To say that 2020 has been a strange year is quite the understatement. The first part of the year everyone was isolated, afraid to stick their head out of their house and living in fear of the C-O-R-O-N-A Virus. I'm not making light of the virus. It is real. It can be deadly. But, I'm one of those that believes the news media has tried purposely to make every American a lot more afraid of it than we should have ever been. So, after having lived through all the scariness for 6 months, Mr. W and I decided the heck with this, we are going to go somewhere. Here in lies the problem with that decision. Where can we go where we can actually go see things we have always wanted to see at wherever we ended up going? States were shutting everything down. You might could travel to a well known destination, but that was not a guarantee that you could do anything but sit in your RV or drive by the closed "attraction" you specifically came for.
However, Mt. Rushmore has been on my bucket list since we first started traveling. Mr. W kept saying that it was out of the way of wherever we were going. He kept putting me off for many reasons. I just went along with missing it because he does all the planning of our trips, so I didn't feel like I could say much. BUT, thank God for Kristi Noem! She is the Republican Governor of South Dakota, who refused to shut down South Dakota. Soooooo, guess what I'm on my way to see????? You got it, Mt. Rushmore!
We left Texas on September 5 and it was 100 degrees or close to it E-V-E-R-Y day. We were sure looking forward to getting into some cooler weather. Our first stop was in Oklahoma. We stayed the night in the RV park at the Winstar Casino. If you sign up for their "rewards" card (not a credit card) and not use it until you get there, you will get 1 night at the RV park free. We were only staying one night and we got it free. Can't beat that! We did go over to the casino to check it out. We are not gamblers. We take our $20, play the slots, and when it is gone, so are we. I will say that they took our temp as we entered. Everyone was required to wear a mask (even though I did see several people take theirs off when they sat down at a machine). No one was social distancing. The RV park is very nice. Level, concrete pads, its own swimming pool, big club house, showers/bathrooms, and full hook-ups.
The next night we stayed in Kansas, the third night in Norfolk, Nebraska (which is the home of Johnny Carson), and tonight we are in Mitchell, South Dakota. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Corn Palace. Yep, it is made out of corn. This should be interesting. Yesterday, a front came through and dropped the temps. It has been rainy, windy, and cold. It is, however, suppose to keep warming up over the next several days. By the end of the week we will be in North Dakota and the highs will be around 80 with 40s at night. Sounds pretty perfect.
I took a few pics while we were traveling today. They are kind of blurry. It is hard to not be blurry when you are taking pictures going 65 mph down a bumpy highway. As we were driving through Nebraska, you saw fields and fields of corn and soybeans. But, the colors immediately made me think of the words, "For amber waves of grain". America the Beautiful, my home sweet home.
Some people literally bring their home with them!
There’s a lot to see in SD for sure. For me, as much as the Statue of Liberty touched me (I have family who emigrated to Ellis Island), walking up and getting that first look at Mt Rushmore was amazing! It really rocked me. 7 years on the road and ND was our last state to visit last year. We’d like to see more of that state too.
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