Saturday 4-29 Visiting Sioux Falls

 

It’s freezing

Friday 4-28

We woke up to 27 degrees and the north wind was still blowing.

Larry took Flo for her morning walk and when he got back he told me it was freezing so don’t be in any hurry to get out of bed. I crawled out of bed an hour later. The temperature had risen from 27 to 31. I got dressed and then made breakfast. We decided to wait until it warmed up a little before we went to tour Sioux Falls. By lunchtime it was only 41 degrees.

After lunch we decided to go to town even though it was cold. We put stuff down and headed to Sioux Falls. There were a few things we wanted to do. The first thing we did was go see the falls in Falls Park. They were unbelievable. The wind had come up and it was freezing so we didn’t walk around the park too long but I did take a few pictures. We walked to the visitor center to pick up some information. Larry had read that Sioux Falls had a map showing where sculptures from different artist are located all around town. They gave him the map and we picked up the map of the park. The visitor center has a tower where you can climb up the stairs or take an elevator to the observation deck to see the falls and the downtown area. I took the stairs and Larry took the elevator, on the way down we both took the stairs. Once on top the view was super. Falls Park is a big park with sculptures, historical markers and buildings. 

Sioux Falls

                           Visitor Center                                                         United We Stand sculpture

 

Next we headed to a nearby U-Haul to fill up our propane tank and then we did a self guided tour of the Cathedral of St. Joseph. The Cathedral started being built in late 1915 and held its first mass on December 8, 1918. It is the Mother Church of the diocese and the home of the bishop. You enter the cathedral through huge wooden doors to a spectacular view of the alter. They have a pamphlet that takes you through and explains each section of the church. It has a lot of marble, stained glass windows and wood. It was one of the most impressive cathedrals we have been to. As we were walking back to the Minnie we said hi to a couple of nuns. We were surprised they were still wearing habits. It was a great tour.

 

Cathedral of St. Joseph

             Getting ready to enter                                                   The alter                 

 

We were going to walk the sculptures trail but it was simply too cold. The rain is suppose to come back Sunday and we wanted a place to hole up for a few days so we thought maybe we would move over to Palisades State Park. Larry had read that it was a very nice park. We already paid for a year long day use pass so it didn’t cost anything for us to drive through and take a look. As we were driving through we stopped and looked at the canyon. It was a beautiful canyon. There was a sign about the canyon and that there was a mill there years ago. After checking it out we decided we would stay where we were.

 

                                                           The canyon in Palisades State Park

We had a great day of site seeing. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!   

  

Saturday 4-29

This morning it was 34 degrees and the wind was down. So we decided to revisit Sioux Falls.

The first thing we did in Sioux Fall was find a laundromat to do laundry. It had been almost three weeks. The laundromat was busy and very well taken care of. After doing four loads of clothes and putting the clothes away we headed to the downtown area.

We parked the Minnie in a parking lot by the main street of the sculpture walk. We walked around downtown for a couple of hours looking for the sculptures. We saw quite a few but many of them were gone. It was a very nice walk. The downtown was booming with people shopping, walking around and dining. We were going to eat at a deli but they were only serving breakfast. So we left and walked back to the Minnie.

              When Pigs Fly Helicopter                                                                 Soaring Eagle

Federal Courthouse in Sioux Falls

Before going back to the campground we went back to Falls Park considering yesterday was so cold. Before walking around the park we had a sandwich for lunch. We spent about an hour in the park. We walked a paved trail that went under a main street and through the park. As we walked we stopped occasionally to read and look at different points of interest and sculptures. The trail took us very close to the falls. There were a lot of people walking around the park. There were people riding bikes on the trail. The trail takes you to the downtown. It was brisk but not as bad as yesterday. We had a great walk.

 

Larry checking out the remains of the Queen Bee Mill

                              The Falls                                                                    Standing in front of the Falls

A Farmer sculpture in the park

There is a Smithfield meat packaging plant very near the park and if the wind is blowing from the wrong direction the whole downtown smells terrible. Depending on the wind you can actually smell it from miles away. Sioux Falls is a nice town with over 200.000 people. We enjoyed our visit very much. We’re having fun!!!!