600 miles -- Yow-za! We left out of K-1 around 10:30 and pulled into Sioux Falls, SD just before 8:00. It stormed on us from Branson past Springfield to around Bolivar, MO. By the time we reached KC around 2:00, the sun was out. At KC we caught I-29 and followed the Lewis & Clark route along the Missouri River approximately north by northwest for the next six hours.
I-29 dates back to the days of Lewis & Co., but was relatively traffic free except for the "larger" communities KC; Omaha, NE/Council Bluffs, IA; Sioux City, IA; and Sioux Falls. Once into SD a little ways, the speed limit jumps to 75 as well.
The Missouri River Valley was interesting. It definitely represents the Heartland of America. I was glad I was driving a Chevrolet. Just needed a little John Mellancamp. The bluffs to the east and west of the river, train track and interstate range from a few miles to probably 50. (My educated guess is that the valley was created by glaciers but IMAX tells me it was an ocean!?!)
In addition to Sioux City and Sioux Falls (by the way Crayton prefers the SY OX pronounciation), we crossed the Little Sioux and the Big Sioux Rivers. I think that the BSA camp hit by a tornado was near the Little Sioux but I saw no sign of wind damage. There was plenty of flooding though in southern Iowa. I saw a few roads covered and many, many fields flooded. The sunshine is surely welcome.
Tomorrow we head west to Minuteman NM and Badlands NP. We will camp the next four nights but I am going to try and post wifi permitting. Sunday we will see Mt. Rushmore NM and I hope everyone picked up on my not too subtle directions given above. If I see any movie stars I will let you know.
Crayton enjoyed camp but he is glad for tv. See the gallery.
Thanks for your interest. Talk to you soon.
