Saturday, 26 September 2009
Road Trip Day 38
OK, quick heads up, today was a driving day. A good day none the less, but I was on the road for a lot of it. That isn't going to stop me squeezing some Topography, Geology and personal History into my account of the day. So, let's go...
Long and Straight... The Sequel
Do you recall my blog post when I left Crater Lake? I included the heading "Long and Straight" and mentioned a 23 mile stretch with only one turn. I also mentioned that this might be as nothing compared to Nebraska. Well, I was nearly right.
Today I crossed the eastern half of South Dakota. The map shows a huge grid pattern of roads crossing each other every 20 to 30 miles or so. Almost the entire journey was made up of huge straights with 90 degree turns as I worked my way east, then north across the state. Here's a 47 miles turn free section I drove early in the day.
View 47 Miles in a larger map
Not Dull
These long straight roads across broad, flat farmland didn't lack a certain kind of charm though. For instance, I've not seen huge fields of Sunflowers before. Obviously they exist or where would all the sunflower oil and gerbil food come from? There was wildlife to see too with circling birds of prey and one stunning hawk of some sort which was posing magnificently on a rock by the road.
Sadly, much of the wildlife I saw had seen better days with a lot of roadkill including a skunk. I also fear I added to the roadkill count today. It was already too late to stop when I realised the scrap in the road ahead wasn't a piece of shredded tyre, and was actually a snake. I heard a double bump as I hit the snake and looked in my rearview mirror. The snake appeared to be writhing quickly across the road to safety, but I can't imagine it survived a hit from a Dodge charger at 67mph.
Roadshow
Here's a slideshow of a dozen shots I took today. They aren't all the same though. Some have telegraph poles; one has a truck in front and another even has 3 trucks coming the other way. Variety is the spice of life.
Roadside Art
I did see another possible nominee for the Roadside America website. Just outside Clark I saw some fairly clumsy but not ugly "sculpture" in a field, followed by an arrangement of 9 identical red cars.
Cool aren't they?
Half the States
This afternoon I entered North Dakota, the 25th state of my American Adventure. That's half the states of the union. I admit I didn't see a great deal of North Dakota, but I did at least get out of the car and touch the ground which is more than I did in Georgia... but I am still counting both in my total.
Across the Missouri River
Less than an hour later, I crossed the Missouri River into Minnesota, my 26th state and it is one I have been looking forward to for more than 20 years.
As many of you know very well, I am a huge Prince fan and have been since I first listened to a couple of albums in early 1985. Prince hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota so I have been curious to see the state and city which he grew up in; to see the influences.
Also, back in 1987 I started watching Baseball when it aired on late night British TV. I wanted to root for a team, so I chose the Minnesota Twins, based upon Prince's home state. That year The Twins won the World Series. I have supported them ever since.
Today when I arrived in my hotel I called the Twins box office and have secured a seat behind home plate to see my beloved Twins play at the home in the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome next Friday. 22 years I've waited.
The Geology Bit
I've driven through about 70 miles of Minnesota so far and it really is very beautiful. Known as the Land of 10,000 lakes, there are actually more than 11,000 lakes larger than 10 acres in size (thank you Wikipedia) and these are a legacy of Glaciation of most of the state.
Taking a Holiday
With sincere apologies to those of my readers who only get two days break each week, I have to admit I need a quick holiday from my vacation. I've driven a lot recently and feel a little tired. Nothing serious and I didn't feel fatigued at all during my 8 hours of driving today, but I do feel a little weary. So, having landed up in a very nice hotel in the town of Detroit Lakes Minnesota I have booked for tomorrow night too. I'll take it easy tomorrow, look around town and maybe take a short hike to take some bird watching in. Maybe I'll see a Loon.
Goodnight.
View Driving Day 38 in a larger map
visited 26 states (52%)
Stats - Day Sixty-Four
Distance travelled - 374 miles - Pierre, SD to Detroit Lakes, MN via the bottom right-hand corner of North Dakota.
States Entered - North Dakota, Minnesota
State count - 26 + DC + B.C.
Room numbers stayed in - 203, 1, 148, 212, 205, 210, 246, 118, 3, 145, 229, 111, 207, 206, 40, 605, "Cowboy", 35, 11, 18, 262, 216, 208, 430, 216, 59, 226, 115 / 110*, 309, 30
*room switch
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