Living Our Dream

Sioux Falls, SD

Sioux Falls, SD

The main reason for going to South Dakota was to get our driver licenses renewed. The driver license office is closed Mondays, and everyone says it is crowded on Tuesdays and also on Fridays. Therefore, we timed our arrival in Sioux Falls for Tuesday so we could get our licenses renewed on Wednesday. We arrived about 10:00 AM. Mid morning is supposed to be better than early or late morning, and mornings are said to be less crowded than afternoons. In spite of our careful planning, the DMV office was jammed. We considered coming back the next day; but  it was a rainy day anyway, and there could have been an even longer wait the next day, so we decided to stick it out and get it over with. We had to wait 5 or 10 minutes just to get a seat, then we waited about an hour for our numbers to be called

New federal laws require states to make sure applicants for drivers licenses are properly identified because driver licenses are widely accepted as identification to board airplanes and to enter certain federal buildings and facilities. We gathered up all the documents they said we needed, and we also took more than what was required - just in case. But there was no problem with any of our identification, and we walked out with new licenses in hand.

We planned an extra day in Sioux Falls just in case there would have been a problem at the DMV. Since everything went smoothly (other than the long wait), Margery had time to schedule a haircut on our free day. After her haircut, we decided to head into town to Falls Park to see the Falls on the Big Sioux River - especially since the sun finally came out.

The falls have long attracted people to the area starting with Native Americans. The first Europeans to see the falls were French explorers in the early 1700s, and the first American settlements were started in the 1850s.

The falls consist of the Upper Falls, the Main Fallls, the Lower Falls and a series of cascades. The photo below shows the Upper Falls.

The next photo shows Margery with the Main Falls in the background. The small building to the left is the turbine house for the Queen Bee Mill. The remnants of the main building of the mill itself are barely visible to the right of the turbine house.

 

The next photo shows a little closer view of the turbine house with the remnants of the main building behind it.

The 7-story mill, which was built from Sioux quartzite quarried at the site, cost about $500,000 - a LOT of money back when it was built from 1879 to 1881. Just two years after the mill began operation in 1881, it was bankrupt because of a scarcity of quality wheat and because of insufficient water power. The mill changed hands a few times, but no one could make a go of it. The mill was converted to a warehouse in the 1920s, and it was destroyed by fire in 1956. Only the turbine house and the stonework for the bottom couple of floors remains.

The photo below is another view showing the full width of the Main Falls.

We walked downstream to get yet another view of the Main Falls (near the top of the picture) with the Lower Falls in the foreground.

Below the Lower Falls is a visitor center with an observation tower...

...where you can get an excellent view of the park and all the cascades and falls with downtown Sioux Falls in the background. When we were here five years ago, the amount of water cascading over the falls was minimal. This time, there was water coming from everywhere!

From the side of the tower opposite the falls, we could see the John Morrell & Co. meat packing plant. Morrell, a subsidiary of Smithfield foods, is a major employer in the city of Sioux Falls.

 

Paul liked the stone sculpture of a buffalo near the base of the tower called "Monarch of the Plains," so we paused for a photo.

On the way back to the motor home, we stopped for an early dinner at Qdoba. Qdoba is one of our favorite chain restaurants, and, since there aren't that many around, we usually make a point of stopping when we find one.

When we began planning our summer travels back when we were in Florida for the winter, we decided to take our time getting to Sioux Falls to make sure the weather had time to warm up. Then, after we got our licenses, we planned to spend a little time in the western part of the state, after which we would meander south through Colorado and into New Mexico. However, when we heard that smoke from the wildfires in Arizona was sometimes finding its way all the way to New Mexico, we had second thoughts.

Even though firefighters are now starting to gain control over the Arizona wildfires, they still have a good way to go before the fires are out. Plus, there are now new fires right in New Mexico. With the possibility of smoke in the southwest combined with the fact that we have been experiencing temps in the 90's since the end of April, it seemed like a good year to head north. Since Minnesota is just a stone's throw from Sioux Falls, we decided to start our northern loop there.

After we left Winterset, IA, we made a one-night stop in Onawa, IA at Lewis & Clark State Park. This park is located on an oxbow lake near the Missouri River. An oxbow lake is a former section of river that was isolated to become a lake when the river changed course. The campground has mostly electric-only sites with gravel pads with a few full hookup sites mixed in. Although the roads are kind of narrow, the sites are nicely spaced. There is also a newer section with a dozen or so paved pull-throughs and full hookups. We opted for a pull-through, even though we didn't need full hookups for only one night, because we didn't want to unhitch the toad. The pull-throughs were also a little farther from the lake and seemed a little quieter.

 

We were on the road a little after 9:00 the next morning on our way to Snake Creek Recreation Area in South Dakota. Driving 125+ miles across the bottom of South Dakota to our next stop presented us with one of those unexpected discoveries about our "home" state. The South Dakota we explored two years ago conjures up a mental image of the Badlands, Custer State Park, Needles Highway and the Black Hills where you see Mt. Rushmore and where Crazy Horse is being carved out of the mountain. We weren't prepared for the acres of farmland for as far as the eye could see. From tilling to planting to fertilizing to harvesting, we saw men working hard in the fields. There were also ranches raising cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. Although these ranches were huge, their homes were modest and many homesteads were abandoned. Many of the farmers were using John Deere equipment and having some knowledge of the different pieces from our trip to the John Deere Pavilion, we had a better understanding of their different purposes.

Researching South Dakota on the internet, we learned that the Missouri River travels through the middle of the state. Almost one third of the region west of the Missouri River, a semiarid, treeless plain, belongs to Native Americans, most of whom live on reservations. Much of the remaining area is occupied by large ranches where cattle and sheep ranching provide the major source of income, with soybean and wheat farming second in the production of revenue. In the more productive region east of the Missouri, livestock and livestock products are the primary sources of income. Actually, it was the rumors of gold in the Black Hills in the late 19th century that stimulated cattle ranching in order to feed the large influx of people seeking  their fortunes in gold.

Snake Creek Recreation Area is located on Lake Francis Case which is on the Missouri River. There are 115+ campsites, a few of which are tent sites with no hookups, but most have electric. We didn't know there were two campgrounds until afer we got there. We had reserved a lakeside site in what turned out to be the older section (north). The north campground has a mix of paved and gravel pads with 30 amp electric. The south campground has all paved pads, 50 amp electric, and smaller trees so there is almost no problem with satellite. The sites in both campgrounds are widely spaced and the campground was fairly quiet during the week, although we can imagine it gets fairly full of young families, boaters, and fishermen on the weekends. The photo below shows our lakefront site...

...and this was the view of the lake from behind our rig.

Snake Creek Recreation Area is out in the middle of nowhere. We needed to keep our rooftop antenna plugged into our cell phone to barely get service with one bar. It was a good time to rest up in pleasant surroundings, although the mosquitoes were a little fierce. Paul was getting over his chest cold, and he couldn't resist sharing it with Margery. She was now up at night coughing, so the daily naps were good for us both.

We spent three days at Snake River then moved on to Spearfish, SD. When we came to South Dakota our first year of full-timing, we didn't have time to make it to Spearfish. Spearfish is about 2 hours from Gillette, so it made a good place to stop for a few days just before the Escapade in Gillette.

We stayed at Chris' Camp in Spearfish. The campground has paved interior roads and gravel pads and there is a small patch of grass between sites. The campground has quite a few trees, but when we told the owner we needed an unobstructed view of the southern sky for satellite, he immediately knew what we needed and escorted us to a great site.

The next morning we drove about an hour west into Wyoming to see Devils Tower. Devils Tower was proclaimed the first national monument in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt. Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion, which means it was molten lava that flowed upward into sedimentary rock layers. As the magma cooled, vertical cracks were formed. The cracks later created the columns that can be seen along the sides after erosion of the surrounding sedimentary layers left the magma tower exposed. The tower rises 867' from its base and stands 1267' above the Belle Fourche (pronounced Bell Foosh) River, which runs nearby.

Devils Tower is the name given to the tower by Col. Richard Dodge in 1875. Bear Lodge is one of many names given to the tower by Native Americans. According to Kiowa legend, the vertical marks on the sides of the tower were left by a bear trying to climb the tower while chasing seven sisters.

Devils Tower can be seen rising majestically from the landscape from several miles away. From the Visitor Center, there is a 1.3 mile trail around the base of the tower. This trail is not to be missed as it provides up-close views of the tower from all angles so you can see the changing shadow patterns on the vertical columns as you walk around the base.

 

We are pleased to announce that Margery was able to make the walk easily. Look Ma, no scooter and no walking poles!

The tower is popular with climbers; but since the tower is considered sacred to many Native American groups, climbers are asked to refrain from climbing during the month of June, which is traditionally a month of Native American ceremonies. The first ascent of the tower was made on July 4, 1893 by William Rogers and Willard Ripley. Paul is using one of the sight tubes to spot the remnants of their ladder on the side of the tower.

The photo below is a telephoto shot of the ladder, which is the thin, light line running down the center. It doesn't look like it would have even been sturdy enough when it was first built!

The site of Devils Tower National Monument also has a 40 acre prairie dog town. As you look out across the field, you can see dozens and dozens of prairie dogs popping up looking back at you. Of course, these cute little animals aren't dogs at all. They are rodents which are closely related to ground squirrels. They get their name from the barking-like warning sound they make.

This little fellow below walked right up to Paul. Seconds after the photo, with the sound of gravel crunching under Paul's shoe, the prairie dog took off like a shot.

After returning from Devils Tower, we took a drive down Spearfish Canyon, which runs south of Spearfish into the Black Hills National Forest. Spearfish Canyon was carved through three layers of rock by Spearfish Creek. The upper level is tan PahaSapa Limestone, the middle layer is mauve Engelwood Limestone, and the bottom is brownish Black Hills Sandstone. Unfortunately, it was late evening when we drove through the canyon so we didn't get to see the full colors. However, on the occasions when we rounded a bend where the sun was still shining on the rocks, the views were spectacular.

Spearfish is a pleasant town with an older, picturesque downtown and a more modern suburbs. The town is small and easy to get around. In this area rolling prairie ranch land meets the Black Hills, which provides some beautiful and diverse scenery. We needed to head on to Gillette for the Escapade, but the Spearfish area is definitely on our list for further exploration.