Staybridge Suites Sioux Falls

... a small beach and then a small marina with house boats and obviously some people using as permanent residence looks like a good life. Down past the boats to the boat club which had a great vantage point on the river with a nice lawn and outdoor eating it would have made a lovely place to stop for lunch but we had not enough time.

Back on the 90 and put the foot down for Sioux Falls. The highway flies with a 70 MPH speed limit but ...

... br> Across the river we came upon two extremely tanned women, dripping in silver jewelry. I was going to guess Ariz/New Mexico, turned out they were from El Cerrito, California. "Go and see the “Japanese Gardens” they insisted, which we did. They were actually pretty small, but it was good to lie down in the tall green grass and just breathe. This smaller park had picnic tables laden with food and people, both spread out on the table and down the lawn to the ...

Charlie and I began the drive through the Badlands with mouths gaping. How did anyone ever figure their way through this land. It must be full of skeletal remains. Well, turns out there were some to see. A wooden walk through a "fossil bed" appeared and we stopped. I expected to see fossils in the cracked dried mud, but they were encased in plastic topped boxes. Many signs warning "Rattlers" so we didn't step off .

The next ...

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

... we know that after a short while Angus had completed ALL the laundry, while Morgan and I watched a movie on the laptop. Oh how we love our little brother! By 10 pm that night the rain turned into an all out storm complete with thunder and lightning. But if there is one thing we have learned on this trip it has been how to handle thunder and lightning, so it wasn't a big deal for us.

... great to see buffalo at last after spending two days in Wyoming and South Dakota buffalo country.

In Hot Springs we toured an active archaeological dig, the Mammoth Site. This site was discovered by contractors in the 1970's. Apparently they uncovered what was an ancient sink hole that had been filled with warm waters during the last ice age. Both Columbian and Woolly Mammoths had roamed the area, and wandered into the water, but were unable to get out. So far they have ...

... a run for the car!

By the time we made it to the car not only did it look like we had just taken a shower in our clothes it was freezing cold!! We headed back to Pam & Matt's place and got warmed up & had a cup of tea before calling it a night! Well, we may not have made it to a baseball game, but at least we tried!

... through Jasper and Banff National Parks. These two parks comprise a crossing of the Rocky Mountains that isn't to be missed. I'll let the pictures speak for this area, but we'll definitely be back.

At nightfall we crossed back into the USA after the usual challenge/respond type questions at the border. We stayed at a nice Best Western in Great Falls after the full Motel 6 gave us a voucher.

== Day 4 ==
A full nights rest and ...

... Thats what I hope our trip will be like. Obviously without the death and sickness though. Unfortunately, just 4 short hours into our trip, we got the call from Bill that the river was closed due to wildfires. Does it seem strange to anyone else that a river, which is water, could be closed by a fire? Its like rock, paper, scissors right? Water beats fire, earth beats water, fire beats earth? Well ...

... river and the observation decks watching us, one guy was there with his wife and kids sitting talking to me as i climbed down and otoole lowered me my boat. the lower part was ~15 foot drop that, if you did it right, gave you enough speed to send you underwater for a while. we kept hiking back up with the boats and running it as everyone watched in awe. it seemed like they had never seen anything like it. the funny thing is there was a group ...