2. The Mid-West

After a fantastic week in Chicago we felt that familiar itch in our feet … it was time to move on. It was Memorial weekend – and where does everybody go on a holiday weekend… why, their favourite Scandinavian flat pack furniture store of course! No – we weren’t looking for a two seater sofa or a mirrored wardrobe simply better ways to store our clothes. It was so surreal, it was laid out just like the IKEA store back in Glasgow but there were no meat balls!!!!!!!

Fully organised with our repurposed IKEA shoe boxes and still reeling from the absence of meatballs we headed northwest to Wisconsin. We found an overnight stop by lovely Lake Mendota. Mind you, we never noticed the train track, so great sleep that night….not. You’d think we would’ve learnt our lesson after our experience of the L in New York! Hey ho.

Anyhow, the next day was Memorial Day and we absolutely wanted to find a Memorial Day Parade. Lo and behold there was one in the next town, Monona, and not only that but it was the anniversary of their 20th parade (or something like that). Our timing was perfect & we managed to get parked up just before the cops closed the road and secured a kerbside spot with a perfect view. Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the US to pay respect to US military personnel who have died while serving in the US armed forces. The parade in Monona wasn’t quite what we expected – while there were some military veterans and classic military vehicles, there were also cheerleading groups and local businesses advertising everything from double glazing to funeral services. But it was great. There was a real family atmosphere. And so we happily waved the mini Stars and Stripes flags on sticks that we’d been given and did our best to hold ourselves back from pushing the kids out of the way so we could get the sweeties that were being thrown out of the floats.

From Monona we headed to Madison – state capitol of Wisconsin and university town where Geraldine’s sister, Alison, taught for a year as a student teacher some 30 odd years ago. Being Memorial Day it was deserted so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We went to the Capitol building and the Convention Centre (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) before chancing on the Great Dane Brewery (which we didn’t even know at the time but turned out to be one of Alison’s old haunts). On our way out of Madison we stopped off at Alison’s old digs to make a quick video call home so that she and her husband Greg could relive the ‘old’ times. While we were chatting they started talking about friends John & Kerry who lived down the hill and within minutes Geraldine was down at their house, rapping their door with Alison & Greg on the FaceTime. It took all of about 5 mins before John was plying us with cold ones. What a fun night with John Kerry and their lovely daughter Snnie. We were totally spoilt with John rustling up fresh trout (caught by himself), roast chicken and wild asparagus…. Heaven! We talked Yellowstone and fishing rods and before we left he gave us two of his very own published books one on Driftless stories the other a recipe book on how to cook what you’ve caught as well as giving us spinners to use once we got our very own fishing rods – fabulous!

Culture was on the agenda the next day, with a visit to Taliesin – home of Frank Lloyd Wright – you know what it’s like…need to make sure you temper the number of brewery visits with a bit of culture! ( Love you mum)

That night we found a park up spot looking out over the mighty Mississippi. Who knew that the Mississippi start so far north- the sun went down to us listening to playing “ole man river” – the Paul Robson version of course.

Next day we rolled into La Crosse wanting to visit the Dahl classic car museum, it’s a private collection that’s been passed down through the Dahl family, who’ve built up a successful car dealership business in the town over 5 generations. By the time we got there it was 1/2 an hour to closing time but its curator Jim said he was more than happy to stay on and told us all about the cars and the family history. It was great!

Then…. Just as we were leaving La Crosse, Dolly caused her first car accident… it wasn’t our fault, honest! We were waiting at a junction, and this guy was pure staring at Dolly & then drove straight into the path of another car because he was still rubber necking us. No injuries luckily – nutter.

It was getting on a bit (like Dan) and we hadn’t looked into where to park up for the night. Cue Geraldine and Google maps- “what’s this in Rochester….. a brewery called “Little Thistle”….. surely it’s a sign.” We phoned ahead to check that if we came in for one that we’d be ok to park up ( needless to say we’re not into drinking & driving) They were great – they let us stay in their car park overnight as it was a quiet and then the next morning we got to meet the rest of the team who filled us in a bit on the brewing process and why the boss man ( Steve) had come to work looking like a character from Super Mario

Before we headed off Steve tipped Geraldine off as to where to get some Nespresso compatible coffee pods. That’s right, for two months we’d been driving around with a coffee machine which didn’t accept the American sized coffee pods. So, with the tank filled with water, the fridge filled with beer, and a wife full of excitement we headed straight for TK Maxx, or TJ Maxx as they call it over here.

With a freshly brewed cup of coffee, we spot signs for a “SPAM Museum”….. really we hear you ask….. yes, really! And there’s nothing Dan likes better on a DIY dinner night than a wee spam omelette – each to there own I guess! No sooner had we parked up than an officer of Austin police department pulled up behind us… oh dear, what had we done? Fortunately nothing – he’d seen the stickers on the back of Dolly and felt it was missing an Austin Police Department sticker which he kindly provided. After an hour of learning the history of SPAM, how it’s manufactured, how many varieties there are and it’s role in WWII, we departed sporting a tin of hickory spam ( purely for Dan’s consumption) and both the PD and SPAM stickers.

Now as we’d been going through Minnesota we’d been aware that there was a rattle somewhere in the front right of the truck and that it was getting worse. The cars behind must have wondered why a head kept popping out of the passenger window every few miles to listen to the noise. Knowing that Unimogs and their spares are few & far between in the USA, by the time we got to Sioux Falls the priority was to find a truck repair centre and fortunately within minutes they had diagnosed that it was just a rattling hub cap! Feeling both relieved & a bit dumb, we breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the waterfalls that Sioux Falls gets it name from. When we returned to Dolly we discovered that the police had paid us a visit! Not wanting to be outdone by Austin PD they’d left us a Sioux Falls PD sticker under the windscreen/windshield!

With the rattle gone, we got back on the interstate headed for South Dakota and specifically The Badlands. Mind you, we weren’t on the road long before we saw a sign for The “World Famous” Corn Palace – we just had to check it out. It turned out to be a sports hall / theatre venue clad externally with corn adorned with various corn based tapestries on the inside. It really had to be seen to be believed and was, dare we say it really corny…..

Then came The Badlands!

Before we reached The Badlands we’d been told that they were like nothing else on this planet – and they were absolutely right. They were however to become etched in our memories for both good and bad reasons. An overnight site on the IOverlander app ( which is a godsend when it comes to finding places not just to park up but formal campsites, places to shower etc etc) mentioned a location just south of the park, warning of conditions getting very muddy & slippery if it rained. Ha ha we laughed – with 4 wheel drive and diff-locks front centre and rear this warning obviously wasn’t aimed at folks in Unimogs – or so we thought.

That night it rained.

It rained a lot.

You really gotta watch the video to see what happened…. words don’t quite do it justice!

After a super evening with Cammy and Ryan, where we ate dinner serenaded by coyotes, we headed to Mount Rushmore – or “The Heads” as the cool kids call them. They’re pretty impressive, though it was the nearby “Crazy Horse” sculpture that really got us. It was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a tribal elder in 1948 and when complete will be the largest statue in the USA. The designer, and original sculptor was Korczak Ziolkowski began carving it in June 1948. Though he died 40 years ago, some of his children and his grandchildren continue to keep the legacy going. Completion date ….No one knows, but wow! And yes this is a photo taken through the binoculars!

The next day we visited the wild west town of Deadwood, famous for Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, who are buried side by side in the local Moriah Cemetery- cue Geraldine singing an excerpt from Camaity Jane about a stage coach to the lady selling entrance tickets (didn’t get my phone out in time to record it though) – (I was awesome… total missed opportunity Dan!).

That night we found the most beautiful spot to stay right in the middle of the Blackhills and the drive the next day began with 22 miles along the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Highway. Even that enchanting name didn’t do it justice, and we got our first opportunity for a proper hike.

Next stop Wyoming – fishing, rodeos and Yellowstone…..