This Adventure Called Retirement

We considered a possible attempt to see Mount Rushmore before starting our drive, but the weather Saturday morning was worse than Friday night – fog, rain, and dark clouds. Reluctantly we set out for a long drive east on Interstate I-90. The winds in South Dakota were high and buffeting, proving to be a challenge. At one point, a truck and trailer right ahead of us was hit with a strong gust that pushed the trailer sideways raising it off the ground on one side. The truck driver was luckily able to recover before the trailer flipped over on it’s side. The terrain was flat, flat, flat almost the entire way up to the Mississippi River, with gentle rolling hills as we approached the Mississippi.. The only real change was that cattle range land in South Dakota gave way to mostly farming fields in Minnesota.

We crossed the Missouri River at Chamberlain SD. We also stopped for gas and noticed that South Dakota is truly a Second Amendment state where you can get fuel and ammunition at the same location. The Missouri River had an overlook with a large sculpture of a Dakota Indian woman. There were three tribes in this area – Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota, which were a small subset of the Sioux indian tribes.

We finally crossed the Mississippi River into La Crosse WI to complete our day. We had dinner at the Freighthouse restaurant in Old Town La Crosse. This restaurant is in the original railroad freight house along an old railroad track that still has two railcars in front og the restaurant. The food and service were excellent and we both had the prime rib roast made from prime midwestern beef at a reasonable price. It was delicious!