It's very corny!

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Hello to all our blog-eyed friends & family, Sorry we haven't kept you up as we should; ATT isn't as strong in these here parts. Anyway, I'll backtrack 2 days so you won't have missed anything. Let's start out in mid-South Dakota at Walls Drug Store. It is a site not to be missed. A pharmacist & his wife came there in 1931, but had a tough time making a go of it. His wife got the bright idea of giving out free ice water to travelers to encourage them to stop and put signs out on the highway. Of course it worked and is still working...lots of signs, 5 cent coffee, food, gifts, oh yes and drugs and ice water. It is worth a stop! Had to get on the interstate 90, but got off in Mitchell, SD. We saw the famous Corn Palace, a structure dedicated to the rich & fertile grass lands & corn & grains. It is a large building completely covered in designs made out of corn & grains. Each year the design changes; the old is taken down and the designer's sketches are put up on the murals and filled in by color & texture. Incredible! It also serves as the local gym where the high school team can play to an audience of 3,000. This is also the home of George McGovern's college & museum. The lady at the Chamber of Commerce where Dave went in to ask about a Lions Club, said, "I'm a Lion and we meet today at 12 noon at the Depot (a restaurant in a former RR depot. She encouraged us to come and so we did. After all, it was Tuesday. This is a well-established, 80 member club with a good mix of male/female and older/younger. We felt very much at home. Even the speaker's topic was sediment build-up behind the dams/resevoir on the Missouri River. Sounds like the same problem on the Carmel River. Off to Pipestone Nat'l Monument, Minnesota, which is sacred land to the Native Americans . This is a place where quartz is hand dug 12' in order to find a vein of red pipestone. We watched them at the quarry & at the center carving the pipes; they are true craftsmen. It's a very interesting place to visit and we just happened on it. It was there I noticed that I had left the camera in the women's bathroom at the depot in S.D, about 2 hrs and 1 state behind us. A phone call Pay phone, no cell connection) proved that Lions are trustworthy; it had been turned it. Since we had to return 2 hrs. it made today's journey longer than anticipated. Driving through Minn. is a pleasure, however, as the farms are so picturesque. Well kept houses with green grass all around, lots of trees, interesting silos with cupolas & designs, cattle, and corn. We even had a chance to see Laura Ingall Wilder's house, museum, and Plum Creek. We love it when you message our blog (thanks Phil, Judy, Peggy, & Jenn) It keeps us in touch with home and we know someone out there is reading this verbose travel log. We are burning up the miles @2.79 gal. Love, the corny Bankses.

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