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Morning in Hot Springs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Downtown Hot Springs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Expensive fuel<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departing Hot Springs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Over the feed lot<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Climbing out from Hot Springs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWall is known for being the home of the (apparently) world famous Wall Drug store. The store was purchased by Ted Hustead in 1931, and initially business was very slow until his wife suggested advertising and offering free ice water to travelers on their way to Mt Rushmore. Wall Drug gradually grew into a cowboy-themed shopping mall and department store. The complex includes a western art museum, a chapel, and an 80-foot (24 m) brontosaurus that can be seen right off Interstate 90. They continue their very successful self promotion through free bumper stickers, 5c coffee, and billboards for hundreds of miles around. Around 2 million visitors now stop in each year.<\/p>\n\n\n
South Dakota plains<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning over South Dakota<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Landing at Wall<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Something big...<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Wall Drug<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Brunch time<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWall Drug is a short walk from the airport. We wandered around the complex, buying a few souvenirs and pausing for a breakfast of pancakes and bacon. This done, we headed back to the airport where we met the airport manager. Juvy had been in touch to let him know that we were coming and he’d been kind enough to come out on a weekend, and even bring us a couple of souvenir Wall pens! People in this part of the country, where few Americans and even fewer foreigners ever visit, were proving to be very friendly and helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n
Walking back to Wall airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departing Wall<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>South Dakota fields<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>South Dakota terrain<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Missouri river<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>North Dakota grassland<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAs we were in the area (roughly speaking) we had decided it would be foolish not to at least drop in to North Dakota, so we could say that we’d been there. We therefore took off from Wall and headed northeast towards the state border. The terrain was mostly flat, open fields as far as the eye could see although there was the occasional section of more interesting landscape to look at. We’d chosen to land at Standing Rock airport, as it seemed like it was in a fairly picturesque location, and about the smallest detour that we could find with its position just inside the North Dakota border.<\/p>\n\n\n
Standing Rock Airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departure from Linton<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing the Dakotas<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Refueling at Linton<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>North Dakota plains<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Linton Airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nStanding Rock airport lies on the impressive Missouri river, which gave great views as we came in to land. The airport had no services, and was deserted, so we simply parked up and stretched our legs for a while as Juvy wandered around taking photographs. That done, we set out again, this time for a very short flight to the nearby Linton airport. They had fuel available at decent prices, and we needed to fill up before the next longer leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Linton airport was a little larger than Standing Rock, with fuel and other services, but not much more going on. We filled both tanks and carried on east into another new state for the both of us, Minnesota. We’d chosen Olivia, Minnesota, as our stop for the night because it shared a name with my sister and I wanted to walk around and take photographs of all the things with “Olivia” in their name. <\/p>\n\n\n We left our gear in the aircraft, and went for a walk into town. Olivia was founded in the late 1800s, and became the county seat in 1900. In 1973, the town erected a 50ft tall ear of corn monument, and began referring to itself as the corn capital of the world; the Minnesota, with the state senate now officially designating Olivia as such. Olivia celebrates Corn Capital Days<\/em> during the last weekend of July, with activities including a parade, corn cob toss, corn-lympics, and free corn feed.<\/p>\n\n\n Olivia is a town of a little under 3,000 people, and on a Saturday evening there was very little going on. We saw only a few other people as we walked around, taking pictures of everything we could find that said “Olivia” on it. Almost everything was closed, so after our mini tour we started a walk back to the airport, stopping at a bar and grill on the way back to get dinner. <\/p>\n\n\n That evening I set up my tent by the airplane, and Juvy made the decision to sleep on the sofa in the FBO. It saved time setting up and tearing down the camp site, at least!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final day of the trip dawned bright and sunny once again. We’d be heading all the way back to Pittsburgh today, with a couple more landings in new states to add them to the log book! We packed up our gear, freshened up in the FBO, and took off pretty early. We wanted to be back at base reasonably early in the day! Our first stop was the town of Decorah, in Iowa. Our flight route was taking us right along the borders of Iowa and Wisconsin, so it seemed sensible to make a stop in each!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We made a brief stop in Decorah, barely enough to stretch our legs, before taking off again and crossing the state line towards Platteville in Wisconsin. I didn’t know much about Wisconsin, apart from it being famous for cheese; and after our stop, I knew no more. <\/p>\n\n\n Another brief stop and we were off once again, on a longer leg this time towards our penultimate stop of Bult Field, south of Chicago. On the way we overflew the enormous race track at Chicagoland Speedway, in Joliet Illinois. A NASCAR event was going on, and even from a fair distance away (we couldn’t go too close, due to a temporary flight restriction over the event) the vast fields of car parking and spectators were plain to see.<\/p>\n\n\nEntering Minnesota<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing Minnesota<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Looking towards Minneapolis<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approach to Olivia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nOur night stop<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Poetry at Olivia airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The crew car<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Olivia street signs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cornfields of Olivia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Corn research station<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Olivia, corn capital of the world<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Corn plant<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Working on understanding my sister<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe corn capital of the world!<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Things with "Olivia" on them<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Things with "Olivia" on them<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Things with "Olivia" on them<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Things with "Olivia" on them<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Things with "Olivia" on them<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Things with "Olivia" on them<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Things with "Olivia" on them<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Things with "Olivia" on them<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\nMinnesota farms<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching Iowa<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Decorah Municipal<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWisconsin<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Platteville airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nCrossing Illinois<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Chicagoland Speedway<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>