# Driving from Madison to Denver via Omaha, and back via Sioux Falls **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 4, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762 "2016-08-04T18:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/1 "2016-08-04T18:10:04Z")
On the way to spending a few days in Denver, I’m going to stay overnight in Omaha. Just looking for ideas of some places to stop and look around between Madison and Omaha, or Omaha and Denver, pretty close off I 80. I decided on a more northerly route back, just because I’ve done both a direct route and more southern route before. I’m thinking of going almost straight north to Deadwood and then east to Sioux City, but I’m more flexible on this route. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/2 "2016-08-04T18:34:55Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m thinking of going almost straight north to Deadwood and then east to Sioux City, but I’m more flexible on this route. Any suggestions? Did you mean Sioux Falls? Sioux City is quite a way south of I-90. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/3 "2016-08-04T18:41:56Z")
Yes, sorry, I meant Souix Falls. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/4 "2016-08-04T18:47:08Z")
Along that route I would suggest Wall Drug and The Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo. Otherwise it’s a pretty long and boring drive. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/5 "2016-08-04T18:49:46Z")
Can’t be much more boring than driving through Iowa and Nebraska, which I’ve done before. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/6 "2016-08-04T18:53:55Z")
I’m thinking about stopping at the SAC museum west of Omaha. Anybody been there? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/7 "2016-08-04T18:54:30Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/8 "2016-08-04T18:55:30Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Can’t be much more boring than driving through Iowa and Nebraska, which I’ve done before. Me too. A few times. Iowa more than Nebraska. The most excitement was the time I was driving across Iowa on I-80 and the traffic cone had blown into the driving lane. 😃 You could always stop at the I-80 Truck Stop in Wolcott, IA. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/9 "2016-08-04T18:56:08Z")
Wall Drugs seems like fun is a kitschy kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/10 "2016-08-04T18:58:42Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Me too. A few times. Iowa more than Nebraska. The most excitement was the time I was driving across Iowa on I-80 and the traffic cone had blown into the driving lane. 😃 > > You could always stop at the I-80 Truck Stop in Wolcott, IA. What makes a truck stop interesting besides a bathroom and s rack of snack foods? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/11 "2016-08-04T18:58:44Z")
If you’re a rock and roll fan, or a music fan, then swinging by Clear Lake IA before Omaha adds 1.5 hours to your trip. The Surf Ballroom has a lot of music memorabilia and history on display. And just out of town in the cornfield is a simple memorial to where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in the plane crash on The Day The Music Died. It’s a short walk from the road into the corn field, and there’s a good path for it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/12 "2016-08-04T19:00:19Z")
I edited the thread title by request. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/13 "2016-08-04T19:00:23Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > What makes a truck stop interesting besides a bathroom and s rack of snack foods? It’s the World’s Largest Truck Stop. It just kind of breaks up the boredom. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/14 "2016-08-04T19:02:19Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > And just out of town in the cornfield is a simple memorial to where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in the plane crash on The Day The Music Died. It’s a short walk from the road into the corn field, and there’s a good path for it. If you do do this, just remember it’s on private property on a working farm. So the farmer might literally be out standing in his field. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/15 "2016-08-04T19:02:34Z")
The [Great Platte River Road Archway Monument](http://archway.org/) is about 150 miles west of Omaha. It tells the history of the path through Nebraska over the past couple hundred years - the pioneer trails, the railroad, the Lincoln highway, the interstate. You borrow from them a radio headset that tells you stories associated with the dioramas you’re walking through (yes, you walk _through_ the dioramas instead of just walking past them). Allow at least 90 minutes (more if you’re really enjoying it) from when you get off of the highway to getting back on. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/16 "2016-08-04T19:02:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I edited the thread title by request. Thanks, that was very kind of you after my foolishness. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/17 "2016-08-04T19:05:31Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > It’s the World’s Largest Truck Stop. It just kind of breaks up the boredom. I remember the sign saying so! Perhaps it has the world’s largest rack of snack foods too. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/18 "2016-08-04T19:05:39Z")
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library is in the small town of West Branch IA, and you get a good overview of the Great Depression, and of course on Hoover’s life and contributions. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/19 "2016-08-04T19:08:03Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > If you do do this, just remember it’s on private property on a working farm. So the farmer might literally be out standing in his field. 😃 He (she?) has a well-cut and manicured (manured?) trail. It is clear that visitors are welcome. But yes, it is on private property. Visitors should be respectful. My info is based on the one time I was there, in the spring of 2014. Just kidding about the manured part. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762/20 "2016-08-04T19:11:19Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > If you’re a rock and roll fan, or a music fan, then swinging by Clear Lake IA before Omaha adds 1.5 hours to your trip. The Surf Ballroom has a lot of music memorabilia and history on display. And just out of town in the cornfield is a simple memorial to where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in the plane crash on The Day The Music Died. It’s a short walk from the road into the corn field, and there’s a good path for it. Hmmm… I got the lake where Otis Redding drowned outside my window. Does the Surf Ballroom have some special connection to Surf music? I’m a big fan of Dick Dale, The Ventures, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-from-madison-to-denver-via-omaha-and-back-via-sioux-falls/761762.md?page=2)