are from the outside. If you do want to go inside, street parking is easy to find and admission is free.

Wall, South Dakota may be in "the middle of nowhere" on the edge of the Badlands, but is it truly nowhere? Wall Drug's marketing has made this tiny town famous not only in the United States, but worldwide.

It all began in the 1930s when Ted and Dorothy Hustead bought the "original" Wall Drug Store. Ted was a recent graduate of pharmacy school and was ready to move forward with his career as a pharmacist. The two of them spent their first five years struggling in the town of just over 300 people, when Dorothy had an idea:

"I think I finally saw how we can get all those travelers to come to our store."

"And how's that?" [Ted] asked.

"Well, now what is it that those travelers really want after driving across that hot prairie? They're thirsty. They want water. Ice cold water! Now we've got plenty of ice and water. Why don't we put up signs on the highway telling people to come here for free ice water? Listen, I even made up a few lines for the sign:

"Get a soda . . . Get a root beer . . . turn next corner . . . Just as near . . . To Highway 16 & 14. . . Free Ice Water. . . Wall Drug."

They created their signs, putting them up along the highway on the following weekend. The signs worked. Travelers started stopping in before Ted and his son could get back! The store has never struggled for visitors since. 

Today, travelers are enticed by 5 cent coffee and free ice water at Wall Drug advertised on signs and billboards as far away as Paris, Kenya, London, and the Taj Mahal. In fact, people who have never been to the United States know more about Wall Drug than any other roadside wonder. Hundreds of billboards line the east and west approaches of Interstate 90; I saw the first one when we were in Idaho headed east.

O.K., we know the place exists, but what is it? It is a drug store, a cafe, a photo stop, and a place to get out of the car and stretch your legs. Honestly, it is difficult to describe; this place has a lot going on. A life-size T-rex roars every five minutes or so, alternating with a make-believe mine blast on the other end of the hallway, not to mention the six-foot-tall rabbit on wheels, a miniature Mount Rushmore, and a giant saddled jackalope! 

Day 2 on the road to Charlotte was a shorter, more relaxing one. We left Gillette at 6:30 a.m. Mountain Daylight time, and headed back to the interstate via the gas station. While we were fueling and washing off bug guts, another driver pulled in and immediately asked, "Which one of you served?"

This was the 4th time someone had talked to me at a gas station in two weeks. Since you haven't seen my car, I should tell you that its back window has a yellow ribbon cling that reads, "Support Our Troops," a "Johnson & Wales University" cling, and an "82D Airborne" sticker. On the passenger side of the car, behind the rear door, I also have a magnet from a friend that has the date he was Wounded in Action, Airborne Jump Wings, and a Purple Heart. It turns out they do draw attention, which I find quite satisfying.

Anyhow, at this gas station, I only talked about my dad since he was there. The man who had started the conversation wanted to personally thank whoever had served, so I'm glad my dad was there with me.

The Day 2 Highlights Included:

1) Continuing the license plate game - I started over to see how many I could see each day. I saw 37 different plates again; a lot of duplicates from day 1, but overall I was getting closer to seeing all 50!

2) Corvettes. I have never seen so many in my life! When we got into South Dakota I started noticing cars on the west bound side, REALLY nice cars. Then, I realized ALL of those really nice cars were Corvettes. I decided to start counting after Dad and I talked on the 2-way radios. We were both seeing Corvettes headed west. I was up to 13 when a group of 32 came cruising along. By the time we stopped at the Missouri River in Chamberlain, South Dakota, I'd counted over 170 and I'd probably seen just as many before I'd started counting. At the river, we found out there was a Corvette convention in Spearfish, SD and that 300 of them had been in Sioux Falls the night before. I'll be able to recognize a Corvette from a mile away without any trouble!

3) Antelope and Deer... "Home, home on the range..." Sorry.

4) My music collection... I listened to a lot of things including the Zac Brown Band's Foundations album since my friend Rob had mentioned Highway 20 Ride in an e-mail I received from him that morning.






5) Stopping at Wall Drug in Wall, SD, the Missouri River in Chamberlain, SD, & The Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD... We were tourists.

The Missouri River as seen from the Rest Stop at Chamberlain

6) Arriving, at the end of the day, in Pipestone, Minnesota, and seeing my mom for the second time since Easter, when she left to take care of my grandmother.

My father and I set out from our home in northwest Spokane, Washington at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, in two separate vehicles - my Chevy Malibu and his Chevy S-10 Pickup.

As we drove east from Spokane, we traveled along Interstate 90 out of Washington, through the mountainous panhandle of Idaho, across the exceedingly vast state of Montana, and then dropped down into Wyoming. 796 miles and only 4 stops later we arrived in Gillette, Wyoming for the night. 

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” 
– Lao Tzu

The single step at the beginning of a journey is often the most difficult. My current journey's first major step was making the decision to apply for school after being out in the "real world" for four years post-high school. 

Choosing Johnson & Wales was the easy part; I knew I wanted to study at JWU for years. The issue was timing. When does a person voluntarily uproot herself? As it turned out, summer of 2010 was my time. I spent an entire year, from August 2009 to July 2010, completing obligations, transferring responsibilities, and preparing to change my life with a cross country move from Spokane, Washington to Charlotte, North Carolina. 

This move was different from all the others; I'd volunteered to go, and I would be on my own. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but mostly I was excited to move forward with my life and have the opportunity to spend time on my own endeavors.