SpringHill Suites Sioux Falls

... with 2 cappuccinos worst coffee so far. Its interesting the cost of Macca’s compared to the diners.

Then we went to Madison a beautiful university town on the lake. Full of students hurrying to attend lectures bikes, mopeds, pedestrians everywhere. Looks like a great town to go to college very picturesque.

We got a little bit lost getting out of Madison and ended up on a back road thru some small farms. We around a ...

LABOR DAY and people were taking time to enjoy an overcast day in Sioux Falls, Falls Park. Dozens of cyclists on the river bike path, dogs and kids running about. Charlie and I sat outside at the Falls Café and had a sandwich, sharing a table with a nice couple who had come to bicycle the whole path around downtown and back.
The Big Sioux River cascades down many stepped down Sioux quartzite layers. All over, the falls were peppered with people standing in the water ...

... we took, led straight to a herd of sheep out in the meadow, along the road and crossing the road. Several cars pulled up beside me as we furiously snapped photos.

Near the exit on the East side, I stopped at a "Original Homestead". Inside the store entrance, I bought a couple of souvenirs for my grand-daughters. (Ha, ha, now you'll have to keep guessing for weeks, girls!).

From Badlands to Sioux Falls was a long ...

A stop over in this small town after a long day.

We called into Cracker Barrel for a meal before heading for the Holiday Inn. This was the first time visiting Cracker Barrel despite our number of trips to the US in the past. Shame really as the meal was good. It's an early start tomorrow.

Chicago tomorrow

... scooped out as many leaves as she could. The rest we just ignored. The much needed swim however was short lived as the sky started becoming dark and it started to rain. After having showers and making dinner Morgan and I decided that we should go do laundry, while the other kids stayed and watched a movie. Angus came along shortly to help Morgan and i with the laundry, little ...

We started the day at Mount Rushmore. None of us had ever been there before. We used the audio tours again, and learned a great deal about the carvings, the presidents, the Black Hills and the Lakota people. It really is a special place, and we enjoyed the sculptures and hiking around through the park.

After Mt. Rushmore, we traveled through the Wind Cave National Park on our way to Hot Springs. We saw herds of buffalo and elk, and stopped for a close up look at both. It ...

... amp; drink once we had headed inside the gates we headed up to the 'party deck' to get some food & a drink!

Just as we did, the weather turned & in came the rain! It was torrential! The wind got up too!




It was soon obvious that we wouldn't get to see the baseball game & instead tried to ...

... park on the western edge of Minnesota (got to add another state to the visited list.) Then drove back towards Sioux Falls and saw Devils Gulch along the way. Got to Sioux Falls in time to visit Falls Park and see the nightly show they put on about the town history. It’s a laser light show were the light up the falls while going through the town history. Pretty cool.

... jacket was on! Adam is excited to get home and sleep in his own bed without being kicked in the night by Drew and woken up by Charlie & Jack earlier than he'd like (although they have slept in until about 7:30 everyday in every time zone, which has delighted Mike and Lisa!) The rest of us are feeling sad to be ending our journey. We all have different favorites and ...

Today is Sunday Oct 9th. I just finished email my "lifeline" Justin in Nicaragua. It was funny saying to him I will email him one more time next week before we take off. He has been such a big help. I am feeling confident about this trip. I have done my research and feel I have some knowledge (even though limited) about what to expect. I have my travel book photocopied, immunizations, passport, and flipflops for the shower. What more could one want. 13 days and counting.