Corn Palace and Wall Drug

In the state of South Dakota we managed stop and soak in some cheesy america at the Corn Palace and Wall Drug in one day, the excitement of Contiki. I know you're jealous.

I had never heard of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD of course since going there I have heard it mentioned a few times on TV.  I have to say I'm still not 100% sure how to describe the Corn Palace.  There is a museum, which we didn't visit and then there was a market inside, that's where I bought popcorn flavored lollie pops.  I don't suggest them, even my popcorn loving newphews didn't like them.  But the cool thing here was the designs they made with corn:  fantastic, artistic, inspirational!  They really were cool, but I'm not sure they're worth going out of your way to see.  But if you need a break from driving, it's better then just stopping at a Walmart, McDonalds, etc. 

Wall Drug started out as a simple drug store, when business was slow they posted a sign on the highway offering "free ice water".  It is now a cheesey american tourist trap, but a fun one.  Wall Drug actually takes up an entire block and has a restaurant, shops, and childrens play areas.  It's actually a fun place where you can spend a few hours, excercise your cranky kids and do some shopping.  We made this our lunch stop and we all had bison burgers, they were actually very tasty considering they were made in a fast food type environment.  I would say it was a step up from a McDonalds as they were each cooked to order.  I think there was also a regular restaurant, but we didn't have time for that. As a bunch of adults who had been stuck on a bus we wanted to eat, shop and explore.  The shopping varied from touristy T-shirts, and magnets to full cowboy/cowgirls outfits to fudge and everything in between.  And of course they still have free ice water.

Contiki's Northern Adventure

Over the next few weeks I plan to go through my Contiki tour in great detail, but in the meantime I wanted to give an overall review of Contiki's Northern Adventure.  This tour starts in Chicago and is the second half of the Grand Northern tour offered by Contiki.

The tour is a 14 day tour of the Northwestern United States, here is the rough itinerary:
Chicago to Madison
Madison to Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore
Mt Rushmore
Mt Rushmore to Cody
Cody to Yellowstone
Yellowstone to Jackson Hole
Jackson Hole to Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City to Kanab via Bryce Canyon
Grand Canyon
Kanab to Las Vegas via Zion
Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Las Vegas to Los Angeles

The first few days of the tour are heavy bus days, with the occasional stop at a Wal Mart, rest stop or a tourist trap.  After that we split our time with shorter bus days, and more time hiking in National Parks, a good mix of relaxing and seeing the sites.

As for the tourist traps, think Spam Museum, Corn Palace and Wall Drug.  It's not as bad as it sound, but it is a slow start to the tour. 

Nightlife at the start of the tour wasn't terribly exciting either - Hooters, Karaoke at a local bar, more local bars, hotel pools, and the hotel parking lot...  Then we hit Las Vegas where most people went clubbing every night.  Overall though it was a mix, some stuff was better then other stuff.  If you wanted a quiet night you could have had one almost any night and if you wanted to stay out late and party, you could do that. 

As for the under 21 year olds, they fared a bit better then I expected.  They did manage to get served at several bars and even got into a club or two in Las Vegas.  I still don't suggest US tours for those who are under 21, you basically had to rely on luck that the person checking your ID wasn't really paying attention when they looked at your ID. 

That National Parks we visited were really nice; Yellowstone was my favorite.  We had a few hours at each of them, enough for at least one decent hike, sometimes with multiple stops. 

One disapointement is that we didn't have much time in the cities.  The only thing I saw in Madison was a buffet and a Hooters.  However, in Salt Lake City we did have a few hours to see the city.  But more often we only saw a restaurant and a bar in the cities we visited.

I enjoyed this tour with Contiki, as with every vacation I have taken there is never enough time to do and see everything I want to.  But the pace of this tour was pretty good, after the first few bus days the bus days were shorter and broken up more with different activities and sites to see.  I would recommend it as a good tour for those who are interested in seeing the National Parks and making new 18-35 year old friends.