Those Crazy South Dakotans

Redefining Fast Food:

Day 10: Minneapolis to The Badlands, SD

We had intended to get up at 6am, but for some reason Janet's watch did not alert us (perhaps a consequence of setting it in the dark?), so we got up a bit late. But not too late for Blake's famous waffles:



Today was driving across Minnesota and almost all the way across South Dakota. It forces you to find amusement in just about anything:



So, aside from that, the main scenery was:





As we entered on South Dakota, we came up with a few other things we're excited about in Colorado:





Time flew by somehow (partially because we entered Mountain Time) and we were at Badlands National Park. After advice from the lady at the entrance booth, we took the short hike along the Notch Trail. The only semi-craziness was the part where you had to climb this shaky ladder:



The funny part actually, was waiting for other people to come down before we went up. The very bottom of the ladder is almost horizontal, but you don't necessarily notice as you're climbing down. So the people before us were taking FOREVER and spending 10 seconds on each rung. When they reached the bottom, and finally stood up, they had this sheepish look like: "oh, I should have just stood up and walked down instead of crawling backwards like I was clinging to it for dear life".

We reached the lookout:



And a little panorama of the hike back down the Notch Trail:



Before we drove away from the main parking lot on the Eastern edge of the park, we took one last look out "The Window":



As you drive west through the park, it seems like you come to the end of the "good stuff" in terms of scenery, but it keeps getting more amazing...and greener?!?



The park itself is pretty awesome to see, although, it's probably a 1 day, drive through (with a short hike or two) type of place. Unless, you go camping on your own. You can camp anywhere as long as you are a certain distance of the road. It would be pretty cool to just head out and camp on a distant grassy plateau.

The park is split up into two different pieces, and Ryan thought: "what a great idea, let's drive to the other side", not realizing that much of the drive was on a gravel road. So at the midway point, we reached the town of Scenic, South Dakota, which looks like this:



Yes, that's the entire town.

And in our continuing animal coverage, here are some of the other inhabitants:



The sheep were a little skittish, and those calves where very standoffish...stomping the ground and trying to protect the sheep.

So beyond Scenic, we entered the other half of the park, which was almost all gravel road. Still scenic, but perhaps not as much so. After finally getting out of the park, we were essentially locked into another 25 miles on gravel road. So yes, in South Dakota they do put gravel roads on the map apparently. This road was listed on my map that shows the entire state on one page!

We got into Hot Springs (setting for the movie Crazy Horse) at dinner time, and hit up the hopping looking All-Star Grill. The food was decent, but they were very backed up and the food took a long time. Thankfully, in the shadow of two Brett Favre posters, we were able to watch freestyling Monster Trucks on TV. To make it up to us, Janet's beer was free. Our total bill was $16.

One of the waitresses told us about a good nearby campground, which we amazingly found in the darkness (after a mile or so down a gravel road with numerous unlabeled turnoffs). And promptly set up the tent and immediately fell asleep.

Total Distance Traveled: 661 miles!

Day 9: Minneapolis - Part 2

We had a brief 30 minute window for recovery, and then we were off to downtown. We took a bus down to the Nicollet Mall, an outdoor pedestrian mall in the heart of downtown (makes a lot of sense in place like Minneapolis where it's freezing most of the year, right?).

With some time to kill waiting for the Brewers / Twins game to start, we explored Mill Ruins Park, on the bank of the Mississippi River:





Very cool. Like many cities, Minneapolis has recently renovated, restored, and rebuilt in previously decaying industrial areas, and the results are some great mixed-use developments with easy access to just about everything.

The Brewers game was quite a treat. Even though I hadn't heard many good things about the Metrodome, what really made it a good time was that nearly half the stadium was filled with Brewers fans (this was the highest total attendance all season except for opening night). We were in the bleachers amongst some fun-loving Brewer fans:



This went on all night (it helped that the Brewers were dominating). Notice how towards the end of the video the Twins fans are trying to boo down the chants? Also, I got a great clip of Bill Hall doubling with the bases loaded in the third inning:



I lost track of the number of high-fives given somewhere around the second inning.

Although most of the jawing between fans was in good fun, at one point a Twins fan walked up to one of the guys in front of us, took the dude's hat off, and threw it to the ground. A fight almost broke out, and in fact, I think a punch was thrown. Security was on it pretty quickly. No one got thrown out until the guy right in front of us (who wasn't involved) started chanting "Sit Back Down" and was immediately tossed?!? He reappeared (to thunderous applause) a half an inning later, telling us that security thought he was chanting: "Suck my #$%@".

One other noteworthy item in rivalry...at some point a female Twins fan came down and sat with one of the Brewers fans for a while, chatting and flirting with him. A minute or two later a Twins fan (who didn't appear to know the woman) came down and escorted her out, and back to a group of Twins fans. Quite amusing.

My dilemma of whether or not to get a Brat (which I tend to eat on trips home, almost in homage more than anything else...) was finally solved when the Cookie guy caught my eye. Cookies?!? Yes. Someone thought it would be a good idea to sell containers of a dozen medium sized cookies to people sitting in their seats. For the paltry sum of $5. Not only that, but they were still warm (with melting chocolate chips to boot)!

The final note about the Metrodome, the ceiling is held up by pressurized air, so to enter, you have to go through a revolving door airlock (you can feel the pressure difference in your ears). When you leave, you are literally sucked out of the building:



Miles today running/walking: Approximately 11

Public Service Announcement: Sisterly Love

Day 9: Minneapolis - Part 1

I forgot to mention...you might have noticed that I eventually shaved. Well, it turns out that the fantasy of letting yourself go after you get married is just so much better than the reality. Plus, it's summer...the less hair the better!

Get ready, this day was a doozy:

We woke up super early and ran/rollerbladed around Lake of the Isles and then Kenwood Park, and past some amazing homes in the historic Lowry Hill neighborhood. This was about a 4 mile excursion.

Then we went to Minnehaha park for a quick walk along a scenic creek underneath a canopy of greenery. Perhaps another mile and a half. Check out the falls:



Then met up with one of Janet's friends for a breakfast/lunch at Chatterbox. Why Chatterbox? The answer will become obvious once you see the video:



And, I'm jealous. Are they looking for franchising opportunities? Oh my god. The cinnamon swirl french toast was amazing.

And then to the Mall of America. Obviously, I wasn't really excited by the promise of shopping, but come on people, Mall of America. American Landmark. We just had to check it out:



The mall is set up basically like a giant oval, with the above Nickelodeon themed amusement atrium in the middle, and 3 stories of shops around the outside. We were determined to walk around all three rings (if we could without collapsing or becoming bored). IT didn't take long for Janet to find some much needed refreshment in a throwback to her childhood years:



When you travel the country camping and staying with family, you can afford to really go nuts once in a while. To that end, we pampered ourselves with first-timer aqua massages:



I was surprised that it actually felt really good, and wasn't just a gimmick. Wouldn't mind having one of these at my place. If it proves to be too expensive, then maybe just a table with a slit for your face so you can lie face down? Maybe you could have a book that turned it's own pages underneath? I'm accepting funding for this and other amazing inventions starting....now!

I knew you wouldn't believe me if I told you, which is why I captured this on film:



Who are the adwizards that came up with that one?

All in all the Mall of America was surprisingly enjoyable. We didn't actually do any shopping, but it was entertaining enough just wandering around, people watching, counting the number of Lids stores, and mocking any of the numerous debacles of consumerism. Janet was wearing a pedometer...and in total we walked.....3 miles at the mall!

Those Crazy Minnesotans

Although you have to give them credit for giving streets numbers in one direction, and alphabetical names in the other...it occasionally leads to strange results:



Also, as Blake pointed out, it goes from 22nd street immediately to 24th, skipping 23rd entirely.

Also, if you want pizza in the neighborhood, you'll want to get it from this guy:



Although, I'm not the first one to write about the quirky Galactic Pizza.