St Paul, Minnesota to Door Peninsula, Wisconsin

After leaving South Dakota, we headed for St Paul, Minnesota, to visit Art's cousins, Don and Joanne, and their spouses. Don was the perfect host and tour guide and made sure we had a great day in the city. We started in downtown St Paul where we were able to see St Paul Cathedral and tour the Minnesota State Capital Building. The Capital Building, built in 1906, was beautiful and had just undergone a $1,000,000 renovation on the inside. The paintings on the walls and ceilings had been discolored, cracking, and peeling, after 104 years and were brought back to their original state and hues. All through the building were magnificent marble columns and steps. After lunch we proceeded to Como Park, where there is a "free" (donations only) zoo and plant conservatory. It was hard to believe they didn't charge an admission fee since both were very nice. The zoo even had bison, polar bears, and large cats. In the afternoon, we spent some time at Joanne and Ted's home on White Bear Lake and then visited Don's wife, Bits, at their home. It was wonderful to see everyone. What an enjoyable day!

Our next destination, was Marianette, in the northeast corner of Wisconsin near the Michigan border. It was here that I reunited with an old family friend, Pat Kosuth, whom I hadn't seen in at least 36 years! Pat's mother and mine met in WWII working in a factory and became best friends. As children, Pat and I spent a lot of time together and have kept in touch over the years by letters, so it was wonderful seeing Pat in person! She showed us around the area and took us to the Prestigo Fire Museum. A disastrous fire took place in 1871 in Prestigo, Wisconsin, the same time as the great Chicago fire. The fire destroyed the whole town, spread to the Door Peninsula, and as far away as Traverse City, Michigan, killing 2400 people in it's wake! The museum had some items found after the fire, although not many were left, and also had a cemetery next door where victims of the fire were buried. Besides sightseeing, Pat also had us over to her home, and cooked us two delicious meals. By the way, Pat is a wonderful cook! We had the pleasure of meeting Molly, Pat's dog and faithful companion. I'm so glad we were able to see Pat and hope it won't be another 36 years until we meet again!

Door Peninsula is an area of land jutting out between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. It is so picturesque, with small, quaint towns, interspersed with rural areas. During the summer and fall, Door is quite busy with lots of tourists, many who come up from Chicago. Art and I stayed about a week and really explored and enjoyed the area. There are many lighthouses around the peninsula, and Art and I toured one at Cana Island which was built in 1869 and started it's light in 1870. This lighthouse still has it's original Fresnel lens, one of the few still operating since being installed. A fun event, we participated in while at Door, was attend one of the famous "fish boils", a tradition in the peninsula. The fish boil started with fisherman and loggers a long time ago and eventually became a commercial success in the 50's. The boil is cooked outside in a huge pot fueled by a wood fire. Potatoes cook first, followed by small onions, and then the white fish. Just before the end, a cup of kerosene is added to the fire to cause a "boil over", which gets rid of impurities in the mixture. We got there early and were able to sit outside and observe the process. The meal was delicious and not bland, as I had assumed!

Rapid City, SD to Sioux Falls, SD

After leaving Montana, and driving through Wyoming, our next stop was Rapid City, SD. Having seen Mt Rushmore and Wall Drug in the past, we decided to tour Crazy Horse Mountain, where a monument to the American Indian is being carved into a granite mountainside. The carving was started 60 years ago, upon the request of the Lakota Chiefs, to honor all Native Americans. The sculptor they chose was Korczak Ziolkowski, who was the assistant to the creator of Mt Rushmore and an accomplished sculptor in his own right. Korczak started the project alone, even having to build a shelter, and blast and move rock by himself. Eventually he married and had 10 children, and the monument became a family mission. Unfortunately, Korczak died in 1982, but he left detailed instructions and plans for completing the sculpture. His wife, who is still alive and active, and 7 of the 10 children, continue to work on the monument, and raise money to pay for it through private donations and admission fees to the site. Besides the monument at the mountain, there is a beautiful welcome center with a Native American Museum, and Korczak's studio and home, where his wife still lives and allows public tours. Eventually, there is suppose to be a university and a teaching hospital on the property, and the site will become a national center for the Native American. We took a bus ride to get closer to the monument. It is magnificent already, but has a long way to go. The estimation is it will take another 40 years to complete!! Korczak is buried in the bottom of the mountain, so he can keep an eye on the project! It is said this will be the largest sculpture in the world, when completed.

Custer State Park in the Black Hills of SD was beautiful! One evening we took a ride and drove the "wildlife" loop of the park. We sighted mule deer, white tailed deer, prong-horn antelope, burros, wild turkeys, and bison! The park has a herd of 1500 bison. In the fall, they have a round-up to count and examine the bison. They try to keep the number at 1500 so the animals have plenty of food and area to roam. In the past, the park use to offer tours on burros, but discontinued this many years ago. The burros were let loose in the park where they have flourished. It was fun to see them as we drove, and, of course, many of them approach the cars looking for food!

Deadwood was a colorful Old West Town, where the likes of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane lived and eventually died. We heard that Deadwood had started to deteriorate, but was refurbished, and now is a tourist attraction, partly due to legalized gambling in the town. We took the "Original Deadwood Tour", which is partly owned by Kevin Costner. It included a tour of the town, and also a visit to Mt Moriah Cemetary, (Deadwood's Boot Hill). Wild Bill and Calamity are buried next to each other, per Calamity's request.

After Rapid City, we made our second stop in SD, which was Sioux Falls. Our friends from Rochester, Nedda and Dave Nissen, moved there recently. Dave and Nedda have family in this area, and the Nissens decided this would be a great place to retire and be near family. They have a lovely new home, which we had the honor of having a delicious meal at. Dave and Nedda were wonderful hosts and showed us around Sioux Falls. We went on a trolley tour of the downtown area and learned some history of the city. Falls Park, where we caught the trolley, was beautiful. There were a series of small waterfalls going around huge granite rock formations. On one of our days visiting, the four of us went to DeSmet, SD, to visit the "Little Town on the Prairie" site, where Laura Ingalls had lived and got her inspiration for writing the 8 books in her series. I was thrilled, since the books and the "Little House on the Prairie" TV series were favorites of mine. We were able to tour the original house that "Pa" built for "Ma", and see the 5 cottonwood trees that "Pa" planted, one for "Ma" and each of the 4 girls. We had a fun time in Sioux Falls and hope to see Dave and Nedda in the near future!