7/17 Wind River Road trip
And just like that, we’re off again. Not exactly a quick start today as we wanted to run, but more importantly, the Impreza was still at the shop needing to be picked up. Not sure if it was a miscommunication when they contacted me Thursday or if they forgot Friday, but I spaced and then the only thing left to do was open them up Monday morning and pack the car thereafter.
We ended up rolling out around 8:50, which honestly isn’t horrible all things considered, but certainly isn’t great when your goal is the western edge of South Dakota for the day.
Pit-stopped in St. Peter for a River Rock stop, then continued the trek SW through Minnesota’s heartland. 60 has been continually built up to increase travel speed between the cities and I-90 West bound. A blessing and a curse, I’m sure, for the communities along the corridor. What was once probably 2-lane road in my life time is nearly 4 lane and frequently limited access for most of the route. I’m always amazed by how this corridor makes you appreciate how big Minnesota is too. We think of Mankato as “Southern” Minnesota. Then you drive on 60 for another couple hours before hitting Worthington in the southwest(ish) corner of the state.
Ate lunch at Palisades state park just across the border in SW. Typically, I’ve done Blue Mounds, but wanted to check this park out and it’s fairly close to the freeway. I believe it’s the same creek (Beaver Creek) that runs through Split Rock Creek state park near Pipestone and definitely the same quartzite that is prominent in the SW part of MN. The creek cuts right through it, which was pretty cool to hike along, even if only for 20 minutes or so. Dash got a little swimming in in the creek, which is also always a bonus.
Departed to start cutting through South Dakota around 2 maybe and made pretty good time until Kimball MN, where we stopped for some Ice Cream. They have a walk up stand right off the freeway that had really good quality ice cream. Definitely a pick me up in the section of the state where there are woefully few options for services.
Chamberlain came up soon enough thereafter. This is definitely the informal gateway to the west on the 90 corridor. Cornfields and irrigation are quickly overrun by vast plains following the sweeping view of the Missouri River.
It’s amazing though how much of South Dakota remains post Chamberlain. Whatever progress you think you’ve made is gradually rubbed away mile after mile through the plains before you finally approach the Badlands.
We stopped in Rapid City quick to grab a couple dinner items we lacked in our fridge before finishing the last leg of the journey to Spearfish. We waffled a bit on going out to eat/staying in a motel or both with thunderstorms in the vicinity, but settled on cooking and camping when it looked like the storms were passing right as we approached town.
It was a good call. A good “hobo dinner” with some Prieve chuck steak and a nice camping spot right along the creek. It was a slog to get here, but nice that we made it. We still have some other big driving days ahead, but this was the largest one. Looking forward to seeing the mountains tomorrow.
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