Sioux Falls

The next couple of stops on our trip were noticeably short of big sites.  As I mentioned earlier, we didn’t go into western South Dakota, and eastern South Dakota’s biggest claim to fame is Sioux Falls, a series of cascades on the Big Sioux River.  So, once we got cleaned up and checked out of the hotel, we headed for there.

There is a park surrounding Sioux Falls, and it was the site of a Fourth of July celebration.  There were food stands, vendor booths, and an orchestra playing patriotic songs.  There were also lots of people.  It was a very sunshiny, hot day, and Jeremy had about had it, with how early he had to get up and indignity of being jounced for three miles in an umbrella stroller.  So, we didn’t stay here as long as might have under other circumstances.

But what we saw was very pretty.

We got a couple of partial family pictures in our matching race t-shirts from that morning, but Jeremy really wasn’t in the mood.

And when we tried to get a picture of the kids and the falls, this is what we got.  Yes, he was screaming by the time I took him back.

We figured this was a good time to move on!

We had seen a museum for the USS South Dakota while out driving around, and the kids were interested in visiting there.  Jeremy fell asleep in the car on the way over, so I stayed with him while Jeff and the kids checked out this mostly-open-air, free museum.  The concrete wall topped with flags marked out the shape and size of the battleship, which was pretty neat.  I think that the flags represent each state from which a serviceman from the USS South Dakota came.

Hot and tired, Elijah flops down under a tree with me, while Jeremy sleeps in the car nearby.  (I left it running!)  Elijah is not used to getting up early and running three miles!

And that about did for Sioux Falls and South Dakota.  We headed back north, ate lunch at a Perkins restaurant right before we left the state, and crossed into North Dakota.  We were Fargo bound!