Today was considerably more relaxed than it has been the first few days. We've made great progress in getting to the area with more of the outdoors kind of activities. We got a lot out of the museums, but I think we're both itching to get to more rustic camping. The landscape continued to change in amazing ways and it's considerably more open now in the 'big sky' way. I've warned Knack that it only gets bigger.
I had the fantasy of doing some multi-night canoeing and my dream is not dead, but it may have to wait until the Columbia River in Oregon. Regardless, the benefit of just canoeing for a half-day is that it's really enough to get a good feel for the landscape and then we can move on to a different area. With that in mind, from the coffee shop in Sioux City we headed to the Missouri National Recreational River where we spent a solid 5 hours canoeing in Lake Yankton, an artificial lake made from modification of the Missouri River. We tried to do some underwater videos and took a fair amount of pictures. I'm glad for that because words can't capture some of the experience. Instead of doing a late lunch on a developed shore we pulled our canoe onto the shore on an isolated peninsula, found an open area that Greg said was a deer bed and set up. Shortly after starting to cook, a deer only 25 feet away woke up from a nap and darted off. From lunch, we headed to a beach and swam with the locals for a little while before heading back. It was a good old time.
I had the fantasy of doing some multi-night canoeing and my dream is not dead, but it may have to wait until the Columbia River in Oregon. Regardless, the benefit of just canoeing for a half-day is that it's really enough to get a good feel for the landscape and then we can move on to a different area. With that in mind, from the coffee shop in Sioux City we headed to the Missouri National Recreational River where we spent a solid 5 hours canoeing in Lake Yankton, an artificial lake made from modification of the Missouri River. We tried to do some underwater videos and took a fair amount of pictures. I'm glad for that because words can't capture some of the experience. Instead of doing a late lunch on a developed shore we pulled our canoe onto the shore on an isolated peninsula, found an open area that Greg said was a deer bed and set up. Shortly after starting to cook, a deer only 25 feet away woke up from a nap and darted off. From lunch, we headed to a beach and swam with the locals for a little while before heading back. It was a good old time.
Because of our inability to find multi-night canoeing options and because our horseback riding reservation had to be earlier, we're modifying our itinerary on the fly. We debated trucking all the way to Fort Pierre National Grassland this evening, but instead stayed at a campsite outside of Mitchell, SD. Immediately when I knew we'd be near Mitchell I had to stop. When I was 11, my father planned an elaborate 3000 mile summer vacation from Louisville north into this area all the way to Salt Lake City, and then back east through Colorado and Kansas. This was a major spark for the trip idea and I have incredibly fond memories of the trip. Something I couldn't help but think of was the soundtrack that has been seared into my memory as we drove through the west in our Ford Aerostar minivan. Three specific musical memories. First and second were the big hits of the year: Jesus Jones “Right Here, Right Now” and EMF “Unbelievable” were constantly on rotation. Maybe as important, we had a cassette of the “Good Morning, Vietnam” soundtrack I believe that we played quite a bit in the van. As we approached Mitchell, another special and absurd memory of my dad's Griswold family vacation had to be revisited: the Corn Palace. This is a convention center of sorts with both exterior and interior covered in mosaics made out of corn. It is silly and bizarre but it really made me happy to revisit 23 years after my dad dragged us on a wacky and special summer vacation.
A few miscellaneous brief notes before I sign off:
- First, on the drive through Missouri I saw one of those ribbon magnets on the back of a car that said something like “Honor our fallen heroes” with a Confederate States of America flag on it. I remind my students that the echoes of the Civil War remain 150 years later but it was really interesting to puzzle over on the drive. I think I'll start keeping track of interesting bumper stickers that are reflective of regional culture. For example, in Louisville you see a lot more pro-coal bumper stickers than you'd see in some parts of the country due to it's relationship to the local economy.
- Second, Louisville water is exceptional. Anyone who argues against it is a fool and should really travel more. We are so very lucky.
- Third, I've really enjoyed the rural decay of farmhouses and barns that we've driven by so far. I'm sure it will continue throughout the Plains.