Sioux Falls, SD - Jul. 5 - 11, 2005

We made it to South Dakota's "big city".  Sioux Falls is quite a departure from what we have become accustomed to in South Dakota.  As a city of about 140,000 residents you have just about any store, restaurant, museum, etc. that you want to visit. 

Our first visit to Sioux Falls was on the 4th of July.  We traveled from Salem to Sioux Falls for just the day to see the fireworks and hear their symphony play.  It was an incredible display of fireworks.  The explosions seemed to be right over our heads and you could almost feel the force blowing your hair back (of course that didn't take much since it was already standing on end!).  If you don't know South Dakota has a thriving fireworks industry.  They put some powerful fireworks in the hands of the general citizenry and go all out for the municipal displays.

One of the first areas we visited was the actual falls in Falls park.  Our pictures tell that story.  The waters flow through Sioux quartzite (also known as jasper), some of the oldest rock layers known to exist in that area.  They are billions and billions of years old and are nearly as hard as diamond.  The water doesn't seem to have had much of an effect in wearing them down.  Falls park is a nice area with what looks to be a nice eatery and an art museum.  The area hosts a weekly farmer's market too (discussed below).

After the viewing the falls we took a short drive into town to see the extensive sculpture exhibit along their main street.  It appears to be a thriving area for the trendy folks and the sculptures just add to the interest.  Susan really liked the downtown area with its wide sidewalks, shade trees, benches, shops and public art.

As noted above Sioux Falls has a weekly farmer's market.  We expected something of what we were used to in Sacramento, but the "crops" were not yet in full swing.  They displayed many pretty flowers and we noted some of the plants that you don't typically see in California.  It was a pretty modest market, but interesting nonetheless.

Following the farmers market trip we headed north to the Sioux Dell Rapids area.  Pictures in magazines promised much, but I think they should rename them the Dell Ripples.  Ha!  No offense intended if you are from that area, because it was quite pretty and we enjoyed lunch along the Big Sioux River.  Several family groups were there since it was a Saturday and it was pleasant to see folks having so much fun together.

As you may know geocaching is one of those new activities we have added to our traveling arsenal.  We had information that a new cache was located in this area and were lucky enough to find it.  Bill had to hang from a cliff with one hand and pull out the geocache with the other… just kidding, although he did have to venture out on some rocks where Susan refused to follow. 

Next stop on our travels was Garretson, SD.  Before leaving the RV we dutifully mapped our way there and were prepared.  Ah, the best-laid plans… this time we made the detour gods laugh.  Garretson is only about 20 miles by road from Dell Rapids.  However, due to the many detours we had to take as a result of road construction I am sure it was more like an hour and twenty minutes.  Even our computer mapping system would have done us little good - all roads were closed.  Just as we were starting to get concerned that Garretson was completely cut off from the rest of the world, perseverance paid off and voila, we found the village.

Garretson is the home of Split Rock Park and Devil's Gulch.  These are significant because the infamous Jesse James coaxed his horse to leap across the river filled gorge to escape the folks pursing him (seems he made an unauthorized bank withdrawal).  This was also a place where we found another geocache.  Being that it was getting quite hot and humid we decided to pack it in and head back to our air-conditioned rig.

One of Sioux Falls' many attractive features is the paved bike path that rings the city and links numerous parks.  While Bill helped a neighbor with a computer problem Susan loaded up her bike and headed for Yankton Trail Park.  She took a very pleasant ride along Sioux River to Falls Park.  At one point she had to swerve to miss an 8-inch turtle that was crossing the path bound for the river - the bunnies, squirrels, ducks and geese were a bit quicker at implementing evasive maneuvers. 

It is time to leave South Dakota.  We've been here for about one month and it time to move on.  Minnesota here we come!