End of Dakota trip

Sunday, July 31

I needed to get back to the conference for an evening meeting - so it was time to drive, drive, drive and get back to Omaha. I stopped in the morning at the corn palace in Mitchell, SD for my last 'tourist' activity - it was a pretty neat spot! The palace was built around 1865 as a way of lobbying for Mitchell to become the capital city - it lost, but the palace remained. It was moved and expanded, and has been updated yearly since about 1904. Souza was hired to play there for the corn festival and ended up changing his schedule from 2 shows a day to 3 because of the high demand and huge crowds! They change up the exterior corn decorations every year, the interior ones are permanent, with fresh corn put in about every 11 years.

I ate lunch at ihop. I had initially stopped at Cracker Barrel, only to see an elderly lady collapse in line - she clearly had fainted and was loosing blood from the spot where she had given blood earlier that day. I was horrified, but even more so, by the fact that her husband was having such a hard time getting anyone to help him, and I couldn't get past the gawking crowd of people who were standing there doing nothing :( I wish I had just pushed past them. Sometimes people really upset me... I left in disgust and stopped further down the road once my appetite returned. I wish I knew if the lady was ok - but mom says chances are good.

I detoured in Iowa, checking out the flooding and the scenic hill region. I was referred to a state park along the lewis and clark trail - but it was closed due to flooding. The hill towns that caught my attention were quite scenic but nearly abandoned. Not even a place to stop for gas or coffee. Many buildings were empty - the signs of a cute past were present, it was sad.

This ended part one of my vacation. I got to Omaha, went to the laundromat, cleaned up, went to my meeting, then had a terrific authentic mexican dinner with my grad students where I was able to laugh, decompress, and tell tails of my travels...