Sunday, June 9, 2013

Racing West - Indiana to South Dakota



Even though I was really anxious to get back across the Mississippi River, we did take the time to see a few more things in Indianapolis. The old Union Station is now an office building -



Which was deserted inside. (That round window at the far end is a beautiful stained glass window that didn't show up in my picure...)



Indianapolis is the capital of Indiana, and we saw the capitol building, but didn't take the time to go inside. Maybe next time...



Up the street from the capitol is the Soldiers and Sailers Monument.



Built from 1887 to 1902, it has some incredible detail. You can climb the 330 steps to the top if you so desire.



We raced through the rest of Indiana, and through Illinois, and FINALLY, crossed the Mississippi River back to where I feel more comfortable.



All through Iowa, it rained and poured. I know - "rain makes grain." But the fields were flooded, so they had too much of a good thing.



We stopped in Sioux Falls, SD and I asked the GPS for "Offbeat Tourist Attractions," a catagory available from www.poi-factory.com. It came up with the USS South Dakota Battleship Memorial. It is a full-size outline of the most decorated battleship of WWII, with artifacts from the ship positioned in it.



We also stopped at the Lewis and Clark Welcome Center near Chamberlain, SD. We had been here in 2010 when the WINs followed the L&C journey from St Louis to the West Coast. A full sized replica of their 55' keelboat doesn't quite fit in the building....



The back of the boat extends out the rear of the building!



They also had plenty of June Bugs all over the parking lot, even though it wasn't June yet! Can't those bugs read a calendar?

9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Those June bugs almost look like a pile of black jelly beans. :)

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  3. Enjoyed the Lewis and Clark exhibit, now I have to see the battleship memorial.

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  4. I know what you mean about being more comfortable west of the Mississippi. I'm east of the MS for the first time in nearly 10 years and I'm really missing the desert and the wild, wild west!

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  5. Thanks for the tour of our former home. Traveling as we do, we now have a better perspective of all the great things in Indianapolis. I am pretty sure that only Washington DC has more monuments than Indy. BTW, we have not seen june bugs for a while and don't miss them.

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  6. SO that's why all the leaves got sucked off the trees...you were flying to get west of the Mississippi... :cD

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  7. What, you didn't go the The Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Zoom, Zoom! ;-)

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  8. I love those old Union Stations. I thought I remembered the one in Indianapolis being a shopping center. Obviously I was thinking of someplace else.

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  9. All of my experience with June Bugs was of the green verity. As a small boy I can remember tying a thread to their leg and flying them like a kite.

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