Changing of the corn and other stuff

Mitchell,  SD


First, welcome to Joe and Betty our newest followers.   Good to meet you here.

The one thing Mitchell is known for is it's Corn Palace.   We saw it 2 years ago.  Not all that impressed.  Sorry.

While in town the other day we noticed they were in the process of redecorating.  The images change each year.  As you can imagine, over the winter the birds and various other critters find the building to be quite the buffet.

It appears that after what remains of the previous years design, a new design is drawn on the walls.

It is then filled in with corn and various other grains using whatever means possible.

After which the sanitation department cleans up the debris.

Sure does seem like a lot of work each year.   Buy hey, if it draws the tourists to this town, I suppose it is worth it.

Yesterday we took a ride into Sioux City about 75 miles away.  Len wanted two more batteries for his various Ryobi tools.    We found the Home Depot is the only source now of this brand of tools.  He got the batteries and later we went over to Cabelas here in Mitchell and got me a lounge chair for outside.   It was our gifts to each other for our 23rd anniversary which is Sunday.

When we had been on I90 two years ago in this area we noticed sculptures in a field.  This time we exited near the sculptures to check them out.   We found the dirt road leading to them.

 This vulture was along the dirt road.

When we got there we found there is a $6.00 charge to walk around the field.  Sorry, just was not worth $12.00 to us.      Instead, I snapped this:

I guess technically I was not given the finger.

We enjoy National Wildlife Refuges.  This morning we drove the 80 some miles each way to:

This is a small wildlife refuge.  After parking the car we walked the entire path taking less than an hour.    As with most of NWR's, there are ponds for ducks, etc.    Not much was spotted today except a few Mallards and wood ducks.    Could not even get a picture of any wildlife but it was a nice walk.

A short drive south took us over the

This dam and park by the Army Corps of Engineers was completed in 1956.    We followed beautiful Andes Lake for miles before turning around and heading back to Mitchell which was 91 miles away.

We were getting really hungry.   Restaurants are few and far between in this part of  southern  South Dakota.     We finally found a small gas and grill in the town of Corsica.   Meal was great and cost very reasonable.    Got back to the campground around 2.  Len is taking a nap and here I am!