Drive across the state

Since our families live on opposite sides of South Dakota we end up driving to see one of them. I used to begrudge the time but now it is a little oasis of together time. Turns out it can be nice if you let it be. 

Hubby obliged me as my photographer while I did the driving. It cuts into my knitting but I think we both prefer me driving for some odd reason. 

We started out on the western side of the state which is mostly grassland and wheat crops. We actually have National Grasslands. 

There were plenty of hay bales along the interstate. You can always tell you're in a agriculture state when you see the bales. We usually make use of all the grass land we can, most people will cut and bale hay right up to the interstate. You never know, that may be one less bale that you have to buy from someone else. With the droughts everybody needs as much hay as they can get.

I must admit it makes my heart happy. I still think SD is its own kind of beautiful.

We passed a group of long distance bikers on the interstate but my photographer was a wee bit slow. It did not help that we were almost passing them before we realized what was going on. So it sparked a debate in the car, is it illegal to bike on the interstate or is that only on the east coast? I know I would not be comfortable with traffic whipping past me at 75 mph. Can you imagine what a semi truck feels like? Wow!

SD is cut vertically by the Missouri river. We just get to see a bit of it here.

But then you get to drive right over it, and let me tell you it is a big river. Well at least in this farm girl's eyes it is.

That is the railroad crossing out there. 

Once you cross the river the crops begin to change, you start to see corn fields. Wow was the corn suffering this year. We saw quite a few that looked like someone had toasted them. There is just no coming back from the scorching that some took. What do you do when a crop fails and there is nothing that you can do about it. 

Soybeans seem a bit more drought resistant but we even saw some suffering on that end too. 

See we do have trees on the prairie too. We need some thing that slows down the wind out there. I was struck by the wind there I had forgotten how strong it can blow. It takes your breath away and knocks you off your feet. Oh how the wind can blow across the prairie!

Well how did you enjoy your drive across the state with us? Much quicker this way, right?