We couldn’t leave the KOA without letting the kids go in the pool, so we gave them a half hour.  I used the time to shower.  Alone.  The water temp was perfect and I felt clean again.  It was a bit cooler today, so it was nice to actually dry off and not start sweating again immediately!

It was a beautiful sunny day, and the beautiful Minnesota landscape was plain but pleasing.  We drove past fields and fields of corn, cows and wind turbines.  I saw a couple billboards that read, “Wind Energy is NOT the Answer” and had to Google it.  It was an interesting read on the debate of fossil fuels and the overall impact on the environment for the state overall.  The kids argued about how many points different colored cows were worth and played a round of the World’s Greatest Travel game.

At the suggestion of Andy’s Uncle Bill, we made a stop at Pipestone National Monument.  We had just enough time to tour the visitor center, watch a native pipemaker at work and tour the area.   It is a sacred area to the Indians where they come to quarry the precious stone that their people have used to carve their prayer pipes.

The kids completed their first Junior Ranger Program, which is a program that many of the national parks, monuments, and forests participate in.  They are given a packet with educational activities relating to the location and must complete an age appropriate amount of pages to earn their badge, and they were proud to take the pledge and be sworn in as Junior Rangers!  Andy and I grabbed a National Park System Passport, and plan to collect stickers and stamps from the places we go on the trip.  Such a fun treasure hunt!

 

We ventured on, wanting to cover more ground today and headed toward Sioux Falls.

***I’ll add a few more details later…