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The town of Mitchell, South Dakota is home of the Corn Palace. This structure was originally developed by the local leaders early in the 1900's to promote agriculture and tourism. There have been several buildings and this rendition is the fifth or sixth one. Today, it is a basketball gymnasium and general auditorium. Each year, a contest is held to determine the exterior theme. After the design is completed, corn cobs are split in half and affixed to the building. No paint is used in the design and every year's theme is different. The theme shown here is "Everyday Heroes". During the winter months, birds eat the corn from the side of the building.

Heading south from South Dakota we stopped for the night in Lincoln, Nebraska. The next day, we passed through a bit of Kansas before stopping for a couple of nights in Kansas City, Missouri. Jerry's cousin from St. Louis, Jim, and his wife, Gaye, met us there. We ate some famous KC barbeque, toured the plaza, visited the Trumann Presidential Library and made a stop at famous old Union Station. This place, as the picture shows, was once a great train station and now has been fully restored.

Leaving Kansas City, we headed south to Arkansas. This photo was taken just north of Eureka Springs, AR and is a typical Ozark road showing some fall color. We spent three nights in Eureka before heading to Bull Shoals/White River State Park (near Mountain Home) for 10 days. We made a side trip to Springfield, MO to visit some very good friends for the weekend (James and Sally Hargis). We also had dinner with some Mexico caravan friends who were visiting Branson, John and Anita Campbell, from California. Before leaving the Mountain Home area, we had a great visit and lunch with Donald and Kay Dunn. Kay is an old high school classmate of Jerry's.

The final trip home included a quick stop at Petit Jean State Park before moving on to Maumelle Park in Little Rock. We parked Bubba there and made a beeline to our cabin for Thanksgiving before returning to Little Rock for doctor appointments and visits with friends.