We’re BACK! Or, rather, we’re gone again

So, the Yocom/Dunkelbergers are on the road again, this time in America. The cast of  characters, for now, are me, George and Alex. In later acts, the players will change. Stay tuned. We left Minneapolis around 2 in the afternoon, after a day of working (me), packing (the boys), and cleaning house (all). 

As all good road trips should start, we bought a scratch off (which we’ll do in each state we visit — thanks for the $10 win, Minnesota!), put on our playlist, which consisted of 50 songs per rider on shuffle play, and sat in a good amount of traffic getting out of the city. Then, we hit the open road that is 169 South and drove towards our only fun stop of the day.

Hello to Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store, a huge yellow structure in Jordan, MN. This is a spectacle. If you live in Minnesota and you haven’t visited, I recommend. Rows of candies from all across the world bedazzled and enticed youngsters. And oldsters. Taffy and candy corn and gobstoppers and gum and chocolate everything and oddities from Japan, China, Germany, France, and everywhere were stuffed into three rooms (along with a copious amount of jigsaw puzzles). We filled our basket with delights such as pop rocks, cappuccino taffy and Shanghai peanuts (don’t ask - we don’t know either). Then, it was time for a visit to the soda room. Yes, an entire room of this place is dedicated to all sorts of soda pop. This is not your selection from the aisle at Target. You can find delectable flavors like pickle juice, bacon and butter. And there are politically-themed beverages and entire sections categorized by color (I liked orange). Alex and I put together a six pack of weirdness and then we were ready to go. 

The rest of our day consisted of a pleasant drive to Mitchell, South Dakota (home of the Corn Palace for those unaware). DQ drive thru and the soundtrack to Hamilton kept us upbeat and sugared. We pulled in to our home for the night, the Thunderbird Lodge, around 8:30 PM. I booked the family suite for our first night because I saw the advertisement online featuring three queen beds in one room. Yes please. It did not disappoint. Thunderbunny in the front yard, multiple mattresses in the room and a tiny tiny hot tub shared by way too many patrons set the scene. Great to be back, South Dakota. We look forward to more adventures tomorrow.