Day 25 the weather was starting to warm up. We were coming out of the foothills of South Dakota and already missing the mountains. We'd been on the road for weeks and now getting closer to home.
We were taking our time but there wasn't much to see as we crossed the plains.
Shortly after Sioux Falls, we found ourselves crossing the state border into Minnesota. This was our first stop for the day.
Pipestone National Monument
Heading North on Minnesota Highway 23 we found the Visitors Center for the National Monument. Luckily we bought a National Park Annual Pass so admission was free.
Upon entering the building you find a small museum with the history of the site. They've found petroglyphs scattering the property and some of them were recreated and represented here.
We learned this was the only place in the world with pipestone pure enough to carve ceremonial pipes from. Most other pipestone around the world will have inclusions making it crumble when it's carved.
Native Americans have been using the Pipestone from this location for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It is still quarried to this day by special permit and only natives are allowed to harvest it.
The area was similar to Devils Tower, having prayer ribbons and strings tied to the trees. We didn't get many photographs from here out of respect for the land and people. Here are a few we were able to get of the quarry and Pipestone Creek.
After a walk around the park it was back on the road. We had never heard of this National Monument but were very happy we stopped.
Back on I-90 East and heading towards home. Then we see a sign that says Blue Earth. Being rockhounds, we had to see what it was about. If a town sounds like it has cool geology or minerals, we're stopping. This had something different in store for us.
Blue Earth Minnesota
We're not sure if they have Blue Earth here, but we did find out it was home to The Jolly Green Giant and Sprout!!!
Standing at 55.5ft tall, an icon of American Vegetables overlooks the highway. The Jolly Green Giant was constructed in 1979 and has been standing proudly in town since.
Green Giant the company has been around since 1955. In 1972, the Jolly Green Giant got a sidekick known as Little Sprout. Sprout was introduced to help get children interested in eating healthy and has been around since.
After taking in the sites and stretching our legs. we were back on the highway. We drove and we drove until we reached the shores of the Mighty Mississippi River.
It was here we stopped for the night to visit a friend. It was a really nice area with the feeling of being in a Pacific Northwest river valley. That would be the end of our travels for Day 25.
Home is so close but we're not ready for this trip to be over. Maybe we'll take a little detour and see some more stuff...stay tuned for Day 26!!!
Here is our route for Day 25. It was just over 7hr according to Google but we turned it into 11hrs.
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