Our second stop was at the Arrowwood Cedar Shore Campground for two nights as this is a holiday weekend, and sites get very hard to come by. I made these reservations over a month ago and felt lucky to find this one.

For a lunch spot, we found a city park in Plankinton, SD, where their pool was already drained, but the bathrooms were still open. If they are heated, that may be true all winter. This park had adult exercise equipment, along with traditional and modern playground gym and a fenced-in court with a box of balls, rackets and skates to use. I made a beeline to their little library, of course.

The Missouri River between Chamberlain and Oacoma is quite wide and had lots of boats on it. Three bridges cross it here; an older two-lane I-90 Business loop, a newer four-lane for I-90, and a railroad bridge. These bridges have long rock peninsulas that allow the river to spread out and probably help prevent flooding. We have camped further south where there is a dam that makes for a very wide Missouri River (that engulfed Lewis and Clark Lake) near Pickstown, SD.

I learned from Dad that he was on a two-week Temporary Duty Assignment at the Air Force RADAR station in Pickstown when I was born in Hastings, Nebraska. He arrived shortly after I was born; my Aunt Cathy was at the hospital with Mom.

We were a bit early to check in at the campground; some places are picky about that and some aren’t. There is a beautiful rest stop that we have been to before off of I-90 on the east side of the Missouri River across from Oacoma. It has a walking path with views of the river, a large concrete tepee structure (most rest stops in SD have one), a museum inside and this beautiful 50-foot tall statue of a Lakota woman. We took pictures of her the last time we were here – she is very impressive! Definitely stop if you find yourself on this section of I-90. Tony worked while I wandered the paths and finished a book before we headed across the river to check in.