Part 5 of my nearly 2400 mile trip across North Dakota and South Dakota earlier this summer. To read Part 1, click here; to read Part 2, click here; to read Part 3, click here; and to read Part 4, click here.
I've always been sort of a geography nut ever since I was a little kid. I would just sit and look at maps for hours on end. I don't know why. Maybe I had a little bit of wanderlust in me at an early age. But just to show you how big of a geek I was when I was a little kid, I could name all the state capitals when I was six years old. Ask me what the state capital of Montana was and I'd quickly reply, "Helena". Vermont? "Montpelier." South Carolina? "Columbia." I was that good (or bad, depending on your viewpoint of geekdom).
(As an aside, I could name the U.S. Presidents in order when I was five. My parents would have me come down and do it for their friends when they'd have company. I can still name all the presidents in order and the state capitals to this day. I've won a few bar bets in doing so over the years.)
But looking at maps, I was always fascinated by borders. It didn't matter if it were county borders, state borders or national borders. I was always enamored by them. And I still am to this day.
There's a point just east of Sioux Falls where the three states of Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota come together. Since there's no topographical boundaries, such as a river, to delineate between the borders, 
the boundaries for all three states come together at a point in the middle of the road about 15 miles east of Sioux Falls. Here's a picture of the point courtesy of Google Earth. That's Iowa to the south, South Dakota to the north and west, and Minnesota to the north and east.
The spot is marked by a monument that has a plaque that talks about the history of spot. Actually, the monument used to be right smack dab in the middle of the road - a nice two lane highway at a "T" intersection with a gravel road. Over the years, it had been hit so many times they finally decided to move it to the South Dakota corner of the three points.
Here's the nail-head where the monument used to sit. This is the exact point where all three states come together at this intersection. If you wanted to - and I have - you could pee in all three states at once.
Standing on the exact spot where all three states meet, here's the gravel road looking north. South Dakota is on the left with Minnesota on the right.
Here's the road looking east - Iowa's on the right and Minnesota's on left.
And here's the road looking west with Iowa on the left and South Dakota on the right. OK, OK. You get the idea. I told you I was geeky about these things.
Here's a picture courtesy of Jeff Morrison which shows the three different street signs for the three different states. South Dakota's is in the foreground, Iowa's is to the right and Minnesota's is to the left.
And here's the plaque on the side of the monument marker. As always, click on the picture to enlarge if you'd like to read it.
Back on the road and down to Sioux City, there's a point where Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota meet, but it's out in the middle of a river channel where the Big Sioux River drains into the Missouri. See the place courtesy of Google Maps on the right.
War Eagle Park is on a bluff in southwest Sioux City that overlooks the point where the three states come together. The monument on the bluff denotes the final resting place for Chief War Eagle, an Indian tribal leader who worked with the first white settlers in the region to bring peace and harmony between the two groups.
Here's the shot of the confluence of the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers. Iowa is in the foreground. The sliver of land between the two rivers is South Dakota, and Nebraska is in the background. OK, that's enough geeky shit for this day.
After meeting with my dealer in Sioux City, and then a lunch at George's No. 1 Hot Dog Shoppe, I was back on the highway for a 5 1/2 hour trip home. It had been a long week, I had seen a lot of stuff, I got a lot of things accomplished and had a pretty good time doing it. A trip like this makes traveling long distances pretty worth while.
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