ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log

[QB93Z]

On Monday morning we left Rapid City, South Dakota and headed east on I-90. The day started out a little cloudy, but the tempearture was mild and it was a nice day for driving.

Our first stop was a Wall Drug in Wall, SD, an institution in this part of the country. Wall Drug is a giant store and restaurant that from the outside looks like a whole city block from 100 years ago. Inside, all the stores connect and every tourist need is for sale. The people are friendly and the atmosphere is nice. Lyndi was checking out some cowboy boots:


Next we left I-90 for a parallel route, SD-240, that goes through the Badlands National Park. At the first scenic pull-off, we were greeted by a small group of Big Horn Sheep who were enjoying the grass along the parking area edge:




The Badlands are an amazing place. The geology is that 35 million years ago this area was a sea bottom. Over millions of years sediment built up in layers. A lot of the sediment was eroded volcanic ash in origin and as dust, it was carried by streams and wind into the water of the sea. When the North American tectonic plate was forced up, the sea drained and erosion of the ancient seabed began. The result is the canyons and buttes that have revealed the layered, multicolored sediment.




When we left the first parking area, I had to share the road with some more wildlife:

[QB93Z]

The Badlands National Park, which is part of the Badlands National Grasslands, is very well maintained and the roads and trails are very safe and easy to navigate. The beauty of the rock formations is hard to describe and the pictures here don't do justice to the splendor of nature:




Lyndi hiked a little way up one of the trails, and looking back toward the road, got this fantastic scene. (The Z is actually on the Park road):


Every view is more interesting than the last:


We found a turn off that was visible from another overlook, so I dropped Lyndi off and drove back for this fun shot:


In this interesting formation, the color change from one layer to the red layer is visible. Standing right next to the hill, it looks like the red color was sprayed on the clay, but it really is the same layer that can be seen in the distance behind me:

[QB93Z]

Near the east end of the Park, the road desends into the canyons and the view of the formations is reversed revealing even more beauty:




We parked at the east end Visitors Center and took this picture of the interesting formations across the road:


I noticed some small birds were interested in the front of the Z:


There were so many smashed bugs on the bumper, air dam, and the AC Condenser that the birds had a feast:


You know your car is dirty when it becomes Meals-On-Wheels for the wildlife.

I will post more of Monday's adventures when I get a chance.

Jim

[tomtom72]

I remember reading about the debris our cars suck up off the road being called a "birds nest" in the cooling stack.....but Jim, you have brought new meaning to that term!

Oh, your journey is now famous across the generations of corvettes from your facebook page I guess? At a local show & shine last night one of my C5 buddies was talking about "some guy & his wife went to Alaska in their C4!" So I said where did you see that? She said it was on Facebook with a few pictures. I said "that's one of my Z Brothers and his wife. He is our Registry President. I told them if they want to see the picture-travelogue come over to our forum and check the thread out in our General section. You guys are famous!


Tom

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by QB93Z

I noticed some small birds were interested in the front of the Z:


There were so many smashed bugs on the bumper, air dam, and the AC Condenser that the birds had a feast:


You know your car is dirty when it becomes Meals-On-Wheels for the wildlife.

I will post more of Monday's adventures when I get a chance.

Jim

Free Grooming !!!! And such a tasty statewide/ Nationwide variety of bugs on the menu

[QB93Z]

On the way out of the Badlands National Park, we visited the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. The purpose of the Site is to protect and explain the history and operation of the land-based ICBM leg of the strategic weapons triad that was on alert for over 40 years during the Cold War.

The Historic Site includes one empty Minuteman II silo and a missile launch control center. Visitors can get a tour of the above-ground portion of the silo and the interior of the launch control center. Here we are at the Site Welcome Center:


After we left the Rapid City area, we drove east on I-90. We stopped in Mitchell, SD to see the World's only Corn Palace:


In 1892, shortly after Mitchell was founded, some local businessmen decided to hold an Exposition to show potential settlers what crops could ge grown on the plains in the area. They built a building and decorated the outside with corn cobs and other crops. Today, 120 years later, the Corn Expostion continues. The 2012 celebration is this weekend. If we had been able to stay a few days, we could have seen the Charlie Daniels Band. The Corn Palace is a large civic center with a basketball court, a stage and convention center facilities. The decorations are changed every year by volunteers. Is was a remarkable building and event:


We continued east to Iowa, the birthplace of the famous ZR-1 Driver, Jim Voter:


Jim

[QB93Z]

On Tuesday, we continued east across Iowa. The landscape of Iowa reminds me of the farm country where we live in rural Maryland. They grow a lot of corn in Iowa:


Did I mention that they grow a lot of corn?


We took a short side trip to see some farms and visit Elk Horn, IA and a complete operating windmill brought here from the Netherlands. The windmill is actually used to grind grain. We were too early to see it in operation, but we took some photos:


Here is the modern way they harness the wind in Iowa (check out the artsy shot):


We stopped in Cedar Rapids to visit the newly restored and rebuilt National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library. Cedar Rapids suffered a devestating flood in 2008 that put ten square miles of the city under water. The city has recovered well and the Museum is displaying one of the finest collections of the works of the Art Neuveau artist, Alphonse Mucha. Mucha is one of our favorite artists:


After a few more side trips, we drove through Illinois and stopped in Indiana for the night.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we will complete our journey and return to Westminster, Maryland. On Thursday, I will be at Corvettes at Carlisle. I look forward to meeting a lot of ZR-1 owners there.

Jim

[cvette98pacecar]

If you get near Cleveland around lunch time and get hungry give me a call.