Day 16 & Day 17 (combo)-The journey is coming to an end. We spent the night in Mitchell, SD on Day 16, home of the famous Corn Palace. So, before hitting the road, we shot into town to see this interesting building. Mitchell lays claim to having the World’s only Corn Palace. The entire outside (façade) is decorated with murals and art made of corn cobs. It’s been standing in the same place since 1892! Although it was getting a facelift when we there (birds are constantly munching the delicious corn on the cob artwork), we took 4 ½ minutes to snap a few photos.

These last days will be long driving days as we propel ourselves toward Pennsylvania. As we progressed across South Dakota and Iowa, we caught sight of some interesting sights, like a “open gallery” of large, unusual art standing in the middle of a farm field. We stopped asking “why” people display odd objects on their properties, several states ago. They just do.

We chose to settle in for the evening in historic LeClaire, Iowa (just outside Davenport), along the Mighty Mississippi. It was a really cool, little, river town and we had a delicious dinner at the Crane & Pelican Café, a restored brick Italianate-style house built in 1851 by a riverboat captain. The food and view of the river was very relaxing after a long day in Big Blue. As we were leaving, Theresa discovered that we were right around the block from the Antique Archaeology shop, from the History Channel’s American Pickers, starring Mike Wolfe. Although the shop was closed, I peaked in to see what objects they were working on, including an old bumper car from an amusement park ride. Pretty neat stuff!

I woke up early this morning on our last day to watch the sun rise over the Mississippi River. As it got a bit lighter, I sat along the big waterway, drinking my coffee and watching some small fishing boats heading out to try their luck. Several White Pelicans cruised up and down the river and one landed just a few yards from my riverbank resting spot and posed for a quick photo. As the mayflies hatched from the water and flew skyward, I took a few minutes to reflect on what Theresa, Darby and I just did for the past 16 days. It’s been a vacation to remember, and I’ll try to summarize our trip back home in PA, after “digesting” all of our experiences.

 For Theresa and I it’s been another wonderful adventure together, and especially appreciate the chance to share it with Darby. She was a real trooper with all our plans and was willing to try things she might not have tried if mom and dad were not leading the agenda! She was more patient than I could have ever been with the long days in the back seat of Big Blue and most of all, my sometimes scary, driving! Whether it was driving too close to a mountain drop-off, suddenly screeching to check out yet another bird, backing up ½ mile to see if those two Coyotes would get together, or hanging on for dear life as I accidently jumped over the raised curb (lane separator) at Mount Rushmore. You did great Darb, and we love you for joining us!

…………….til our next adventure begins, Thanks for following my Big West Blog!