the pondering pomegranate: flatlands, stormylands, & bad, bad, badlands

as i said, we zipped north, following the railroad and the Missouri River

(a la Lewis&Clark).

well, mainly, they did the second thing.

the railway didn't lay tracks that far west until the 1870's or so.

hello, goodbye, Missouri.

hello, goodbye, Iowa.

we are, finally, persuaded off the highway by none other than

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.

far, far off the highway.

through the tiny town of Mitchell, that would like our tourist cash.

well, we did end up buying a few postcards.

& Joseph wanted a laffy-taffy.

all the art was made entirely of variably-hued corncobs.

it is experiencing a renovation, so there were cement blockades, orange barrels, and large equipment surrounding the Palace. it is, actually, a special events center - there's a curtained stage, a full basketball court, and tiered seating, ready for any number of occasions. at our visit, the basketball court was filled with rolling display carts with enticing corn-based or corn-themed products such as corn salt&pepper shakers and the like.

our destination on this day (see, i've already lost track of what day it is) was Chamberlain, South Dakota, smack-dab in the center of the state (basically). it is, of course, on the Missouri River. i didn't pick the overnight for any particular reason other than the next day is a busy day, and i wanted us to get as far into South Dakota as possible & still have a pretty scene to greet us. you, generally, can't beat a river town.

there's a lot of history in these parts (in all parts). i won't even pretend to know it or fully understand it, but there was a lovely Lakota Sioux museum in Chamberlain. if only the hotel desk clerk had guessed the walking distance a little more accurately. her ten-minute stroll was really a 30-minute sprint, to find the museum closing in fifteen minutes. we made quick use of those few minutes....

there's Chamberlain, with the gold star.

pictographic robe, see below for description

along with older pieces, they also had contemporary art

by Native American painters.

&, of course, the beadwork, the beadwork, the beadwork!

i found this one to be exceptionally lovely.

on our more leisurely stroll back to the hotel,

we frolicked at the Missouri River.

i neglected to mention that we spoke with STORM CHASERS at a rest stop somewhere along the way (likely in South Dakota). besides having our own weather guru in the backseat (which was amazingly helpful through the midwest), it was great fun talking with folks (they were from a college in Chicago, i think) who were rigged up to chase the storms we were trying to avoid. they showed us photos of humongous hailstones they had found the day before. gah! didn't think about hail insurance! so, the storm rolled across the river the night we were in Chamberlain. amazing.

we were staying in a motel that night (which, by the way, i love. on this trip, i discovered that i am a motel girl. there. i said it. i just love pulling right up to your door & walking right in. perhaps it was the overly large duffel bag packed with unnecessary items, but i so enjoyed not searching for a room in a cavernous, dark, claustrophobic hotel building). a lot of our motel neighbors set up their chairs outside their rooms to watch the storm. along with some bold others, we walked around the corner to the bridge to gawk for a while at the incoming wind and lightning. never seen anything like it.

sometimes (many times) it is only in retrospect that we see where things went wrong. or the moment that we made an error in judgment based on forgetful optimism. little did i know that my delight in the copious morning coffees this early in the trip would lead to my completely undelightful caffeine detox hours in Fargo. oh, feckless pursuit of the seductive coffee bean. but, at the time, all i could think was oooooh! finally, some strong coffee. prior to this super-cool motel, we had been drinking coffee water, essentially. oh, how quickly (and unwisely) did i press that "strong coffee" button option (yes, please.). and took an exuberant picture of it, too.

in any case, at this point, i was still blithely pumping daily coffee into my system,

so all was well with the world.

we headed into the Badlands.

OH! the WIND!

& the sweet yellow clover.

oh, MY!

absolutely intoxicating.

it is my catnip & my undoing.

who knew?

seriously, i had to restrain myself from rolling around in the stuff. like talking myself back from the edge of a cliff.

this was our first glimpse at topography that would take our breath away.

i tried comparing it to Mars

but was quickly corrected.

on Mars, i would die.

i decided that you just had to wait five minutes for the weather to change. another storm rolled in, but fortunately it was mostly bluster & just a few fat raindrops. it made for some dramatic photographs, though!

everyone was so thankful that i had purchased one-dollar rain ponchos prior to departing for the trip. we couldn't wait to put on our colorful trash bags. added bonus of being quite warm due to zero breathability in the 'fabric.' i tried to not rub-in the fact that my hat was proving to be entirely waterproof, as well.

rockin' the trash bags.

more wind.

our first wild mammal sighting!

what, on earth, is it?

why, it's a young Bighorn Sheep!

i am a fan of kitsch. just a little bit. sincere kitsch. original kitsch. parts of Wall Drug achieve this, and parts are pure art museum. it is in Rapid City, South Dakota, if you are ever out that way. bring a nickel.