July 14 - Nobles County Pioneer Museum and South Dakota Roadside Attractions

Today is a day of many wonderful "finds.  As we headed west we found another "old timers" museum, the Nobles Country Pioneer Museum.  

This one was much, much larger than yesterday's museum.  It included a couple of churches...

a "town" of old vintage buildings that had been moved to the sight...

Post Off in the General Store

Saloon

including tiny gas station...

a farmstead...

that included a sod house (early prairie homes were made of cut, stacked sod because there were almost no trees with which to build anything)...

a grain elevator...

and lots of interesting displays of implements, vehicles and stuff from the pioneer days.

Barber Shop

Eye Doctor's

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 More Nobles County Pioneer Village

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A bit farther west we came across the Blue Mounds State Park and decided to take a hike.  

There were interesting rock formations...

and great views of the fields and farms in the distance.

The sight featured a "rock alignment".  Scientists do not know what it is for or who, pioneers or native Americans, built it. It is 1250 feet long and runs east-west.

The park has it's own herd of buffalo that we could see on the horizon...

and LOTS of wild flowers.

Once into South Dakota we had another wonderful find...the Porter Sculpture Garden, just outside of Montrose.  

The only way we knew it was there was by the massive head of a bull looming over the horizon.

Turns out it is as tall as the heads on Mt. Rushmore (60 feet) and weighs 25 tons. 

The artist makes all of his creations through his blacksmithing skills.  The art pieces are made of scape metal, farm equipment and tools and just bits and pieces.  The outdoor garden sat on a hillside overlooking Routh 90.  It was a really fun stop.  Some had poems posted beside them, making it much more interesting. 

Little Miss Muffet and the Spider

Paul found his twin here.  

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 More Porter Sculpture Garden

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There was also a very nice poem about tourists.

And the day of sightseeing wasn't over.  A bit farther west we took a detour off the route into Mitchell, South Dakota to visit the "World's Only Corn Palace'.  Talk about a roadside attraction.  The walls of the exterior and much of the interior were covered with artwork made from corncobs.  The corn came in far more colors than one would expect with the usual yellow/gold plus browns and beiges.  They also used corn husks in some of the art pieces.  What a find!

And to top off the day, we found Walls Drugs.  We had seen billboards for it for miles, offering free ice water.  Apparently when Mt. Rushmore was becoming an tourist destination there were few facilities along the route.  So Walls came up with the idea of offering free ice water in order to attract tourists...and it really worked.  It is now has pretty large gift shop and restaurant...still offering free ice water.

They are also known for their "jackalopes"...jack rabbits with antelope horns.  How funny.  

South Dakota seems to have way more than it's fair share of interesting sights to see.  Who would have thought.