Snake Creek State Park, SD
Okay, I'll admit I had very low expectations of Sioux Falls, SD. I thought it would be like so many of the struggling towns we see in the heartland. I was pleasantly surprised. The falls were pretty spectacular and the city had lots of outside cafes and tree lined streets.
The falls were actually a series of falls cascading over pink Sioux Quartzite.
This pic was taken from several stories high in the visitor's tower.
Turning around 180 deg. you can see the Morrell meat packing plant. They employ hundreds of people. This so explains why we kept hearing pork prices quoted on the radio. Next time you pick up a packet of Morrell sliced ham, this is where it's being processed.
In 1881, the largest flour mill was on the banks of this river next to the falls. It was 7 stories high, had a 100,000 bushel grain elevator, a warehouse that could hold 10,000 barrels, a turbine house, a gate house and a cooper shop where barrels were made. Wowza! Today it's just a ghost of what it used to be.
You can see it in the far upper left corner.
Today it is used for free music concerts on Saturday night during the summer! Sorry we were a day early. I would have loved to chill out here.
Sioux Falls has a sculpture walk you can do. There are 56 sculptures placed through-out the town. I promise I won't post pics of all 56 sculptures, really! They ranged from life like figures, to whimsical characters to abstract pieces. This one caught my eye, mainly because it reminds me of the sculpture pieces my brother-in-law Jerry Barrish does. It's called "Endless Summer" by Gregory Mendez.
Here's another one called "Circle of Friends" by Karen Crain. Every one of the pieces was mounted on the Sioux Quartzite. Really cool.
If anyone wants to see more, I have picked up a brochure on all the pieces.
Early this morning, we decided to visit the infamous Devil's Gulch. What you never heard of this "home of beauty, mystery & legend"?! As legend has it, it's the place that Jesse James made his famous jump with his horse over the chasm to get away from the posse chasing him. Yeah, who could pass up the opportunity to see this??
You also get to take a walking tour of the Devil's Gulch too. Be still my heart.
Here's Ned standing on the EXACT spot that Jesse James jumped with his horse! Today it has a steel open grate bridge across the chasm. It's quite a thrill to look down into the chasm.
And yes, that was quite the jump too!
The walk of beauty and mystery...meh. Kind of overgrown and lots of rocks to climb over. All I kept thinking was thank goodness my kids are grown and not munchkins doing this walk with me. There was ample opportunity to fall into the chasm.
Hard to get a perspective on this but the drop off is 40 or so feet. (There are signs saying things like "This spot is known as the bottomless pit. Many years ago a 600 ft. plumb line was lowered and no bottom was found.").
Other signs..."depending on the wind of the day, strange moaning sounds can be heard in Devil's Gulch. One will then easily understand how the canyon got its name.". Mmmm...I thought that was Ned's stomach growling saying time for breakfast.
Tonight we are camped along the powerful Missouri River. It's close to 90, but very windy. Thank goodness for that. Our afternoon was spent taking a nap on the grassy banks of this river. Ahhhh summer.
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