If you read yesterday’s entry, you are aware that we were subjected to frequent warnings about strong storms coming. I chose to ignore the warnings. The weather controllers waiting until I was sound asleep to unleash the fury. Here is a screen grab of what we were subjected to. It was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. The little blue circle in the center is me sleeping soundly in the Holiday Inn Express.

Since the local Walmart was only 2 blocks away, I managed to pull in there for visit #2 this trip. Don’t judge me.

That title might leave you little confused unless you’ve been across the central part of the U.S. on I-90. Starting in Chicago there is sign after sign telling you that there is FREE ICE WATER in Wall, South Dakota. By the time you get to that area, the mental pressure almost forces you to stop at the gigantic tourist spot that is Wall Drug. (Do an online search for Wall Drug – you’ll get a sense of what I’m referring to.) I was pretty proud of us that we did not feel an urgent need to stop there (we had our own Ice Water). I guess we kind of cheated by coming across on I-80 so the mental anguish of thousands of signs was avoided.

We also managed to avoid rain that had been forecast for the entire area. We could see it in the distance but did not have to drive through it.

Our luck at avoiding driving while getting soaked allowed us to stop at a unique attraction (?) in downtown Mitchell South Dakota. (You are required to say all the words.) It is “The Worlds Only Corn Palace”. It’s worth seeing once. Maybe I’ve overdone it a little. I think I’m approaching 10 visits. It’s not just a “Corn Palace”. It’s the only one in the world. The exterior of the building is covered with locally grown corn and the decoration changes annually through a community effort.

The people manning the lobby knew what they had and the fragrance of fresh-popped popcorn permeated the lobby. I really like fresh popcorn and had to purchase the biggest bag they offered for a mere $7.

It was time to make some miles. I managed to run the fuel tank a lot lower than I’m comfortable with. We pulled in at Casey’s General Store and every pump was out of order. Another 10 miles down the road there was a Sinclair station that had diesel. Finally I was able to fill up with good Dinosaur Juice. We finished to drive to Murdo, South Dakota in relative comfort or at least less fuel related stress.

The Best Western in Murdo is an old style “motor lodge”. I liked it immediately. There is a really nice guy named Kyle working the desk. He is fun to talk to and gave us a good recommendation regarding a dinner restaurant just down the street. Thanks Kyle.

We are not big steak eaters but I needed something other than a burger. The server talked us in to getting steaks that included a salad bar at the Buffalo Bar. I haven’t seen an actual salad bar since the world was shut down a couple of years ago. The food was excellent. I was happy we splurged.

We are back in the room waiting for another storm to pass. The room smells faintly like popcorn for some reason. We plan to make it to our “U-turn” spot tomorrow. That’s the place where we turn the front wheels back eastward and thoughts of home start filtering in my little brain. I’m still not going to Wall.