2017 West Coast - Otis the Camel
Otis the camel may have tipped the balance in our travel relationship.
We left Rapid City and barreled down I 90 towards Wall SD. Many of us grew up knowing about Wall Drug advertised along the road through SD. If you somehow missed learning about Wall Drug, google it. Having been to Wall Drug before, we just passed through town.
From Wall we headed through the South Dakota Badlands. We took this side trip to break up the monotony of the highway. Each of us had been through there at least once, and were glad we did again. The views, and scenery through this 'bad' land is inspiring. Toward the East end, a rain cloud opened up on us. Knowing it was a short burst, we road thru it. We dried out on flying down the road
Somewhere between Wall and Mitchell, is South Dakota's original 1880 Town. A feature at the town is Otis the Camel. Now LoriAnn saw that Otis the Camel was there and she suggested we see him. We had already blasted past the 1880 Town so that would mean that we would have to turn around and go back. I usually don't mind U turns, but not this time. At least twice that night she brought up the fact that we missed Otis. I still assume she was joking. Those that know LoriAnn will have to ask her how serious she was.
As we crossed the Missouri River at Chamberlain, SD, we needed gas and food. We saw a sign for Arby's a few miles earlier. Neither of us caught the mile marker, but we assumed it was just down the road. We finally had to stop for gas. At the turn out for gas, with Arby's on our mind, neither of us were tempted by the restaurants at the location so we got back onto the road.
We made it too Mitchell SD. Mitchel became popular as a rest stop while crossing South Dakota and as the home to the Corn Palace. I guess its really a kicking place during August when the Corn Festival happens. As for today, we just passed by to see the current murals out front depicting Rock and Roll fame.
The road construction in Mitchel was brutal. At one point we had to zig zag city blocks to make our way out of town. As we neared the highway, we saw the sign for Arby's. But how do we get to it through the road construction. LoriAnn thought one direction; over rough gravel and then down a unpaved service road. I saw another path farther up that appeared to have LESS gravel so I passed by the first opportunity. I crossed over the rough gravel section in my path and followed an asphalt service road that dead ended about 2 businesses short of Arby's. ARGH!!!! So, I turned around, and crossed over my selection of rough gravel, then went back to the first section of rough gravel. The only positive point is we found a paved road to the back side of Arby's and didn't have to take the unpaved service road. But to add injury to the Arby's adventure, I passed by the first entry to the parking lot only to find the second entry was an exit only...
We made it to Sioux Falls, for the night, and got to meet up with LoriAnn's niece for a great chat.
Our journey to Sioux Falls had a lot of wind, but we made it! The flat states suck!
We left Rapid City and barreled down I 90 towards Wall SD. Many of us grew up knowing about Wall Drug advertised along the road through SD. If you somehow missed learning about Wall Drug, google it. Having been to Wall Drug before, we just passed through town.
Somewhere between Wall and Mitchell, is South Dakota's original 1880 Town. A feature at the town is Otis the Camel. Now LoriAnn saw that Otis the Camel was there and she suggested we see him. We had already blasted past the 1880 Town so that would mean that we would have to turn around and go back. I usually don't mind U turns, but not this time. At least twice that night she brought up the fact that we missed Otis. I still assume she was joking. Those that know LoriAnn will have to ask her how serious she was.
As we crossed the Missouri River at Chamberlain, SD, we needed gas and food. We saw a sign for Arby's a few miles earlier. Neither of us caught the mile marker, but we assumed it was just down the road. We finally had to stop for gas. At the turn out for gas, with Arby's on our mind, neither of us were tempted by the restaurants at the location so we got back onto the road.
We made it too Mitchell SD. Mitchel became popular as a rest stop while crossing South Dakota and as the home to the Corn Palace. I guess its really a kicking place during August when the Corn Festival happens. As for today, we just passed by to see the current murals out front depicting Rock and Roll fame.
The road construction in Mitchel was brutal. At one point we had to zig zag city blocks to make our way out of town. As we neared the highway, we saw the sign for Arby's. But how do we get to it through the road construction. LoriAnn thought one direction; over rough gravel and then down a unpaved service road. I saw another path farther up that appeared to have LESS gravel so I passed by the first opportunity. I crossed over the rough gravel section in my path and followed an asphalt service road that dead ended about 2 businesses short of Arby's. ARGH!!!! So, I turned around, and crossed over my selection of rough gravel, then went back to the first section of rough gravel. The only positive point is we found a paved road to the back side of Arby's and didn't have to take the unpaved service road. But to add injury to the Arby's adventure, I passed by the first entry to the parking lot only to find the second entry was an exit only...
We made it to Sioux Falls, for the night, and got to meet up with LoriAnn's niece for a great chat.
Our journey to Sioux Falls had a lot of wind, but we made it! The flat states suck!
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