Prairie . . . and more prairie

Trip Start May 01, 2010

Trip End May 29, 2010

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Flag of United States Davenport, Iowa
Saturday, May 22, 2010

Two days of solid driving -- about 850 miles -- across southern South Dakota and northern Iowa. We purposely avoided Interstates, choosing to take secondary roads. We enjoyed the scenery at a more leisurely pace, but two days of prairie and rolling farmland can get a little tedious.

Yesterday we took a short diversion to Wounded Knee, expecting to find a memorial or visitors center in which we could learn more about the 1890 massacre. Instead we found a single painted sign, faded and partially obscured by graffiti, and a hilltop mass gravesite.

Along our route we found evidence of why Subway has outgrown McDonald's in total number of U.S. restaurants. They are located in a number of the small towns in southern South Dakota, including the reservation towns

Barn quilt square

. It helps when you’re looking for fast, reliable sustenance along the highway.

Last night we stayed in Sioux City, Iowa. Today’s trip took us across Iowa on U.S. 20 to Dubuque and then down the Mississippi to Davenport. Pleasant, rolling country. The highlight for me was a visit to the "Field of Dreams," the baseball field Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) built in his cornfield in the motion picture of the same name. It’s still located near Dyersville, Iowa, and tourists like us roll in from all over to walk the bases and maybe play catch on the famous field. I left my glove and ball at home, so just watched and took pictures.

Little known fact: The corn grew too high by the time the movie began filming in June, so a foot-high platform was built for Kinsella to walk on through his cornfield and hear the ghostly voice say, “If you build it, they will come.”

Tomorrow: on our way to St. Louis.

Slideshow