Pink Neon

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We loved today!

We traveled north through South Dakota to a little town known as Aberdeen. There we spent the better part of the day at Storybook Land. This free amusement park is based on nursery rhymes, children's stories and even some movies. Throughout the entire park, we were greeted by several statues of famous storybook characters, from Jack and Jill to Jack and the Beanstalk. There were several things for kids to play on (slides, a giant pirate ship, monkey bars), and there were even a couple of petting zoos. If you crossed over into the other half of the park, you found yourself in the Land of Oz. Munchkinland, the yellow brick road and even the haunted forest guided the way to the Emerald City, where there were a few small rides (a carousel, a rock climbing wall, etc.), which you could ride for a dollar. We took the train ride around the park, where we not only got a great view of the park, but got to see the small zoo nearby (complete with buffalo and reindeer). We had only planned to stay for about an hour, but we passed by wandering wild turkeys and peacocks on our way out, a good three hours after we arrived. The park, completely supported by donations and free to the public (with the exception of the rides and food) is a MUST for anyone traveling through South Dakota.

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But we had to get going; we had more to see! It was south to I-90 to the town of Mitchell, home to the world famous Corn Palace. The town's functioning civic center, this building hosts activities from the high school basketball games to proms and other important events. The most unique thing about this building is the fact that every year, the town's residents decorate the outside of the building with different varieties of CORN. They use different colors of corn to create images in a color-by-number style. Check out the pictures!

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From there, we went on to the small town of Murdo, where the only available hotel was a tiny hole-in-the-wall place, complete with tacky Vegas-like pink neon surrounding the perimeter of the building. How we went from Storybook Land to pink neon, we're not quite sure, but it makes for an interesting story.