Half Way There!

ROAD TRIP, DAY ONE
Distance: 718 miles
Time: about 11 hours

After a very late start, we spent most of the day cruising through the corn fields of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and eventually Iowa. The great American midwest offered several highlights, like St. Louis and Kansas City, both which looked impressive during our quick drive through. Fittingly, the very first stop of our adventure was at a Walmart, the only bathroom for miles!

Driving through acre after acre of corn, I realized how much of the US I have yet to experience. Now I feel a bit more in touch with the middle America I've always seen on television and in movies. I expected Clark Kent to appear out of the fields of a small town called Metropolis in Illinois, and in the flat plains of Missouri, I was bracing myself for a twister to come across the golden fields at any moment.

After a while, the novelty wore off, and we found ourselves at a Motel 8 at 2:30 am passing out from exhaustion and forgetting which state we were in (it was Iowa).



ROAD TRIP, DAY TWO
Distance: 602 miles (1320 miles total)
Time: about 12 hours

Today brought on several more hours of corn fields before we reached South Dakota, home of my recent obsession, the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. (Yes, I believe 'World's Only' is part of the title) Check out the documentary "King Corn" for an eye-opening look at the US corn industry, and you, too, will want to visit the Corn Palace!

We drove through the Badlands of SD, which were a great change of scenery and quite dramatic to drive through. With its contrast of blue sky against wavy land and rock with sparse, harsh foliage, the area lived up to its name. We were thrilled to finally reach Keystone, SD tonight - before midnight!! - and settle in for a good rest before our exploration tomorrow of Mt. Rushmore and the Black Mountains.