Pierre SD - Sioux Falls SD August 17 - August 25

Tuesday, August 17  Sometimes things don't come easy for RVers'.  We had excellent directions to the park in Ft. Pierre, there is a "low clearance" on the main street into town, Lola gave us directions using the Truck Route - of course we missed the turn, in our defense it was poorly marked.  We came within a mile of it before we could turn around, that's the good news, the bad news there was a dip in the road tearing off the poorly designed generator latch.  (note nothing is our fault)  We always carry a spare just in case.  All we had to do was get to the park, across the river and up on a bluff.  We finally got settled about 2:30 no worse for wear.  After lunch we decided to go for a drive to check out Ft. Pierre and Oahe Dam.  The temperature was over 100 (again)  On our way back to the park we noticed traffic signals were out.  A contractor had clipped an electric cable, power was out in all of Ft.Pierre.  Poor Luci was frantic when we walked in, it was 100 degrees inside.  We got the generator running to turn on the AC.  Poor baby.  Now I find myself worrying every time we leave her behind.  

Wednesday, Aug. 18 Gary spent most of the morning removing the mangled latch, actually it took a couple of days, "things never go smoothly".

Thursday, Aug. 19  A final trip to the local hardware store was in order.  The South Dakota Capitol building is very nice, finished in 1910, a modified version of Helena's building.  Beautiful hand carved wood and marble are exquisite.  We picked up a geo cache and found the replica of the Liberty Bell that are located in each of the 50 capital grounds.  

Friday, Aug. 20  We went back to the Oahe Dam, this time with a camera and hoping there aren't any power outages.  Two words - It's huge!  We can see the 7 power generators from our RV park on a bluff about 8-10 miles away.  Built between 1948 and 1961 it's the second largest earthen dam in the world.  Lake Oahe backs up all the way to Bismark, 240 miles providing flood control, recreation and power generation.  We wanted to take the "dam" tour but they don't give  public tours anymore.  Covid? 911?  Don't know.

I let Gary take me out to dinner, Friday night date night, I even "prettied"up.  Drifters, a grille and bar and event center on the Ft. Pierre side of the Missouri River.  Delish!  

Saturday, Aug 21  A day to get ready to move, a delightful  warm day with no wind...Nice.  We took Luci up to Cedar Hill Cemetery to run some of the energy out of her, it's located up on the bluff with views of the River and Ft. Pierre and Pierre. Very old headstones, I didn't see any new graves.  We also picked up a couple of geo caches while there. Downtown Pierre has a historic shopping area, funky shops and eateries.  We picked up a couple of geo caches in the area before heading out to the city park on the banks of the Missouri.  Lots of people out enjoying the lovely day on the water, fishing, plus a great island to hike.  

Sunday, Aug. 22  Our departure was delayed by a thunder storm that started about 7am.  I'm not fond of thunder and lightning, when I was about 10 we had a nasty winter storm, lightning struck our house that shorted out the water heater causing it to smoke, I was in bed on the second floor, scared me to death when I started smelling smoke.  It's hard to hide under the bed in a RV, that's where I'd like to be.  Our drive to Sioux Falls, SD was mostly dry but Gary had to drive over 200 miles with a cross wind.  He felt pretty beat up when we got here.  About halfway we stopped at a Rest Area with an amazing sculpture.  Dignity of Earth and Sky, a 50 ft high stainless steel

statue that depicts a Native American in a plains dress receiving a star quilt (I've made a similar quilt), overlooking the Missouri River, also on Lewis and Clark's route an excellent interpretive center.  It was so windy it made us glad we weren't any lighter, the wind pushed us around pretty good.  Good excuse not to diet - you never know when a gust of wind will blow you over!  We pulled into the KOA in Sioux Falls about 4:15.  What a nasty drive, 220 miles.

Monday, Aug. 23  Sioux Falls, population 170,000 Elevation 1400.  There is an actual falls in Sioux Falls on the Big Sioux River.  (I don't know if there is a Little Sioux River) The five story viewing tower gives you great views of the Falls, the remains of the Queen Bee mill, mill race and dam that powered the mill.  We could see the 185 foot spires of Cathedral of St. Joseph from the falls so of course we had to go see it.  The first mass was in late 1918.  Lunch was at Sickies Garage, a mid-west chain.  SoSo, or as we say about most of Salem's restaurants - it's ok.  

Tuesday, Aug. 24  Yesterday we drove past the USS South Dakota, how you might ask did they get a battleship to South Dakota?  In pieces.  A concrete outline of the ship 680 feet in length, 3 - 16" guns turrets, conning tower weighting 8,000 pounds, anchor and 17' propeller all came off the ship.  The USS South Dakota launched in June of 1941 and was the most decorated ship in WWII. Inside the Museum is a lot of memorabilia.  We then took a tour of SD's first senator RF Pelligrew's historic home and museum.  The late 1800's home has been restored to the original elegance with both personal and time furnishings.  Pettigrew was both an entrepreneur and collector.  Lunch was at a local bistro, Kafadi's, Delish!  After lunch we visited the Old Courthouse Museum.  The restored quartzite building features 3 floors of regional history.  One section was about hair through the times, including an old permanent wave machine that looks like an instrument of torture.  Another exhibit that caught my eye was the tornado tree, in the 30's a tornado struck the city, a girder off a bridge several blocks penetrated a tree.  Scary.  One good thing, museums in Sioux Falls are free of course donations are accepted.  Downtown has a sculpture work featuring 62 works of art, the centerpiece is Arc of Dreams. a massive stainless steel structure that spans the Big Sioux River, at the center is an 18 foot gap 70 feet above the river representing the leap of faith dreams take to make them come true.  

Wednesday, Aug. 25  We had an appointment to talk to our "Wealth Advisor" (ya right) at 11 so we hung around all morning.  After lunch Gary and I both got Pedi's, geo cached, stopped at quilt stores and Costco.  We did some cleaning and prepared for tomorrow's move to Clear Lake Iowa.

That's it for now, enjoy the pic's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam