South Dakota is now nicknamed the Mount Rushmore state. It was also called the Sunshine State, the Swinged Cat State, Coyote State and I'm not looking up anymore nicknames for this state. South Dakota is a gorgeous mixture of cattle ranches, prairies, mountains, canyons and rivers. The entire time we've been here it hasn't rained... very sunny always on the warm side to hot. The state excels at credit card issuing, agriculture (corn, wheat, soybeans), and commercial banking. Still, there are places that posess small town charms and others that are damned near depressed. We stayed in a variety of places as we began in Sioux Falls and ventured as far west as Devils Tower.
Yogi Doesn't Like Me!
Yogi Bear Jellystone RV Park in Brandon, SD is where we spent our first week and a half. We've said before that it is a family place, loaded with kids and the majority of activities are abundant. The sites are a bit narrow, but water, sewer and electrical hook ups were all fine. The park is right next to Interstate 90 which was noisy. Weekends were absolutely packed, no available sites, while on week days we had the entire place to ourselves - the place was a ghost town.
We found out Jim Gaffigan was performing at the Denny Sanford Premiere Center, so we chose to have a night out. The venue was easy to access and we looked forward to the show. We often watched Gaffigan on CBS Sunday Morning, offering his family observations. His humor appealed to us. His live show however, was too short, especially for the cost. We could have stayed at Yogi's to experience their Halloween celebration.
Every night around 6, Yogi would drive around the park, stop and hug kids. I actually requested he stop for a picture, but it didn't happen. I think Yogi was pissed because we went to see Gaffigan. Yeah, that's it, Yogi was pissed.
Everything is 15 Minutes Away
On our first full day, we went downtown to see the falls.
There's a section of Sioux Falls that follows the Big Sioux River, with art sculptures, very wide walkways, hotels, businesses, condo and restaurants. We stopped at a hotel's outside cafe for a quick lunch (seems most of the restaurants open at night), before heading to the falls. Falls Park was a fair distance about a mile and a half and upon getting there you understand why it is a destination. The park that surrounds the falls is a place that features picnicking, benches to read or enjoy the beauty. There's over 100 acres of park to enjoy.
Every sulpture has a description of the artwork and why it's there. Julie has a lot more pictures of this and if anyone's curious and would like to see more, please let her know. Space on the blog is limited. But the falls are the star attraction and with good reason. The Big Sioux was not running fast at all. South Dakota was unusually dry, but despite that, the power of the river was evident.
We seperated for a bit rambling all over the edge of the falls taking tons of pictures until we met up by a bridge that crosses the river. We walked up the five story visitors center observation tower to look out over the entire park which was breathtaking.
There were a couple of days it was really hot so we used it for maintenance of the Auk. Okay, I don't understand why there's a penchant for naming things, especially vehicles. Our fifth wheel was named the Puffin because Julie loves Puffins. Alright, that's fine. Men like to call their cars "she", like she's runnin' good, she's a beaut, or she's fast. I can't say they name their cars Monica, or Helen, but it's she for sure. Look, this could easily involve psychiatrists, which could take us down a rabbit hole and everyone ends up with some some sort of phobia. We've been talking about naming the Dually and nothing seemed to fit, certainly not she. We settled on Auk, which is another marine bird related to Puffins. It works for us.
We spent an afternoon and visited Wild Prairie Winery which was 15 minutes away. It is family run and growing, but located off of a gravel crush road (there's a lot of them in South Dakota), which is punishing the Auk's paint job. We met the owner who was nice enough to spend time answering our questions, which was appreciated. The wines were the typical mix of whites and reds, but none of them impressed. Still it was a fun experience.
We're Feeling a Bit Blue
A day trip to the Blue Mounds State Park in Mounds, Minnesota, which is just over South Dakota's border. From the parking lot we hiked up paths that would lead to an area where we could see Bison. Julie was a lot braver than I was because after we first spotted the herd, she started running towards them. The path we took had cut outs that feature rocks you could stand on to get a better look. She kept following the path while I stood on the rock to see from a distance. So yeah, Julie shamed me into following her without saying a word. And then we were face to face with them separated by a fence. Okay, some advice here... you don't want to piss off one of these furry cows. So no feeding them, petting, or hugging them. I'm not sure, but as Julie snapped lots of pictures I wasn't certain that that would set them off. The fence would never stand a chance to keep them on their side and I'm sure Julie would be bypassed while I was ground into a decorative door mat.
Sure, Bust My Nuts
After leaving Julie's adopt-a-pet center, we drove to Luverne, Minnesota. It's a small town that is near the interstate, but holds an awful lot of history. There are about 5,000 people that occupy Luverne and they display their roots in a museum we visited, The Rock County History Center. We discovered that cars were manufactured here in the early 1900's and also fire engines were produced until the 70's. The company still is active in Rapid City, SD, run by a great grandson of the founders.
The History center also features over 6,000 Nut Crackers. When we heard about it, that sparked curiosity and since we were already there... Well, not really. It's the reverse. We went there to see them and try to understand why anyone would do such a thing. The History Center opened a new building in 2016 and wanted a draw, something that would set it apart and people would want to see. A woman named Betty Mann donated 2,800 nut crackers to kick off the new Center. Julie believes she heard that Betty started the collection in 2000, after her husband and daughter had passed away. Apparently she always wanted a nut cracker so she bought one for Christmas in their memory. We really marvel at the idea, but may be fuzzy on its accuracy. Initially, we knew nothing of this and the people who volunteer there were very kind and knew every square inch of the place. So aside from nut crackers, we learned about the town history, prominent townspeople and remained there for hours.
We left the History Center and walked down to Widflowers Coffee Boutique. It was good and seems to be a place a lot of the townspeople frequent.
We spent an afternoon exploring Tutt Hill Park. It's an interesting place because there's a ton of dirt trails that are used by BMX bikers. They're trails are steep and scary, even when walking. But the people that passed us were zipping by and seemed happy and relaxed and very in control. We walked down the trails that led to the rivers edge and then headed up to the gardens. At the apex of the park there's a mansion that is surrounded by beautiful gardens.
After, Julie took off and found a small kids playground to remind me of how to party!
When we first set out last July, Julie had just retired. But our plans for finding and booking RV campgrounds had surrounded her need to be stationary Monday through Friday - she needed to be focused on her work. So we created an agenda and booked places with that in mind. We then realized that we were no longer tied to that schedule. Spending a week or two at a campground while your bride is working all day long leaves you free to explore the sights and enjoy the area. It also brings guilt. My mother was a travel agent who sold guilt trips and I don't need or want those teen aged feelings creeping back into my life and sure didn't want to do any exploration without Julie. So we changed it up on the fly.
We bugged out of Sioux Falls early and decided to find a mid way point to look around at another part of South Dakota until we got to the next booked campground. Julie is kind of an advance scout, while I might be in logistics. So we decided Chamberlain.
Chambelain was a really small town and not far from I-90. We found a small campground next to a park where we got a site next to the Missouri River. We had water and electric, but no sewer so we took care on water consumption for all activities... dishwashing, laundry, using paper goods for the few nights we stayed there. No letters from the board of health were received because we did shower.
This area is where St. Joseph School was founded by the Federal Government in the late 1800's. It's premise was to assimilate Lakota Indians into the culture of the United States. It was sold to the Catholic Church in the early 1900's. We visited the Museum, which had a lot of exhibits. I'll admit I was biased before stepping foot on the property, as reminders of episodes of Yellowstone conjured up images of the abuse natives suffered at the hands of priests and nuns. Julie was fascinated and took a lot of pictures. There were interactive exhibits and a lot of art by former students of the school.
There was a short film about the history of the place and they didn't hide from the early controversies of how repressive and harsh it was. They also provided how the native culture was different and focused on more than family life and how best to prepare for modern life. Today, the school has integrated Lakota native language as part of their curriculum. At first I was really uncomfortable, but Julie saw and eventually helped me to see and appreciate the progress that's been accomplished.
When we walked downtown, it was a small area with some storefronts empty, but we found this place. The Purple Pigeon is a fairly new place. Aside from the very relaxed vibe, it has a back story that speaks to why now as to opposed to maybe later. The people there are wonderful. It's a place we'd go to a lot if we lived in Chamberlain.
One of the other interesting things to see, especially at dusk is the "Dignity", which is located at a rest stop on the eastbound side of I-90. Dusk is a good time because the light comes through the back of the sculpture to cast beautiful colors. There's a panoramic view of the Missouri and Chamberlain, while the center houses a lot of history. It's a cool place to stop off the highway... a hell of a lot better than the Vince Lombardi rest area in New Jersey.
More later....
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