Day 6 - Dexter, MN - Mitchell, SD

Day 6 - Dexter, MN - Mitchell, SD

Today we left The Windmill Hotel in Dexter, MN enroute to Pipestone National Monument. I finally figured out why it was called the Windmill Hotel. When I went out this morning, I realized that we were smack dab in the middle of a wind farm. (Duh!) The weather was threatening, but we only had about 15 minutes of rain.

 

 

With our itinery set we took off, but before we got there, we took a couple of detours to check out some Americana.

We passed the The Spam Museum, but we had only been in the truck for about 20 minutes so we opted not to stop since we knew we had a long day in the car. I guess I am going to have to put that on the itinerary for the next road trip.

 

Then we saw a sign that said their was a Golden Spike Monument at the next right, so we turned but the Golden Spike Monument they were talking about had nothing to do with the completion of the railroad.

 

 

Since we had stopped at this monument, we decided to stop at the Jolly Green Giant Statue in Blue Earth, MN which was only about 5 miles out of our way. It was kitchy, but I am glad I stopped to see it.

"Ho, Ho, Ho!"

 

 

Then it was off to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, MN. When we arrived, there was a whole bus load of Girl Scouts from Ohio in the gift shop. Ahggggggg! But they finally left and then Marnie and I decided it was time for lunch. So we went to Nellie's in town and had a wonderful roast beef meal. All home made. Once again I was in heaven!

 

 

After lunch we headed over to the Pipestone National Monument in Pipestone, MN. What a very interesting place. Pipestone is what the Native American culture quarries by hand to make their smoking pipes. The are is sacred and their was a wonderful walking tour around the quarries. There were to Native American artisans in the Visitor Center who were actually making pipes and it was awesome to see how it was done.

 

 

 

After we left Pipestone, we headed west into South Dakota and stopped in Mitchell, SD, home of the World's Only Corn Palace. The whole front and side facade of the building is made from corn. Each year a different theme is depicted. This year is Sports in America.

 

 

 

After walking around and through the Corn Palace we headed over to the Corona House, a Mexican Restaurant that was rated #1 out of 20 restaurants in Mitchell, SD. The rating was absolutely correct! We had a wonderful meal and it was delicious!

 

Tomorrow we are heading towards that Badlands and new adventures.