So we started on our way towards Mount Rushmore only not too particularly early this time. We weren’t in any real hurry to see it, aside from getting there before sundown. We were leaving from a motel in Cody, Wyoming and as we wound through the windy roads of the Big Horn Mountains we started to see fresh snow. Our first instinct was to think that it had snowed last night, which it probably did there. Then as we continued to climb up the mountain, we saw something else that had me slightly concerned: two cars coming down with snow on them. So upward we climbed and we eventually came to a totally white landscape with snow blowing in pretty strongly. Luckily the roads were clear enough for travel and we made it all the way up and then all the way down.
After our last glimpse of snow the trend was pretty much the same as far as driving went the next few days. Farm, farm, farm, get gas, switch drivers, farm, farm, farm, gas, lunch, new driver, farm, farm. At least, this is how it began in South Dakota and then continued through Minnesota, Iowa and a small part of Illinois. This was of course broken up by a couple of visits to Mount Rushmore and the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. Mount Rushmore was definitely a disappointment, but I am glad I saw it so that I could say that I saw Mount Rushmore. First off, the faces are only about 60 feet from chin to the top of the head and they don’t even take up that much of the mountain face. After having just visited Glacier National and Yellowstone I found myself wondering what it may have looked like without those faces being carved in.
We decided to stop and take a look at the Crazy Horse statue nearby which is supposed to be the biggest statue of a single person in the world. It is also entirely privately funded and has not made much progress in the past 30 years. There is about a rough outline and nothing else. After all this, we ate nearby and then drove on in search of a campsite.
As we drove, we began to see signs for a place called Wall Drug. Apparently it is the largest drug store in the world and a first class tourist trap. Here are 5 of the THIRTY signs we saw:
Kids love Wall Drug!
New T-Rex at Wall Drug!
Free ice water at Wall Drug!
Free coffee for veterans at Wall Drug!
Homemade pie at Wall Drug!
After we made it through this mess of signs we camped out for the night in what was very calm weather with fantastic stars.
We woke up the next morning relatively late again (we didn’t set up camp until around 10:45 the previous night) and then set off for Dyersville. We exited South Dakota into Minnesota briefly enough to stop for lunch and enjoy their fantastic accents. We then dipped into Iowa where we would search for the field of dreams.
Now, the one thing I absolutely love about the Field of Dreams is that it has refused to become a tourist trap. There are signs that will lead you there, but there is no “Field of Dreams Hotel” nor a “Field of Dreams Grill and Bar”. There is a gift store, and you drive through an actual neighborhood to get there and yes, the property is still privately owned and he does continue to grow corn in the outfield. There is also no required donation. All this being said, we arrived just after “closing time” which basically meant that there was no one there playing on the field (yes they let you play on it) and the gift shop was closed. We walked over to a display case to read some on the movie and the farm and then we all ran the bases since we didn’t have a bat nor ball. We climbed the homemade bleachers too and got to see where Kevin Costner carved in “Ray loves Annie” in the middle of a heart in the movie. I know it sounds weird, but the trip to see the Field of Dreams was way more enjoyable than Mount Rushmore.
We climbed back into the car and looked back towards some pretty ominous skies from the west. Luckily, we were continuing east. We drove on into Illinois and had planned to camp in Lena, but as we listened to the radio we heard a severe weather warning issued and decided it would be best to drive a little past there and find an actual hotel or motel. We found one in Rockport and woke the next morning to hear that Lena was hit by a tornado. Good call by us.
