After a wonderful couple of days in Wisconsin visiting parents and sister, we are on our way to the Badlands. We had a fun afternoon of golf and the best fish fry I have ever had at Carmella’s on Rib Mountain. The fish fry rivals Paul Bunyon breakfasts in Minnaqua as an all time favorite. Zena especially enjoyed her trip to Wisconsin where she settled right in with mom and dad including sleeping in their bed.
Our travels from Wisconsin took us through LaCrosse and across the scenic Mississippi. John was quite surprised at the beautiful topography of the cliffs and bluffs. Once we crossed into Minnesota, we hit the very flat plains where our attention turned to podcasts and discussion of rest stops. Minnesota has nice rest stops that are park like. North Carolina and Tennessee remain in the top 2. South Dakota rivals Indiana for the bottom spot. Especially love the “beware of snakes” signs posted every 25 yards! Our goal was to make it to Onocoma SD smack in the middle of the state – about a 9 hour drive from Wisconsin. We were greeted by 100 degree temperatures, blowing dust and a filthy Quality Inn. Zena and I are both notorious hotel snobs so slept in my clothes while Zena patrolled the room. We had dinner at Al’s Oasis where the SD Walleye was shipped frozen from Canada. Hopefully the badlands and Mt Rushmore don’t disappoint.