QUOTABLE: “We must, indeed, all hang togtether or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” ~Benjamin Franklin, 1776

AND: “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration.” ~John Adams, 1776

By Tuesday, July 1, it was time to move a little further south, but first there was something to see over in the next state west. We headed south on US-59, then west on US-14, crossing into South Dakota near Elkton. There we did a bit of zig-zagging through Elton, Flandreau, Egan, Colman, and Chester. There we went due west to US-81, then south down to Salem, where we stopped for lunch at the End Zone Bar & Grill. Back on the road, we continued west over to Mitchell to take a gander at the World’s Only Corn Palace. Who wouldn’t drive a few extra miles for that???!! In 1892, the tiny town of Mitchell, South Dakota, built the original corn palace on Main Street as a gathering place for residents to celebrate the end of harvest with a festival, complete with a stage where wonderful acts performed. When the original building was outgrown, a second was finished in 1905, but it was outgrown, too. Three is the charm, with a final building constructed in 1921, this time more permanent and larger. In addition to the annual Corn Palace Festival celebrating its 126th anniversary (not including those in 1892 and 1893) in August, the venue is a tourist attraction, and host to dances, stage shows, proms, and basketball tournaments up to the state level. The building is decorated with murals made completely of corn, native grasses, and other grains, and every year brings a new theme. Old materials are stripped in late summer, and the new artwork is completed by the beginning of October. Similar to the pictures we saw made completely out of Jelly Belly jelly beans in California, it was fascinating how detailed the artwork was made with vegetable matter. It was totally worth a look. Also, if you want to get a blast from the past, go to the Corn Palace website and click on the “Events & Entertainment” tab at the top, then the “Past Entertainment” tab on the left. There you will find a list of the entertainment for EVERY festival held. It was fascinating, and what a terrific idea!

After taking a good look, we turned south on SD-37 and east on SD-50 over to Yankton and the Cottonwood Campground on the downstream side of the dam on the Missouri River. As we drove in, we both cracked up at the sign with phone numbers to call in case of a dam break. AGAIN…we are going to run, not make a phone call!!! The weather was hot but beautiful for a drive, and sightings of note included several pheasant, a bald eagle, a red fox that was past his expiration date, and a deer.

Wednesday I headed out for a good walk in the morning. The heat is on its way back, so I needed to soak in some cool breeze! We both sat outside enjoying the weather and view for most of the morning. Later we rode into Yankton to RB Grillhouse & Sports Bar for lunch. It was time for Big Jake to get new tires, so we popped in to Les Schwab just across the street to see if they could get the job done. Honestly, so close to the holiday weekend, we didn’t hold out much hope, but they surprised us with in-stock tires and an appointment the next morning. Too cool! We’ve looked for an opportunity to buy from them since the one in Merrill, Oregon repaired our trailer tire immediately and for free several years back, so this worked out well.

Thursday morning Mr. Wonderful (MW) headed to town to have Big Jake’s new kicks installed. While he was gone, I took a good walk, then came back and did a little writing. At noon, a warning siren sounded, which scared the crap out of me. What were those numbers again??!! It was just a test, but dang, those things are loud! A little later we went back to town to look around. Our first stop was lunch at an Asian buffet that really wasn’t very good. After that, we headed over to the riverfront. Yankton has several things in her history that I found interesting: 1) It was a stop along Lewis and Clark’s expedition in the early 1800s. In fact, they camped for four days along the Missouri River. There at Calumet Bluff, where the Visitor Center for the dam is today, they held council with the Yankton Sioux. 2) It was the capital of the Dakota Territory (Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana) from 1861 to 1863, when it was moved to Bismarck. A replica of the original capitol building stands overlooking the river. 3) Lt. Col. George Custer came through heading west just three years prior to his demise, along with that of his entire unit, in 1876. His horse hand might just be the luckiest person ever to live in Yankton. Supposedly, the night before Custer pulled out, Peter Binder got drunk and overslept and was consequently left behind. Now I don’t know if he would have been in the area of Little Big Horn or not, but spending the rest of his life in Yankton and making ice cream and soda at the Binder Brother’s factory was a much safer option. 4) Jack McCall was hanged and buried in Yankton. Don’t remember who that is? He is none other than the murderer of Wild Bill Hickok. 5) The Culligan Man was born here. Emmett J. Culligan went on to create the first water softeners for home use, which have helped most of us. 6) Tom Brokaw is a graduate of Yankton High School. That seems to be a good bit for a relatively small town.

Afterwards we ran a few errands, then took the route over the dam, which required us to pass the Visitor Center. Of course, you know MW isn’t going to pass up an opportunity to check out a dam. Gavins Point Dam was completed in 1957 at a cost of $51 million. It provides enough power for 42,000 homes. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 255,000 gallons of water pass through the power plant PER SECOND. That much water would fill 13,000 bathtubs!

Friday it was a little less humid and very nice, so I took another morning walk. This campground gets its name from the hundreds of cottonwoods that shade the park. They aren’t quite through “snowing” for this season, so I’ve been enjoying that. Later in the morning I headed into Yankton to get the laundry done. Although the parking lot did not look it, the laundromat, 24 Hour Express, was fairly empty. Turns out most of the cars belonged to folks in the little shopping center casino next door. The chore went quickly, and although my arm was still hurting, it is considerably less this week. Maybe things are looking up in that department. Afterwards I made a quick stop at Walgreens, then parked at Culvers to write. Yay…I’m finally caught up!! Now I just have to keep it that way. Back at Priscilla later, we had leftover chicken and veggies for supper and watched a baseball game.

On my walk Saturday morning, I came upon goats on the island close to this side of Lake Yankton. It looked like a female and two males, and the guys were fighting. I watched for 5-10 minutes, and they were still at it when I left. The female, though, wandered off and sat down, occasionally looking back with what I was certain was a look of disgust.

Later we headed into Yankton to check out a few things, and started with lunch at Willa B’s. Then drove by the Yankton Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery. Neither MW or I realized that a monastery could be nuns instead of monks, but we really do learn something new every day. Our last stop was at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery out near the park.

Just after lunch, I registered online at Great Clips to get a much-needed trim. At the time they said it would be 2-1/2 hours or something crazy like that. We were back at Priscilla for about 45 minutes when I finally got notice to head over. As I drove out to the main road, I noticed storm clouds towards the northwest, which was exactly where I was headed. On West City Limits Road, it was clear that I was going to be driving right into this stuff, and the sky was black. Now my objective was to make it to the salon before the bottom dropped out. The motorcycle in front of me had the same idea, so we were booking along. Then, at the last intersection I needed to get through, a Sunday driver kind of person pulled in front of me like he had until next week to make it to the next corner. Giant drops started to hit the windshield just as he finally got past the parking lot entrance. I swooped into a spot, leapt out, and ran to the door, which was barely closed before buckets started coming down. Whew! By the time Sara finished my cut, it was mostly played out, although there were a few more storms overnight.

Despite the crowds for 4th of July, we really enjoyed Cottonwood Campground. Located just a few miles from Yankton, South Dakota, there is plenty to do within easy driving distance. It is one of two campgrounds (the other is Nebraska Tailwaters) that are part of the Gavins Point Dam Project, which offers access to Lake Yankton, the Missouri River, and Lewis & Clark Lake. (There are also two state-managed campgrounds nearby.) Cottonwood Campground has a playground, volleyball court, two very clean bathhouses, and a picnic pavilion. Nearby public facilities include a day-use area with a beach, bathhouse, picnic areas, and disc golf. There is also a golf course on the other side of the dam, plenty of fishing spots, and a large dump station with potable water. The campground includes 76 50-amp sites, all with picnic tables and fire rings. Five are pull-through, and several back in along the lake. Cell signals were fine, and there were plenty of over-the-air tv channels. We really enjoyed this campground. Our site, #19 which I forgot to get a pic of, faced out across the open field where the disc golf course was, and we enjoyed watching that a bit. We also liked several sites along the south side of the park. To be in an area with so much activity, it was fairly quiet, although you could occasionally hear vehicles on the roads, and of course, fireworks on the lake above the dam. Lake Yankton didn’t allow gas motors, so there wasn’t any boat noise. We would definitely return. For this visit in July 2025, we paid $20 per night for 5 nights.

Sunday is an odd day for us to be on the road, but the current route and timing for Kansas required it. We headed out at 8 AM driving south on US-81, then east on NE-12. West of Sioux City, we did a little zig-zag over to US-75 east, where we passed a bunch of windmills and realized we’ve driven this road before. Next we turned east on NE-51, crossing into Iowa. A few miles later we arrived at Onawa Bible Baptist Church in Onawa, Iowa, in time for the service. This place was super welcoming, and we even met another couple visiting from outside Indianapolis, Indiana, that we enjoyed talking to. Pastor Matt Sperling talked about how God is consistently pursuing us and giving us chances to turn towards Him. It was a good sermon, and the church is filled with friendly people. Afterwards we walked over to Frannie’s Cafe and had lunch before getting back on the road.

We continued east on IA-37 to US-59 south. At Avoca we zig-zagged over to Atlantic and US-71 south. The last leg was east on IA-92 to Massena and IA-148 south down to Timber Ridge Campground at Lake Icaria. It had been a long day, and we weren’t set up until around 5 PM and ready to relax.

Monday the weather was nice in the morning, though a little muggy. I was up really early…5:30ish…because I asked my Mom to call before going under the knife. (She was having neck surgery, which will hopefully take care of the constant pain she has been in for months.) I took a nice walk, where I learned that this area must have a dirth of coyotes and foxes. There are rabbits EVERYWHERE! Later we rode into Corning, Iowa,a few miles away so MW could check out Backgrounds Coffee. He was glad he did, because he discovered Wake Up America from Raphael’s Roastery out of Tennessee. I’m not a coffee drinker, but he really enjoyed it. The rest of the day was pretty lazy at the campground. It’s getting hot again. Ugh!

Tuesday morning we were happy to wake up to no damage. We check the weather regularly, and there was no indication of storms or rain of any kind overnight when we went to bed, leaving the awnings out. Everything was fine at 10PM when I fell asleep, but at 12:30 AM, I was awakened by something suddenly. When I got up to explore, I heard the flapping of the awning edges and quickly brought them in. That’s when I saw the trees going nuts! The wind was fierce, and checking my two weather apps, I saw that it was just beginning. There was a severe thunderstorm warning for our area with 65-75 mph gusts, but no tornado issues thus far. Our neighbors a little bit up the hill bailed out and went to the bathhouse. The area we were in was somewhat buffered, so we decided to get dressed just in case we had to bug out, and then hang tight. That isn’t to say that Priscilla’s driver side wasn’t being hit pretty hard, but she took it well. At some point about half of a tree near our site split and swung down, but thankfully, nowhere near Priscilla. After about 40-45 minutes, we were out of the red and orange stuff on the weather radar. Things calmed down a bit, so we went back to bed.

Later we headed out to see one of the places on the list of Most Charming Towns…Winterset, Iowa. It is also located in Madison County, which might make you think of bridges. On the way over we stopped at the Roseman Bridge, which is one of the last two covered bridges built in the county. Six of the original 19 are still standing. It first became famous as a haunted bridge in 1892 after an encounter between a sheriff’s posse and an excaped convict. Legend says that they caught up with the fugitive at the Roseman Bridge and exchanged fire, with several members of the posse hurt. Then the convict screamed horribly and VANISHED! To this day people claim to hear laughter and feel unexplained cold in the middle of the bridge. However, I didn’t experience either. Bummer! In 1992, though, this bridge was featured in The Bridges of Madison County, a novel by Robert James Waller. In 1994, Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep were here to film the movie by the same name. At that time, the bridge had just been restored, and Director Eastwood was unhappy with the shiny new appearance. He had the crew “age” it for the shoot, then repaint it after filming was complete.

After that, we went into town to check out the courthouse, walk around the square a bit, and go to the Visitor Center. One of the cool things in town was the old theater. Every Thursday they show old movies like The Maltese Falcon, The Sting, and Rear Window. I’d check that out every week if I lived close! Also, like every county in Iowa, there is a Freedom Rock here. Artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II began the project in 1999 by painting the original, and largest, Freedom Rock in western Iowa southwest of Menlo. That rock is re-painted every year with changing designs. Since then, smaller, permanently decorated versions have been put in all 99 county seats in the state, tailored to each area. Now he is working on installations in all 50 states.

One of the nice surprises MW found when looking up things to do here is that it is the birthplace of the Duke. Yep, Marion Robert Morrison, aka John Wayne, was born in a tiny little house just a block off of the square. They have a nice museum separate from the house, a good informational movie, and the house tour. There was a lot here that caught my eye, but here are a few highlights:

  • The sidewalk all the way around the place had tiles with the names of his movies.
  • There was a touching story about a woman named Elaine Porchetti who took her 12-year-old daughter to see True Grit at the movies theater in 1969. The child was enthralled with Wayne, and wrote a fan letter expressing her admiration. A few weeks later, she received an autographed photo signed “Good Luck Patty, John Wayne”. That was the start of a 10-year correspondence between the Porchettis and Wayne. They would bake cookies and other sweets and put together albums and gifts, all sent to Wayne in California. His responses were heartfelt and funny with personal notes, always dictated to his assistant, Pat Stacy. My favorite was a note from Mrs. Porchetti about “Holy Hell”, followed by his response.
  • You might remember that MW and I drove out to 26 Bar Hereford Ranch near Eagar, Arizona, last year. They had a display with information and items from his time cattle ranching.
  • I absolutely LOVE this 1972 Pontiac Grand Safari station wagon, which John Wayne drove for almost 15 years. It was specially ordered with raised windows and a top to accommodate his 6’4″ height without stooping down. Plus, it’s green!!
  • They had a display with a John Wayne statue that was captivating. It was staring right at me and, honest to goodness, looked just like him! That artist was amazing.
  • Although best known for westerns, John Wayne had a deep respect for all branches of the service and loved playing military men. The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) gave him his first Academy Award nomination. During both WWII and Vietnam, he spent a good bit of time overseas with the USO. When Wayne was asked to put his prints into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he was surrounded by Marines and assisted by Marine Pvt. Inga Bonberg and Sid Graumann.
  • The Morrisons only lived in Winterset for 2 years before bouncing around Iowa a bit, living in Earlham, Des Moines, Keokuk, and Brooklyn. Interestingly, the 13 POUND bundle of joy was delivered by a female physician, Dr. Jessie Smith…quite a rarity in 1907. The birthplace was a rental, so no personal effects from the family are there. The beautiful stained glass in the windows and doors would be the same, though. In 1914, the family moved to the Palmdale area of California to homestead. It was a rough go, and his father Clyde decided to return to being a pharmacist, taking a job in Glendale, California, at the Glendale Pharmacy. Wayne received the moniker “Duke” from Glendale Fire Station No 1. Young Marion would pass by with his airedale Duke, and the firemen took to calling Marion “Little Duke” or just “Duke”. Marion liked it and began introducing himself that way. John Wayne simply came about as his professional name.

When we finished there, we went to the city park to see the Cutler-Donahoe Bridge. Built in 1871, this one originally crossed the North River near Bevington several miles away, but was moved to Winterset City Park in 1970 just in time for the first Covered Bridge Festival. The park is really big and has a lot going for it, including a nice, large campground. After checking it out, it was time to head back to Priscilla, this time on a route through Creston.

Wednesday morning MW headed back to Backgounds Coffee while I took a nice walk around the park. Then it was time to take care of a little bit of the paperwork part of life…paid bills, cleaned out email, confirmed stuff for the upcoming Great Adventure. Later we headed to nearby Corning for lunch at Three C’s Diner, then did a drive by of the birthplace of Johnny Carson. Yep…two Johns in two days!! For those of you a mite too young to remember, Mr. Carson was the host of the Tonight Show for more than 30 years and was born right here in tiny Corning, Iowa in 1925. He even had his first babysitter from Corning on the show once. We also checked out Sweet Desires Bakery downtown and ran a couple of errands before heading back to relax a bit.

Timber Ridge Campground is part of the Lake Icaria Recreation Area a few miles north of Corning, Iowa. The area offers a marina, boat docks, boat ramp, pavilions, beach, picnic areas, playgrounds, a disc golf course, a dump station, and walking trails. Lodging options include large cottages, rustic cabins, and two campgrounds. Lake View Campground has 24 full-service sites, 43 electric sites, and 20 tent sites. Timber Ridge Campground has 39 full-service sites, 23 electric and water sites, and 4 tent sites. All sites have fire rings and picnic tables. Cell signals were okay and there were some over-the-air tv channels. We enjoyed this campground a lot. The sites were well-gravelled, although not completely level, and spacing was pretty good. There was a little bit of road and boat noise, but it wasn’t too loud. We would definitely return. For this visit in July 2025, we paid $31 per night for 4 nights.

Well, that’s it for now. Next up…Aiden’s Great Adventure! We are so excited!! See you on the path.

Talisa

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