20240930 Western National Parks Tour Day 19/20 - Mitchell to Sioux Falls to Omaha

American West Bus Tour Day 19/20 - Corn, Falls, and State #49 - a three-state day

Jackalopes must be a big thing here. Yesterday, I posted a photo of the largest jackalope carving in Wall, South Dakota. When we walked from our room to breakfast, we saw this just outside our room.

Yup - we had a jackalope just a few feet from our room

We're in Mitchell, South Dakota. One thing dominates Mitchell - The Corn Palace. You can even see it mentioned on the town's water tower. It was breezy today. The news called it a "red flag day", meaning that there were wind warnings for wind around 25MPH gusting to 40MPH.

So what is The Corn Palace? It is another truly American icon - an events venue where the outside walls and the main venue walls inside are decorated is changing art made exclusively of corn. It has been around since 1892. This third iteration of The Corn Palace is used for multiple activities including industrial exhibits, dances, stage shows, meetings, banquets, proms, graduations arena for Mitchell High School and Dakota Wesleyan University as well as district, regional, and state basketball tournaments. USA Today named the Corn Palace one of the top 10 places in America for high school basketball.

We checked out of the hotel and headed to The Corn Palace.

It's easy to find in Mitchell

Downtown Mitchell

We parked and walked over to The Corn Palace.

Arlona posed with the mascot - we think he is named Cornelius

A small completed mural and one underway in the gift shop window

The two main murals on the front have already come down and the new ones for 2025 (Wonders of the World) are designed and waiting for material - this is Christ the Redeemer in Rio

Sydney Opera House

The 2024 these - Famous South Dakotans is still shown on the banner - that's corn too

The murals on the side are still the 2024 Famous Dakotans designs

Bob Barker

Oscar Howe

Wild Bill Hickock

Joe Foss

Charles Gemar

Becky Hammon

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Garry, being corny

The 2024 mural designs

The 2025 mural designs

Displays inside recognize the role of farming in America

The arena was impressive and pretty amazing for a high school basketball venue. All the murals are corn and natural materials.

They have a live "corn cam" webcam - you can see us standing just above the 
'Sou" in "South"

We enjoyed the visit. It is something unique - you won't see anything like it anywhere else.

We headed east on I-90 - even during the day, there isn't much traffic, but it was dusty/hazy as the wind was whipping up dust from the fields

You never know what you'll see along the highway

After a little over an hour, we arrived in Sioux Falls

Our destination was Falls Park on the Big Sioux River

Falls Park features multiple waterfalls as the river flows over then through a massive rock formation

We can only imagine how much water must flow here in the spring

This building looks like it is upset about something :-(

There are different falls everywhere you look

The view from atop the Visitor Center

A miniature sculpture

The full-sized version

Garry, contemplating the meaning of life

We headed downtown to grab lunch.

We chose the Phillips Avenue Diner

In honor of our bus tour director, Geoff, Arlona opted for his favorite sandwich - French Dip

Sioux Falls had art installed all over the downtown area. Here are a few of them. The public can vote for their favorite piece.

This was not part of the art competition but I liked it

Arc of Dreams

Another entry to Falls Park

We drove past the Cathedral of Saint Joseph

We hopped on I-29 south and headed toward Omaha, Nebraska - our destination for the evening, or so I thought.

We guessed that this was a section of a wind turbine tower

Entering Iowa - the wind was still blowing hard

We needed a comfort stop so we went to the Iowa Visitor Center - wait, is this a boat?

Yup - the center is indeed an actual boat

A variety of artifacts are housed in a small museum inside

The Missouri River runs alongside - you can see from the dark line why the Missouri is the longest river in the U.S.

The boat's controls are all intact

A Lewis & Clark statue is located nearby

Our first look at Omaha

We crossed into Nebraska, and then, almost immediately, crossed back into Iowa. I booked us at the La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Omaha Airport Downtown. Sure sounds like Nebraska, doesn't it? Omaha Airport Downtown? As it turns out, all of the airport hotels in Omaha are actually located in Iowa. We're only a couple of miles from the airport, but we're spending the night in Iowa, not Nebraska.

We zipped right past this and crossed back into Iowa

We needed boots on the ground in Nebraska to count it. Sure, we'll be at the airport tomorrow, and that is really in Nebraska, but we wanted even more. We went to El Muchacho Alegre, a Mexican restaurant in Omaha for dinner.

We celebrated our 49th state with margaritas

Garry's yummy seafood chimichanga

Arlona's tasty burrito/enchilada combo

When we exited the restaurant, the wind was still whipping, and there was a distinct chill in the air.

Flags at the bank across the street were pegged

Our plan tomorrow is to visit Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in the morning. We'll head to the airport in the afternoon for our 4:00 flight to St. Louis and subsequent connection to Orlando.

The winds today are bringing in much cooler weather tomorrow. We've been in the 80s and 90s for the past four days. Tomorrow's high is predicted to be 68F with sunny skies and light winds.

We returned to the room to get our bags repacked for travel and to watch the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. Zoo and travel tomorrow.