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By Katrina Kane, on July 17th, 2007 I took a drive over to Madison, to see my mail service there, MyDakotaAddress.com. Since that is listed as my “home” and my vehicles are registered there, I thought I ought to see it and be able to answer friendly questions about it. 😉
Madison is a very nice, decent size town with several large lakes nearby, state parks, a university nearby, and a great mail service. MyDakotaAddress.com receives and ships my mail anywhere, when I tell them to by email or phone, and they email me every day that they receive new email so I know what is there and can tell when mail needs to be sent or when it can wait. They also registered my vehicles for me by mail. I really enjoyed meeting the ladies, Terri and Beth. They were nice enough to let my buddy George hang out in our “home” for a bit as you can see.
 
Talk about picking a great location! Their office is right across from the Post Office and one block from the courthouse and library. Very smart ladies!
   
By Katrina Kane, on July 16th, 2007 Moved on over to the east side of South Dakota to Mitchell, home of the Corn Palace. This is much bigger than Sturgis, hot at the moment, and a nice, flat, easy drive from the west side. I crossed another time zone into Central time which made me later than expected. Oops!
I’m staying at Rondee’s RV Park behind the Days Inn, another Passport America park. I have now recouped the cost of my Passport America membership and will be reaping the gravy for the rest of the year at half price RV parks. Woohoo! Rondees seems to be run by the Days Inn. The wireless internet looks excellent here and you can purchase a day pass to the hotel’s indoor waterpark (pool, giant slide, buckets dumping water overhead, hot tub). The laundry room looks good. There is a Walmart and Cabela’s nearby and plenty of fast food joints and restaurants.
The Corn Palace is here and certainly worth a visit since it is free. Every year they pick a theme and spend $130,000 to redecorate the outside with corn. Corn is a big deal here with lots of corn fields and cattle. This decorating practice started way back in the early 1900s for an exposition and has continued to draw tourists. The corn murals are amazing. The Palace is also used for basketball games, conferences, world-class entertainment during the annual festival, etc. I also caught the Blues brothers hanging out here across the street at the local ice cream parlor. 😉
   
  
By Katrina Kane, on July 10th, 2007 One last weekend to explore western South Dakota and I did my best. I should mention that the 3 things I have seen here more than any other place are a) motorcycles b) horses c) deer.
Yep, these folks are totally motorcycle and horse crazy here. It is only about 3 weeks until the huge Sturgis Motorcycle Rally when the entire world of motorcycles descend on this small town, but year round you will see more here than anywhere else. This is also the home of true cowboys it seems with rodeos, trail rides, and horse camps offered everywhere. If you like horseback riding, you will find a place to ride here with your horse or a rental.
Beware signs marked for deer crossings or deer next X miles. They are not kidding. There are deer along the road all over between Wyoming and South Dakota so be careful. Don’t be surprised if a jack rabbit or a bison cross your path too.
Anyway, on to Ellsworth Air Base and the South Dakota Aviation Museum just past Rapid City. Being ex-Air Force myself, this was a treat for me and if you have kids, I highly recommend it. Hey, it’s free! Outside the museum are bunches of planes and their stories. I snapped all the pictures I could but don’t ask me to name them. I know my B29, B52,T38, and Cessnas but that is about it. They didn’t have an F4 like I worked on. The museum inside was interesting and the gift shop was fabulous.
Continue reading Ellsworth Air Base, Wall, the Badlands
By Katrina Kane, on July 3rd, 2007 Another weekend and another full day of sightseeing here in the gorgeous hills of South Dakota. You may need a map to plan your day but the roads and sites are so well marked that you sure don’t need one to find them.
I started off with the Crazy Horse Memorial which is the Indian answer to Mount Rushmore since they have heroes too. This is actually a work in progress which has been for quite some time. In fact, the original scuptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, died and work is being continued by his wife and 7 of his 10 children using books of his detailed plans and measurements he made sure to leave behind. At this time, you can see the face of Crazy Horse and the beginning of his arm. There is a large museum or art and indian culture there along with a fine restaurant, beautiful veranda over looking a water pool, indian crafts for sale, models of the scupture, and bus tours to the base of the memorial to watch the workers.
 
The scupture shows Crazy Horse pointing and answering a question put to him, “My lands are where my dead lie buried.” After seeing the original Black Hills treaty broken and the failure of indian agents to provide the food, tents, blankets etc. that were promised them if they lived on a reservation, Crazy Horse never signed a treaty and refused to live on a reservation. He was stabbed in the back and killed by an American soldier under a flag of truce.
Continue reading 1880 Train, Crazy Horse, Needles, Custer
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