Onward to South Dakota!

Day 3 : Sunday, August 17, 2008 (written morning of 18th)

Yesterday was another long, long day. We started off in Wisconsin, not too far from the border of Illinois, in the town of Milton. Inspired, we opted to go to Heidi's pancake house for breakfast, rather than wander next door to the Cracker Barrel.

We took some back roads to get to Heidi's, which was also near the interstate, though a couple exits north. When we arrived at the place, it was no longer Heidi's. It was a cheese shop. Nice, but not what I was looking for. We went back down the road a small ways to eat at "Emmiline's Roadhouse" instead Emiline's is "Almost on the water", being a block away from the river. There, it was Sunday brunch with stroghannof, french toast, etc.

Then, we hopped back on the interstate, staying on it 'till we checked out a cheese shop in Mouscaton. The lady running the shop had the perfect prairie home companion accent. While there, I saw in the local tourist rag that there was the Corn and Tater festival in nearby Grand Marsh. Why not? So, we headed out to the festival.

Grand marsh was a tiny town, but there were hundreds and hundreds of vehicles parked around. Apparently, the tater festival was a HUGE deal. There were all sorts of games that reminded me of the sorts of things I'd dream up as a child. People were betting on which square a chicken would poop, there were minnow races, photos, horseshoes, a mechanical bull that children were riding, a wagon shuttle to the parking lot, lots of food (taters, corn, BBQ beef, and a cookie), kiddie tractor pulls, some crafts. All in all, quite an event. Mom and I ate some food and talked about our travels to a pair of interested folk sitting next to us.

After that, we took local roads west (21) 'till we hit I90 again. Headed West. Stopped at a DQ just before getting back on the road. Dinner was unimpressive, if not friendly. "The Ranch", in Fairmont, MN.

The rest of the journey was pretty much a blur 'till we stopped, again around midnight local time, at a Best Western in Canitosta. ("can-of-soda?"), just west of Sioux Falls. The hotel, though was 4 miles this way, 4 blocks that way, 4 more blocks the other way. Man was I tired. I'm still tired. The guy at the desk told us, before we asked "why is the hotel so far from the interstate?" Apparently there's a chiropractor clinic nearby that's all the rage.

Cheapest gas: 1.52 in Fairmont. also got gas in Wisconsin.
Mileage: 539