Iowa

South Dakota Here We Come!

We left Springfield, MO, on May 16th and headed north to South Dakota (a day earlier than planned because of expected high winds and bad weather; when traveling in an RV, you must consider the winds and weather before you start out!).

We planned an overnight stop in the St. Joseph, MO, area. We had reservations at one place, but that didn’t work out. Fortunately we found another place that could take us. We stayed two nights (remember, we left one day early). It rained nearly the whole time we were in St. Joseph.

We knew there had been flooding in the very northwest corner of Missouri and along the western border of Iowa for several weeks. They had parts of the interstate closed a week earlier. The day before we left St. Joe, a trucker told Jack we shouldn’t have any problem now; they had opened Interstate 29 all the way to Sioux Falls, SD.

What we didn’t realize was exactly how bad the flooding had been for the previous two weeks. The further north we got, the more we saw how high the water had gotten in spots. We had already passed some of the worst of it by the time I decided I needed to take some pictures. As you can see, the water was still very close to the interstate in some of the pictures.

Needless to say, that exit ramp and all the ramps at this exit were closed.

As we got closer to the South Dakota border, the flooding didn’t seem as bad. At Sioux Falls we headed west on Interstate 90. Our next camp ground was right off the interstate at exit 364 about 35 miles west of Sioux Falls. It used to be called Camp America, but it is now called Dakota Sunset RV Park.

Dakota Sunset is a nice campground pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. There are plenty of trees that provide shade and a swimming pool that I’m sure will open up by June 1st. The sites are gravel, and they are nice and level.

Our only problem was the amount of rain that area had been getting all spring. The ground was already saturated from the thawing snow. The spring rains just made it worse. Driving along the interstate we could see numerous low areas in the farm fields that were covered in water.

The first two days we were at Dakota Sunset RV Park, it rained nearly all day both days. Monday I went to the store to stock up on groceries. That afternoon we stayed at the RV and worked on the rest of our summer trip making reservations for the portion of our trip back to Missouri in September.

Tuesday was supposed to be rainy all day (again! 😑), but they were also calling for winds up to 40 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. We decided we would be wise to just stay home again. We were kind of lazy that morning. However, we played cards nearly all afternoon. If you have ever played the game Three Thirteen, you know it’s quite fun when played with three or more people. Since there was just the two of us, we “made up” two more players, and we each played our cards and another “made up” player’s cards. It was a little confusing at first, but it was a lot of fun!

Wednesday finally came and it was not raining! Yipeee! 😆 It was cloudy but weather reports had the chance of rain down to 30% or less.

We decided to take a drive over to Mitchell, SD. It is about 30 miles west of our RV park. Friends had told us about The Corn Palace there. We packed up our little shih tzu and headed west.

We had no idea what to expect. The only thing we knew about The Corn Palace was that it was decorated with many varieties of corn cobs, grasses, and other plants.

When we arrived, we were shocked for three reasons. 1.) The structure and the designs on the outside were phenomenal (the pictures will not do it justice)! 2.) The building was actually an event center and had a basketball court set up. 3.) They were “dog friendly” and admission was FREE (we could take our Zoey in)!

Inside we found murals and historical background of the area and the building. We discovered that the Palace was redecorated every year! One wall had pictures of the way The Corn Palace looked each year from its humble beginning as a Corn Exhibition in 1892. YES, the year is correct!That is NOT a typo!

Here are a few pictures (the picture with the year plaque is followed by the picture of The Corn Palace for that year):

This was the first year for lights.

If you are ever near Mitchell, SD, you might want to stop at The Corn Palace.

So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”

Betty

Iowa

We are working our way south to Missouri to spend some time with family. After leaving Owatonna, Minnesota, we headed south on I 35 towards Des Moines, Iowa. We have been in Iowa for about a week and a half at a KOA Campground at Newton (about 35 miles east of Des Moines on I 80).

Newton, Iowa, is a town in central Iowa with a population of about 15,000 people. Newton’s growth was first fueled by the development of coal mines in the area in the late 1800s. In the 1900s Newton became a manufacturing community, and much of its growth was attributed to the Maytag Washing Machine Company. Newton is the county seat for Jasper County. It has an impressive courthouse in the town square and a lovely downtown area. It is a clean town with numerous turn of the century homes lining the Main Street and a very friendly place.

I’m not sure if the date on this building is 1885 or 1895. See next photo.

If you zoom in and look carefully, you will see most of the “scenes” on this building are painted. There are some “real” windows in there if you look closely.

About 25 miles west of Newton is Prairie Meadows Casino and Racetrack. In 1984, Prairie Meadows received its license to operate a horse racing facility. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in 1987, and Prairie Meadows conducted its first day of racing on March 1, 1989. Prairie Meadows is a Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racetrack located in Altoona, Iowa, just east of Des Moines. After the racetrack experienced some financial difficulties, voters approved a referendum in 1994 to allow slot machines to be installed.

The slot machine casino opened in 1995, and by 1996 all bonds were paid off. In 2004 casino game tables were added and by 2005 a plan to expand was approved by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. In 2006 the addition opened which included two new restaurants, and a 1,200 seat concert hall opened in 2007. AND, get a load of this: Prairie Meadows is owned by Polk County and operated by a local, non-profit, 13-member board of directors. Revenues from the casino and race track are given to various community projects in the Des Moines area!

I have never been to any kind of horse races even though Jack has gone several times with his brother and occasionally with friends. Prairie Meadows was having Quarter Horse racing one evening so we decided to go. It wasn’t very crowded, so it was just right for me to “learn the ropes” about horse racing. I don’t care much for any kind of gambling (I almost ALWAYS lose, so it’s not fun for me 😂), but I did enjoy watching all the preparations before the races and, of course, the actual races.

This is the area where they first brought the horses out and walked them around some to warm up.

It was a chilly night, so we sat inside. We still had a great view.

These are the photos of the first race…the ONLY race we won anything. 😂

I had the “photo” finish before the track posted it! And I was correct!!

One day we drove to Pella, Iowa, which is 30 miles south of Newton. It has a population of about 10,000. Pella was founded in 1840 by immigrants from the Netherlands, and to this day, it still has a strong Dutch influence. Pella is home to several manufacturing companies including the Pella Corporation (think windows and doors) and Vermeer Manufacturing Company. Also, is was the childhood home of Wyatt Earp, and his brothers, Warner and Morgan, were born in Pella. There are two Dutch bakeries on the lush town square filled flowers, and their strudel pastries and melt-aways are to die for!

This is Pella’s famous Klokkenspel. It was interesting to watch.

Pella has a strong Dutch heritage, and they are very proud of their windmill. It is the tallest working windmill in North America. It was designed and built in Hoogmade, Netherlands, then de-assembled, shipped to Iowa, and re-assembled in Pella in 2002. It is an 1850s style “koren mill” or grain mill.

Wyatt Earp’s childhood home.

The Iowa Speedway is located across the interstate, just a few miles from our campground. It is a state-of-the-art 7/8 mile paved D-shaped oval track and motto sports facility. The track was designed for year-round use by NASCAR Champion Rusty Wallace. It includes 25,000 grandstand seats, and was the first track in the world to protect fans and drivers through the use of the SAFER barrier technology that surrounds the entire track.

The official pace car.

There were no big races scheduled during the time we were in Newton, but the track is quite impressive. The weekend we were scheduled to leave the area the track was hosting the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience. One can schedule either a driving experience (at only the small cost of $399 for 4 laps and up) or a ride along experience starting at $149 (3 laps) and up. Thank goodness driving a race care isn’t on my bucket list because that is a little “steep” for our retirement budget.

We couldn’t get very close, so my photos aren’t very good. If you zoom in, you might see how steep the bank on the track is or a few more details. The Newton Airport landing strip runs right along one of the main parking areas.