The Book Shop © Alyice Edrich, 2010

Though we live in small town Beresford, we must do our shopping and eating in nearby Sioux Falls. This charming bookstore is just one of the shops located in old downtown–where history meets the present. It’s one of my favorite places to walk on a cool summer’s afternoon. The buildings date back to the early 1900’s, the streets are aligned with life-size sculptures that change on a yearly basis, and a free trolley ride tells us all about the history of the nearby landmarks. Walking into this bookstore, holding books that have been read by others, and discovering treasures that cannot be found in other retail outlets is always the perfect way to end the day.

What, in your neighborhood, holds a special meaning and why?

Until next time…

Took hub 1 hour to dig out that path before he hired the snow guy.
© Alyice Edrich, 2010

Sadly, South Dakota has nothing for its citizens to do during the winter months except movie theatres, shopping, and eating out. Unless, of course, you’re into bar hopping and gambling.

Our Backyard © Alyice Edrich, 2010

This winter, alone, we’ve experienced 3 blizzards, 2 ice storms, and several days where the drifts were so bad that driving was near impossible. Winter started earlier, it’s ending late, and the average temperature has been between 20 and -20 degrees—and that’s not counting the windschill factor. I guess we’re lucky though, in our neck of the woods we haven’t lost electricity—just a few flickers here and there.

The Garden Area © Alyice Edrich, 2010

Currently, our backyard has five feet of snow, making it impossible to venture into. Not only can’t we find our vegetable garden (we leave the fence up year round) but we can only see half of the clothesline.

Hubby After First Blizzard © Alyice Edrich, 2010

Until next time…

After a long week of work and school, the family and I decided we needed to get out in the sun and enjoy our Saturday—together. After much contemplation we decided to visit Heartland Country Corn Maze in Harrisburg, South Dakota. This year, the corn maze was designed to look like a dinosaur, but you can only make out the image by flying over the corn maze.

My Son At The End of The Maze © Alyice Edrich, 2005

When we arrived, the hostess informed us that we could have a free treat if we answered the questions on the cards she gave us, by locating the numbered markers throughout the maze, and if we got our card punched with the unmarked hole punch marker.

Free treat? That’s all my children needed to hear.

“You take the map and find the answers mom,” my fourteen-year-old son exclaimed. “I bet I can find the hole puncher before you do!” And off he went with my ten-year-old daughter in tow.

My husband and I leisurely walked the corn maze, as he tried to find the markers, only to realize that he was lost and the map wasn’t much help. “Hmmm,” I thought to myself, “was the map really no good or was my husband sending me on a wild goose chase?”

After arriving at marker number five, I heard my children’s voices. “Was that excitement or arguing?” I couldn’t tell. I called out to them, but they didn’t answer. As we turned the corner, there was my son, beaming with excitement.

“I told you I’d find the hole punch marker before you did. Hurry up. Come over here. I marked our spot with this broken corn stalk that was on the ground and I want to move it before someone else realizes it’s a marker.”

We smiled, congratulated him, and followed him to the marker. Once we all punched our cards, my son and daughter took turns reading the map—which they had no problem doing by the way. And in a matter of minutes we were back at our hostess’ shack getting our free treats—cool and refreshing popsicles.

After we left the corn maze, we decided it was time to grab a bite to eat, but wait! What was that I just saw? Was it a refurbished car from the fifties? A vintage car?

As I wondered where it came from, I spotted three more old cars.

“Honey,” I said as I tapped my husband on the shoulder. “Can we follow that car? Let’s see where it’s going. I bet there’s a car show somewhere close by.”

A Dream Car For My Daughter© Alyice Edrich, 2005

My husband looked at me as if I were crazy. “They probably just left a car show, but I’ll follow them for a few blocks anyway.”

After five minutes of following them, my husband was ready to give up and turn around to get something to eat. He was hungry, after all.

“Oh wait!” I exclaimed. “They’re turning the corner. Can’t we just follow them around the corner and if there’s nothing there we can leave?”

Though he was reluctant, he was in such a good mood that he humored my woman’s intuition. And to his surprise and my daughter’s joy, there were three entire streets blocked off with nothing but vintage cars—my daughter was in heaven!

We finished our little excursion in a matter of fifteen minutes and none-too-soon according to my son, but my daughter got lots of pictures and had fifteen minutes of pure pleasure.

A simple day, true, but it was one filled with wonder, family, smiles, laughter, and the warmth of the sun beating down on us. What could be better than this?

Until next time…

Disclosure: I paid for this attraction. This is “my opinion”. I was not paid to give a positive review.