View of the day-Here we go again, heading into the storm on Interstate 90. We got to sleep in a bit since we had a late night visiting with Jeff, then after a quick breakfast in the camper, the guys went over to change the fuel filters on the combine. We were trying to decide which way to go for the day...Winner or Mitchell...and the latter won out because it had more to see, even though it was farther.
We stopped in Oacoma, had lunch at Arby's, then went to check out the antique shop that we had looked through last year when Marilyn's sister's family was down visiting for the boat races. Al found a toy tractor and Jeff found a couple little things for souvenirs to take home...there was a LOT of stuff in that place....Marilyn was holding out for Walmart.
We thought we would check out the 'International' dealer in Chamberlain before going to Mitchell...we had looked through the windows last year when Kim and Marg were down. They had been closed then, but Al remembered seeing a few faded looking toy boxes and wanted to see if they were open. Al checked the door and it opened, so we went in...it was really quiet, a radio was playing kind of low and no one appeared to be in the building, it was like seeing a dealership inside-out...the parts were all out in shelves on the main floor...quite bizarre.
None of the toys had any prices on them, so Marilyn went to see if she could find someone to help and found an elderly gentleman sitting in an office chair reading a brochure, so she said 'excuse me' and got no answer...tried again, and nothing...he was definitely asleep...she was sure of that because he was breathing. She went back out to the front door and opened it thinking a bell would ring and wake him up...he must have hear something, because when she got back to the office he was just closing the brochure. He came out with his price list and the boys were in business.
The store was packed pretty good and the guys found a stack of boxes in the corner filled with all kinds of toys...the mother lode. They found several they were looking for and after getting all the prices haggled out, prepared to pay for them...no credit cards...well, they would take CaseCredit...but the gentleman had no idea how to run the machine, "he has a bookkeeper that looks after that".
He decided to try and make out an invoice on the computer, but was having no luck at all, then he looked at Marilyn and asked her if she knew how to run one of these things...she did. Even though she wasn't familiar with the program, she was able to put Jeff in as a customer and create an invoice that got printed out...and she hopes she did it well enough that the bookkeeper doesn't have a fit. They guys paid for their goods, then after Marilyn got the toys packed into the back seat with her, we carried on our way to Mitchell.
We got to Mitchell and found the Corn Palace...the main reason we decided on that destination. What an amazing site. They were working on a new design and you could see how the new pictures were taking shape. Take some time to visit the link to get 'the rest of the story'.
We had gone to see it last year with Kim and Marg, but it was more like a drive by...no place to park and lots of people. This year was even worse...it was a Saturday and the place was packed. We did a quick tour around the inside, read a few things, then left for more important destinations...Tractor Supply and Walmart...and you can guess who went where.
After an hour of shopping, Jeff took us out for prime rib supper at Chef Louie's...highly recommended...it was fabulous. We had been hearing weather warnings all day and could see the clouds rolling in, so when we left the restaurant we weren't surprised to see it had gotten really dark out...and it was only 7pm.
We started back for Hamill and didn't get to far before the rain started...then the wind hit...then the hail. We pulled over near an overpass and tried to wait out the hail...it was pea size and fell for at least 10 minutes. They had gotten 2 inches of rain to the north of us and there were reports of ping pong ball size hail...none of it near us, but still it was a hairy trip home.
By the time we got back to Hamill we were out of the bad weather and home in time to watch the Saskatchewan Roughrider football game. Jeff went over to visit with the landlord and his family, right across the street from us, then got back to the camper just as the rain started. It didn't last very long, which was good for us.
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