If yesterday seemed a long drive today was even longer with an estimated 9 hours on the road aiming for Belvidere, South Dakota; all the way on Route 90. In the event over 500 miles but benefitted from shifting another time zone which gave us another hour. A thick fog had enveloped the campsite so it was decidedly chilly first thing but as we climbed out of the river valley to pursue our westward track the fog soon cleared. The land flattened out and the beginnings of ‘big sky’ were in evidence. The trees thinned out, silos were taller and cattle lots were more in evidence as part of the farm complexes. Maize and soya continued to be the main crops although the occasional field of sunflowers punctuated the cropping pattern. To alleviate the monotony we stopped at the Spam museum in Austin. The whole place is set up as tribute to Spam and it’s development as a product. Even now I’m not sure if the place was tongue-in-cheek or whether it is a deadly serious marketing ploy. Still, they did have the Monty Python sketch on a loop so clearly the comedic possibilities hadn’t been overlooked.
The journey rolled on, broken up by a lunch stop at a roadside picnic site and later by a visit to see the ‘world famous’ Corn Palace at Mitchell. By now the arable farmland had given way to true prairie; rolling grasslands with cattle grazing out in the fields and the occasional sunflower crop. A final hay harvest had been cut and the bales dotted the landscape.
Finally, with the sun sinking fast we turned into the campsite at Belvidere, raced to capture the sunset and set to cooking. A long chat over some beers and everyone was ready for bed.
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