Journey: Minneapolis - Murdo, South Dakota
Notable Cities: …..none.
Total Miles Driven: 2270.2
Kate Gosslin Hair Count: 13
The morning began with an over-filling brunch at Uptown Diner, and once again Minnesota has ruined one of my favourite foods. Oh, to taste that eggs benedict again would be divine. We visited the Cherry on the Giant Spoon and other such nonsensical sculptures before I embarked upon the next leg of my journey.
Because I had no where specific to go, or no specific time to get there, I decided it was time to take the road less travelled and hopped on Ole Highway 12 on my mission to find the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. The road was straight and flat with a maximum speed of 70mph occasionally dropping to 30mph as we cruised through a small town. I finally came upon signs reading “Visit the World’s Largest Ball of Twine right here in Darwin!” I got excited, yet none of the signs said exactly where to go. Spending the next 20 minutes driving up and down the only street in Darwin became tedious and I gave up on my dream, and continued down the straight path to nowhere.
There were detours, and at every turn I found myself getting deeper and deeper into nothingness. I imagined myself in the opening scene of the new Star Trek film, speeding down a dusty road, dirt flying behind me. It’s a good thing I forgot about the bit where the car flies off a cliff or else I would have really freaked myself out.
The day continued like this for hours. Straight. Flat. Nothing. Straight. Flat. Nothing. At one point I received a call from one of my old housemates in London, and was kept entertained for quite awhile. Of course his call also made me terribly homesick, and the never-ending view didn’t help either. Every slight hill I met left me with the expectation of an ocean view. Clearly I couldn’t be more wrong. The openness left me feeling oddly claustrophobic and anxious. All I wanted was tall buildings and the bustling of people in a hurry.
A long and sharp bend brought me facing a giant wind farm. Miles and miles of futuristic white fans larger than some skyscrapers. I was transfixed by their magnitude, and seemingly endless number. It was simply beautiful. I stopped to take some photos, but none were able to capture their grander. Shame.
I stopped on one more occasion; back on the main highway, I came across a giant sculpture of a longhorn surrounded by signs advertising a sculpture farm ahead. Deciding I needed a little intrigue, I got off at the exit and followed a long dirt path big enough only for my car. I was only a few meters away from the entrance, when at least 40 cows stared straight at me, blocking the rest of the path. These were not New England cows. These were giant, menacing, brown cows. Deciding not to tempt the fates, I pulled an Austin Powers 13 point turn, and rejoined the highway.
I spent the night in a little hotel in Murdo, SD. Please don’t ask me where that is, because the only thing I know is it’s somewhere on the way to Mount Rushmore, and is surrounded by scenery reflecting that of the Windows default desktop. The people were kind and I was hit on my a 13 year old who actually uttered the phrase “I done der did dat.” This was a whole new world.
