Day 36 - "On the Road Again"!

Just two left from our little group - Dale & Rita and ourselves! 

We woke about 8:00 (even me - so no time to blog!). We did our final pack-up, had breakfast and a final shower as we will be travelling and not sure where we’ll be staying for the next few days. We said our final goodbyes to the few diehard friends that were still there like us. A quick trek over to the visitors centre for our final goodbye and a quick shopping spree on the greatly reduced apparel in the WIT store!

Hobo Museum in Britt Iowa

Finally, about 10:30 we were on the start of the long trip home. We didn’t get very far, only a few miles down the road to Britt, Iowa - famous for it’s “Hobo Convention” held every year in August. We visited the Hobo Museum and learned a lot about this enormous group of people that originated in the “Great Depression”. Thousands of young men (and some women) left their homes to ride the rails in search of work and a better life. It became a sub-culture in the USA and still exists so they have a convention every year complete with a King & Queen crowning. There are a large amount of artifacts on display showcasing life on the road and stories about some of the “famous” characters as well as a video with interviews of the people who led this life for many years. It was really interesting.
After a quick trip across the street to the post office to mail some post cards we still had, we were once again on our way to our real destination for the day - Sac City, Iowa to see the largest ball of PopCorn! As we arrived in town we first visited a small park with an original early 1800’s log cabin - really fascinating - hard to believe that whole families lived in such small dwellings. Continuing on further into town, we were pleasantly surprised to find the “Biggest Ball of Popcorn” on display was the second one here - both were in the Guinness Records Book. It was also nice to find that it was set into a little “small town USA” park so we had a nice time wandering around the buildings on display.

Largest Ball of Pop Corn

Log Cabin

 We set off once more in the direction of Sioux City, Iowa/ Nebraska/South Dakota depending on which side of the Missouri River you’re on. We stopped for dinner at a “Perkins” in Iowa. We had seen many of these restaurants along the way and thought we’d give it a try since we hadn't had any real lunch - just snacks. We had a wonderful dinner each complete with beverage and a slice of pie for dessert plus tip for unbelievably only $55 - I highly recommend it!

An added bonus - the Largest Statue of Pocahantas!

We needed a few things (like special toilet paper and holding tank chemicals - sort of important when you’re on the road!) and the closest Walmart was in Nebraska so over the bridge 3.2 miles we went - we can officially put it on our map!!! We went back over the bridge into Iowa and up the highway a few minutes and we were in South Dakota! We continued up the highway about an hour to Sioux Falls and found the PetSmart we had googled - Henry was low on his special food - actually he had only about one more meal left and I was worried about his temperamental tummy if we had to feed him something else. I didn't want a repeat of the beginning of the trip. 

The Proof!

We continued on a little further until we found a rest area for the night just past Conistota, SD. less then an hour away from our next destination of De Smet, SD. - famous for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” books - my favorite as a young girl. I’m looking forward to it and Mount Rushmore - todays final destination. We have had two really hot sunny days but as I lay here writing this blog at 4:30 AM Tuesday, I’m listening once more to the pitter patter of rain on the roof - can we not get a break?!?!? Of course being “On the Road Again” also means having to borrow WiFi so blogging might be sporadic for a while - keep checking back - we like to hear your comments - our top commenter these last few days has been Terri from FVE - I’m going to have to get her an “extra special” souvenir!

Memories of Iowa - Beautiful Corn Farms