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6/15/02, 7:45a, Albert Lea, Minnesota
It is 7:45 in the morning in Albert Lea, Minnesota. We got out of Madison yesterday at about 6:15 p.m. after being delayed by very heavy traffic, but the drive was fast and pleasant.

There were many signs to bode us well on the trip. All day long yesterday it rained off and on. It was raining, and it was a dark grey, as we were leaving town. Traffic was heavy and it took half an hour to get to a point that should have only taken a little short of 15 minutes. But as we were getting to the edge of the city you could see up ahead, north and west, the direction we were going, patches of blue sky fighting through the nearly black clouds.

Once we got out of the city the clouds and the highway opened up, the sun broke through, and a great blue heron flew gracefully across the road in front of us. Already we have seen the heron, several cranes, a hawk, and buffalo. I must admit I wasn’t expecting to see any buffalo at least until South Dakota, but there are some buffalo farms in Wisconsin and apparently we passed by one.

Our goal for the first part of the trip is to blast across Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wyoming until we reach Cody, where we are staying for four nights. On the way back we are going to take some more time and enjoy the sights we’re racing by now. We thought that being as we are passing these places in both directions that we would use our initial energy and adrenaline to get there and come back in a more leisurely fashion. Our goal for today is to reach Rapid City and stay there our second night.

The drive thus far has been incredible. After we got out of the rain around Madison clouds still hung low to the ground most of the way across Wisconsin. In some places they were lower than the hills, giving it the feel of mountains. At one point an incredibly colorful and brilliant rainbow arced its way from the ground up into a group of the clouds. Rainbow over Wisconsin
The sun lowered itself below the horizon as we went, but at this time of the year it took until around 9:00 before it finally disappeared in a blaze of red. But all the way across Wisconsin it shone through the low-hanging clouds and lit the farms and landscape in a gentle glow. Filtered by the clouds the light played on everything, making the green fields and trees a deeper green, the white of farm houses and buildings soft instead of glaring, the blue sky a pure azure.

By the time we reached the Mississippi River at La Crosse the sun was disappearing behind the grand bluffs, but you could see its reflection in the mighty river as we crossed the bridge from Wisconsin into Minnesota. We crossed the river and climbed the bluffs on the Minnesota side in time to watch it turn orange, light the sky a deep pink, and then drop below the western horizon.

Now it is up again, morning in Minnesota. I can see that the wind is blowing through the trees outside the window. It looks to be another gorgeous day.

6/15/02, 12:00 p.m., Interstate 90, at the border between Jackson and Martin Counties
It is noon and we have been going for about two hours today. We just went through a slight patch of drizzling rain, nothing major, but otherwise it has been very sunny and nice. There are clouds ahead of us but the weather report this morning looked pretty good overall.

I definitely saw a deer this morning, a single one, grazing in the middle of some trees just off the side of the highway. There has been no other major wildlife so far today.

We stopped briefly at Blue Earth, Minnesota after I had read that they have a 55 foot tall Jolly Green Giant statue there. Brian and the Green Giant
It is located in Jolly Green Giant Park at the edge of town and is impressively large, albeit an odd sight. Of course I had to take pictures because the landscape of American trashiness is as interesting to me as the landscape of the countryside. The only difference is I could live without the trash culture, if necessary, but the things of nature are vital to me.

As I type this the rain is starting to come down again, and again slightly. I don’t expect that it will be a major obstacle to our enjoyment of the open road. We are less than 100 miles from Sioux Falls, which is in eastern South Dakota, and then have the entire state to traverse before reaching Rapid City. There will be a time zone change about half way across, in Murdo. We are now passing Jackson, and I am going to put my mind back on the road.

6/15/02, 4:00 p.m., near Montrose, South Dakota
We just left a bizarre and eloquent place called Porter’s Sculpture Park near Montrose. From the Interstate we saw a gigantic bull’s head looming over the surrounding farmland and I said, “What the hell is that?” The World's Tallest Bull
Almost immediately after that we saw a sign advertising the world’s largest bull’s head. It turned out to be part of a sculpture park where all the sculptures were made out of metal pieces and parts of machinery, similar to Delaney’s Surplus near Baraboo. I think the art part of it was far better, though.

We drove down a long twisting gravel driveway until we came to a shed, behind which there was a field full of colorful metal sculptures. The color, however, was misleading, as many of the sculptures were very dark and brooding, with an almost obsessive focus on death themes. We were greeted by the artist, Wayne Porter, and his parents, who accepted our $4.00 each and then proceeded to lead us to the sculpture garden.

6/15/02, 4:45 p.m., Mitchell, South Dakota
The tour started with Wayne’s mother leading us past an area called Buzzard’s Row. She flippantly described the buzzards in light-hearted terms the way a mother should do, but she obviously didn’t understand her son’s art or the underlying darkness or hope of virtually all of the pieces. There was pride in her voice, the kind of pride that a mother has when her children are recognized and appreciated by others, even if she doesn’t understand the recognition or appreciation. You could hear it in her voice, sort of an embarrassment over some of the pieces. One that was unpainted she said she had tried to get Wayne to paint. On others she glossed over the violent or sexual imagery and acted as if she didn’t want to notice it was there.
Pandora's Box

A little before the halfway point of the tour the artist himself joined us and took over from his mother. He was an odd man, wispy, with a light voice, glasses, thin, and a depth and knowledge that didn’t match his looks. He seemed like something out of a bad horror film and some of the creepy imagery of the art made him almost fearful, in a Psycho kind of way.

Had I been alone I might have feared climbing the stairs inside the giant bull’s head, where a sacrificial man hung just under the inside of the nose of the thing. Bull Interior, Black & White
But having someone with me, and being invited to go up inside it, an offer which Wayne said he seldom made, I couldn’t resist. It was impressive both inside and out. I don’t think we can adequately describe what the beast looked like or the vibe it gave off, but there was something both magical and mystical about it, and about the man who took three years to build it and who stood in front of us talking about the Minoan culture like a farmhand describing the history of his own town.

There seemed to be a knowledge of other places and other times that this soft-spoken man of the South Dakota prairie should not have. But piece after piece was imbued with mysticism or a sense of intellectual humor, or both. Brian kept repeating that the work should be in a larger city, where more people can see it, but then caught himself and realized it’s no different than what we do at Broom Street Theater. We try to create the best work we can in the space and time in which we are at any given moment. It seemed that this man, too, was simply trying to let his art speak, with materials he was familiar with in a landscape that could bear it. This little unexpected side jaunt could turn out to be one of the highlights of our entire tour.

Depressed Farmer Dancing by the Highway Spring, Porter Sculpture Park Ballerina Cracked Goldfish Bowl 2
Sledder Dragon 2

Window
Rock Formation, Badlands
Sunshine and Shadows
Sunset over the Badlands

Page last updated 06/25/08