Rollin’ On The River #6:
Milestones, Memories, Mysteries, Magic(!), and More
This past week I hit 4 milestones! 1. I passed the 4000 mile mark since I left Branson. 2. Timewise, I passed the halfway mark for the whole Branson-to-Branson round trip. 3. And timewise, I passed the halfway point of the source-to-mouth trip, as well. 4. Believe it or not, I experienced my very first cool/overcast/gloomy/rainy morning! (It was sunny again by mid-afternoon.)
Late in the week, as I pulled into Chamberlain, I was hit with fond memories of crossing over the river here back on July 24, on my way out to Montana, noting then that I’d be back (following the river) on Aug 18, and thinking that was SO far away!
Let’s juggle things a little this week. Instead of going chronologically, let’s go with categories! Here we go!
Rollin’ Along the River I’ve come to really enjoy the road trips between my stops, taken on the lesser traveled roads, always as near the River as possible/feasible. I love the early/mid morning (usually) drives, the solitude (often literally!), the magnificent scenery, and the always-surprising variety! Here’s a closer look at a couple of these delightful journeys.
- Bismark, ND to Mobridge, SD Probably (see below) wins the prize for ‘loneliest road’ so far. But, MY, what VARIETY! I saw a little bit of everything, it seems, from scenery to crop varieties to buffalo to windmills! See ND2SD.
- Ft. Pierre, SD to Chamberlain, SD Gives the drive above stiff competition in loneliest road competition, especially in a couple of segments. But again, fantastic views of the river, a couple of ‘ghost buildings’, a dam, and other goodies, including my brush with magic (see #11)! See FP2Chamb
City Flavors I love the feel of small towns – it’s like a nostalgic step back in time. Here are some samples from Mobridge, Ft. Pierre, and Chamberlain: Flavors
Historical Sights & Sites Little slices of history in these cities along the River.
- South Dakota Capitol Reminds me a lot of Montana’s. See SDCapitol
- Sitting Bull’s Burial Site In Mobridge. See SittingBull
- Lindbergh Landing Site Lindbergh landed near Pierre in 1927, not long after his famous flight to Paris. Folks came from all over. For details, including some prophetic comments, see Lindbergh
- The Verendrye Site. The French were claiming this area 30 years before our country was founded. See the plaque they left, in Ft. Pierre – FrenchClaim.
- Casey Tibbs’ Rodeo Center Casey Tibbs was to rodeo what Babe Ruth was to baseball. He’s a Ft. Pierre native. See CaseyTibbsRodeo.
- Ft. Pierre’s Train Depot Very well restored, with much original authentic areas. See FPTrain
- Ft. Pierre’s Country School Incredibly authentic/restored schoolhouse. Good memories, including math flash cards! 🙂 See SancarcSchoolhouse.
- South Dakota Hall of Fame Contributions from South Dakotans from all walks of life. SDHoF.
Ft Pierre Local “Celebrities” At least they are to me!! You’ll read more about these marvelous folks in ‘the book’, but meet them briefly now. Learn about John Duffy, his historic house, and his family, and about Sunny Hannum, cowgirl turned NY ballerina, and now representing Ft. Pierre marvelously! See FP.Locals
Fascinations As promised last week, here are two more of my fascinations. (Next week, we’ll feature the Star of the Show: The Missouri River!)
- Bridges A look at the 38 bridges I’ve encountered so far 🙂 [as of 8/21] See Bridges
- Tributaries and Confluences Some of the various rivers that flow into the Missouri: Confluences.
Potpourri 2 Another collection of things that don’t quite fit elsewhere and/or that deserve another look. There are some good ones in here. (#21 cracked me up!) See Potpourrri2
Travel and Education I sent in my future columns to the News-Leader before I left, but the trip inspired me to write a column from out here on the river/road. It is appearing today (Monday 8/22). See RiverColumn.
Up Ahead – A Two-Week Preview: As I leave South Dakota this week, I’ll pause to speak to the Yankton, SD, Rotary Club on Monday (today), then head to Sioux City, Iowa (Iowa sounds closer to home than SD!) for 3 days. Then I have 3 days of ‘no schedule’ (should be fun), and I’ll finish the week in St. Joseph, MO!! After that, I visit Atchison, KS, then it’s back into Missouri for the remainder of the trip!