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| A long day's ride in 100F |
We got off to a good start on Thursday morning, in welcome cool and a little fog. As always, we packed a little too much though fortunately we're limited by the space in the Corvette. I left behind the winter jacket that I usually have on an early fall road trip. Not that it's fall yet ... but a few leaves were turning already and I am a Minnesotan after all, always aware of the possibility of a big chill.
We drove to I90 through the Minnesota countryside, past horse farms and late summer crops; the vistas around Windom took my breath away, stretching "à perte de vue" toward the blue sky. The buildings of turkey farms seemed empty, maybe because of the bird flu scare months ago that wreaked havoc on turkey flocks throughout the Midwest. The fog lifted as we got away from the Minnesota River and we turned right on I90 toward Worthington, deep in Republican country, so I was surprised to see virtually no election signs.
We were welcomed to South Dakota at about 12:30 and Bob was soon happy with the 80 mph speed limit on much of the freeway. He was soon on a mission to reach Rapid City by cocktail hour. There would be no leisurely photo ops along the Missouri River in Chamberlain. We sped past Mitchell, where I had been hoping to capture a few shots of the Corn Palace and barely saw the signs for Wall Drug. We whizzed past minor attractions. Temperatures rose above 100F and stayed that way; we had a little rain, not enough to refresh. Somewhere along the way we lost an hour and I was afraid that Bob would look at the extra hour as an opportunity to extend the driving day. He was gaining steam as the hours passed, while I was a little less lively with every mile.
We stopped for tourist information about 40 miles from Rapid City, and my sociable husband chatted up the 80+ hospitality guide (excellent, by the way) while I wilted beside him. However, even he was tired when we stopped at the first hotel that seemed acceptable from a freeway sign: $79.95/night for the Fairfield Marriott at Exit 61. We got a king room ($142 with AAA discount). We had the sandwiches I'd made for lunch (peanut butter and jelly for Bob; cheese, tomato, cucumber, green pepper for me), washed down with Johnny Walker Red.
No view but the beautiful South Dakota sky and traffic on the freeway. We didn't budge all evening and got a pretty good night's sleep.
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