Arriving in South Dakota

We started today off with a couple of mishaps in Kansas City. Sarah fell down the stairs from top to bottom just by forgetting there were stairs there. She didn't cry a single tear even though she had a red mark down the middle of her face. We thought she might be shell-shocked, but after looking her over really well and checking her eye dilation, she seemed fine. Then, Emily and Eliana ran around a corner and Emily's two front teeth hit Eliana's forehead. I saw blood coming out of her gums and thought she had knocked her teeth loose. They are permanent teeth so I was glad to see that they seemed ok other than a fat lip for a few hours. She was careful to not eat anything hard with them just to give the gums a chance to tighten up again if there was a problem that we couldn't see.

Once we were on the road again, the girls had another great day! We traveled another 8 hours stopping a couple of times to see the sites. Our first stop was to the World's Only Corn Palace. It is outlined with corn inside and out. There was a huge shopping area inside and I got a couple of books on Laura Ingalls Wilder there.



On our way out, we saw this old-fashioned ice cream parlor there and stopped to get ice cream. Emily and Eliana had homemade waffle cones. Andy got a malt with extra malt. I got an amaretto italian soda with ice cream in it. They were really good and hit the spot with it being so muggy outside.



Our next stop was to see one of the spots where Lewis and Clarke discovered this area. The exhibit was closed, but the view was incredible overlooking the Missouri river with trees and hills.



Our last stop was only 10 minutes from the hotel so we checked in and went to look for some food. That was a big mistake. The girls were tired and hungry which did not make for a very good time while we were waiting to be seated, especially Sarah. The buffalo burger that I had was really good though. Andy had some lemon cheesecake which was featured in a magazine.

Back at our hotel, I had a hard time getting the girls to settle down. I guess they were all wound up from sitting for so long today. They are finally asleep now and will hopefully be able to sleep in a little bit. We are still leaving early tomorrow morning, but not as early as today. They haven't been sleeping any more than normal while riding in the van. The Badlands are on the agenda for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing them in person after Andy showed me a picture last week. More tomorrow...