Everyone was very welcoming. It was fast and testimony meeting and all the missionaries bore their testimonies. They are part of the sister mission that borders on the Minneapolis Mission (I believe). They were very excited for Sis. Cazier, although they told her she missed the best mission by just a few miles. We met a very nice man named Roy Mclaws. He has an extra house there and lets people stay when they are passing through. Wish we had known about that before the smoky room. But he is great at connecting people. Somehow I feel like I will run into him again someday.
When we were leaving, we looked up on the hill. Is that a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a...dinosaur??
Vicki felt like she was fighting a slight cold, so she took some cold medicine, which basically knocked her out. I was okay driving solo for a while. I had been seeing signs for Wall Drug for hundreds of miles. Vicki mentioned that it was well advertised and that they had stopped there before. The signs just kept coming as we got closer. Some were silly. Actually, most were silly. It is a thing though. There are signs for Wall Drug all over the world saying how many miles to Wall Drug. I found this picture on the internet with this sign from Amsterdam.
One blogger counted how many signs she saw on the way to Wall Drug. (I wish I had thought of that.) She counted 152. Wowza.
You'd better believe that we had to stop at Wall Drug. I felt bad waking Vicki up, but it seemed better than letting her sleep in the car.
Wall Drug was so fun. It is like a mall with dozens of shops, tons of souvenirs, a delicious restaurant, and a play area for kids. There were some specialty stores like book stores and gem stores. And several stores that just had tons of random stuff. We ate first. They had so many yummy choices. Every person that walked by with food, you wanted what they had. They have amazing donuts and we took some of those for the road. While shopping later, I found some of those invisible ink books from my childhood. I got one for each of the girls. They have such interesting things. Like this necklace tree.
I also saw this bead pig and took a picture for Robyn.
I got separated from Sis. Cazier for a while. The place is pretty big. It is easy to have happen. I sat down by this hound dog and we took a lonely picture.
I found the big T-Rex in the back. Every ten minutes or so, he wakes up and roars and moves. I wish the doors opened up too, but no luck there.
Since we were stretching our legs, we played in the play area for a bit. Just kidding, but Vicki did ride the Jackalope.
It was quite the adventure. I wanted a shirt for myself. It took me over 40 minutes to decide what I wanted. (Don't worry, we were there for two hours.) I finally got a little hoody. Now I can say that I have been to Wall Drug and I have the shirt to prove it. What else could I want in life?
The rest of the day was a lot of driving through South Dakota. Our destination that night was Sioux Falls. We got there in the evening. We decided to be smarter about our hotel this time. We found a place that had vacancies, still thanks to Tyler. Although he was in UT, he liked directing us through towns. When we went inside, they had plenty of no-smoking rooms. Huzzah. We got a room right near the front and as we walked in, it smelled funny. It wasn't smoke, but I couldn't quite place it. Mom knew though. She said, "That's pet." We had chosen a hotel that was pet friendly, but it smelled like maybe the last pet was a little too friendly.
We didn't want to make a fuss, but I decided that we had had plenty of ambiance for our nose the previous night. I told the front desk that I was allergic and we were quickly moved to a room where no pets had been. It was very nice. And I only had to be a little sneaky.
Sioux Falls is named for the waterfalls there. We went looking for them but it was so dark that although we could hear them, we certainly couldn't see them very well. We gave up and found some pretty architecture instead. Old churches and cathedrals are so amazing. (What is the difference between a church and a cathedral? I just looked it up. Cathedrals are bigger and run by a bishop. So just go up to the doors, knock, and ask if the bishop is in.)
Monday morning dawned and we decided to go visit the falls again with better light. Sadly, those muffins we got on Saturday night didn't make it. I guess that is what happens when you put them on the roof of the car and then drive off. Oops.
The Falls were lovely. A feast for the eyes, but not the nose. For some reason, it was super stinky. As if raw sewage were tumbling over the precipice instead of water. We held our breath and took pictures. There were some ruins around as well. I believe they were from the original mill that was built there but went out of business. The only thing there now is a restaurant, where hopefully you can view the falls but not smell them.
Back in the car, we were on our last leg of the trip. Minnesota, here we come! I took a last photo with the mirror that hung over my head the entire time I was driving. We really were wedged in that car.
The mission home is closer to Minneapolis, but Mom was going to be living in a smaller town called Byron. Byron is pretty tiny. But only fifteen minutes away is the thriving city of Rochester. That place is large with the Mayo Clinic and all the stores and amenities you could need.
There was some gap in the communication along the way. I always knew what our schedule would be, but somehow the mission office thought we wouldn't be there until Tuesday. They were planning for us to arrive a day later. And they planned to fly me back on Wed. I didn't really want to spend extra time in MN. Not because it wouldn't be cool to see stuff out there or hang out with Mom, but I was going to miss June's orchestra concert. When we showed up Monday afternoon, around the same time as Mom's companion, Sis. McPhie, they were a bit surprised. Sis. McPhie is very nice. She was already unpacking with her son, so we jumped right in and got Mom's car unloaded in no time. The apartment is very nice. Here are some of the rooms.
The missionaries had heard that Sis. Cazier and Sis. McPhie were arriving. They came to help but were just a few minutes late. No worries, it was still great to meet them all. Elders Calderwood and Ruson, Elders Loveland and Newell and Sisters Woodward and Lok. They were the district for that area. Sis. Woodward is from Vineyard, just a stone's throw away. I have been meaning to stop by and see her family, but it hasn't happened yet.
After unpacking, we got some lunch. We checked out the small town of Byron. There isn't much going on, but luckily all the important stuff is right around the corner from their apartment. The gas station, and grocery store are right there. We tried out another bar of course, since I don't think Sis. McPhie will go their later. I took this picture because it made me laugh that the bugs were all huddled in the shade. Can you see them?
Lunch was amazing. The food was so good that I didn't even mind when Vicki knocked over her soda spilling it all over me. It was accompanied by her usual loud scream. It certainly got everyone's attention.
In the afternoon, we went into Rochester and hit up Bed, Bath and Beyond to redo Mom's bathroom. It is not a large bathroom. She has a sink squished in the corner. I'm not sure how she will ever do her hair over there. But after we were done, she had some very nice towels.
I'm very excited for Mom. She has a nice place to live and already people that can take care of her and love her. Sis. McPhie is very nice. She is very different from Mom, but in good ways. They will compliment each other well. Mom can be a bit of a tornado (in good ways) and I think Peggy will be a calm voice in return. Now that they have been out there a while, they seems to be getting along. There have been some hiccups but that is normal for any companionship. Despite their differences, I think they are both united in the gospel. I slept on the couch that night and looked forward to a day of fun in MN, since I had an extra day to kill
Sadly, in other news, I found out that day that the Kelly's lost their house to wildfires in CA. It seemed so unreal. I got an email alert from a hotel in that area that they were evacuating. (I didn't even know there were fires at the time.) So I texted Jeannie to see how they were doing. She said, "Everyone is safe, but the house is gone." I was shocked. Everything happened so quickly. I'm so grateful they were safe, but my heart hurt for them. Turns out Ethan's school burned down as well. So much destruction, upheaval, and heartache all at once. I think the holidays were a very hard time for them. They spent time waiting for schools to figure out what to do with kids, and finding a new place to live. They have a place now, and Ethan is back in school, but I think they are still deciding what to do long term. Do they rebuild or find a new permanent home? Such hard choices. I sure love their family and this has been hard to watch. You wish only good things for your loved ones.
