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Looks like I left the midwest just in time!!
I was camped at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore about 15 miles from where the photo was taken.
--
Ron
I'm parked right in their driveway here. All the neighbors came over
for a tour. Saw my first clouds and rain for about a month today but
autumn is j u s t starting here.
Emma played in my laundry bag and Jackson gave me his "Churchill" look.
My plan is to leave at 6:00AM tomorrow and try to make it to Yorktown,
VA (550 miles) in one hop.
Didn't know but this state park has free wi-fi, too!
--
*Ron*
Yet another hot, gorgeous day.
Quite a change from Minnesota, leaves just beginning to turn here.
Hot: 85 and sunny today.
I'm camped back at Dunewood in Indiana National Seashore. It's a
holiday wkend and here there are no reservations, walkins only so I
got a site!
To warm the place up this morning I baked cinnamon buns in the oven
for breakfast.
Now I am deciding where to go from here. You can see it's really
autumn here. BUT supposed to be 75 today; 80 tomorrow so may be nice
to stick around.
Got to Wholesale Tires in Morristown and my tire was there so I
lowered the bad spare and they mounted the new one. While underneath I
noticed the tires were pretty cracked on the INSIDE; the side away
from the sun?! Not reassuring. Looks like I should replace them all
soon. Glad Zi got the spare!
4 miles from the tire place is pretty Sakatah Lake and I'm camped here
for the night. Really autumn here; a lot of leaves in the ground
already.
A small museum showing what the Indians made from pipestone and how.
This was a sacred place and tribes all over North America traded for
this stone which is mainly only found here. Many legends about how
it's the blood of their ancestors.
The quarries here are still being worked but are all filled with water
now due to the recent flooding. Glad I missed that. I watched a
couple of them pumping one out.
One was not flooded and you can see the pipestone. A trail runs along
a stream with quarries and rock formations like " The Old Man". A tall
pillar is Lovers Leap. Some inscriptions by an early explorer in 1800's are in the rocks along with some 1880's graffiti! It ends at a waterfall.
I also had to wash clothes today and the camp laundry is being painted
so I drove into town.
Next stop: Mitchell, SD, home of the Corn Palace!
Since 1892 they've had a Corn Palace here. It's wood underneath but covered in corn husks and ears. Inside is an arena for sports events and concerts.
Just follow the feet! "Corny" lives across the street. Even the lamp posts have corn.
Then I stopped in Sioux Falls, SD to see the USS South Dakota Monument. The South Dakota was the only ship in every major WWII Naval battle. The state couldn't afford to move the whole ship here so only bought pieces and then poured a concrete outline of the ship. The bow guns are now permanently aimed at a poor Walgreens.
A museum is in the center but CLOSES after Labor Day!?
Now I am 50 miles or so NE of Sioux Falls in Pipestone RV Park, Pipestone, MN. I picked this because it's half price with my Passport America card and it has wi-fi. It's next door to Pipestone National Monument: http://www.nps.gov/mwr/pipe/ which I'll see tomorrow.