June 13 Sioux Falls South Dakota

Sioux Falls South Dakota is a typical American city that has one of the neatest parks we have ever seen. One of the things that makes this park so interesting is the number of families and individuals who take advantage of it's beauty and facilities. This park was aptly named Falls Park.

The falls at Falls Park, though not very high as waterfalls go, are quite spectacular due to the rushing water and the various sloughs that are here.

It was nice seeing so many families visiting the falls and just enjoying nature in some of it's awesome beauty and power.

The people in this photo give you an idea of the size of the falls. Check out the women in the top right sitting on a rock.

This photo gives a pretty good overview of what the falls and park are like. Behind me is grassy scene and the ruins pictured below

These are the ruins of the 1881 Queen City (Sioux Falls) Flour Mill which was billed as the largest flour mill in the Midwest, at that time. The mill building was seven stories high, and  there were several smaller out buildings. It must have been a very impressive sight for 1881. There is bad news to the story however since the mill was only in business for two years. The reason for the failure was lack of sufficient water and wheat. It would be interesting to see the climate data for that period.

                                                     This gives another overview of the park and some of the facilities. Note the viewing tower in the background.

 

 

People were fishing downstream of the falls and the downstream area was very popular for people just sitting and enjoying the mild weather and the areas beauty.

 

I bet he had to bait her hook as well.

Back Underway to Alaska

Our big dog Newton had a bout of pancreatitous so we stayed in Oak Grove Missouri for five nights and four days. The very nice folks at the KOA referred us to Crain Veterinary Clinic in Grain Valley, Missouri and this turned out to be an outstanding choice. We left this morning, Friday the 13th headed for Sioux Falls, South Dakota and had an absolutely beautiful day to travel.

Pat and I took off to tour the town and take in the local sights. The USS South Dakota Memorial is about what you would expect a memorial to a WW II battleship to look like far inland. Hmmmm, wonder why they named a battleship after a state as far inland as South Dakota? There was an exhibition of Native American art in town but the venue was closed. The building it was in was quite interesting and we would have liked to stay one more day, but decided against it.

In 1880 the falls were the location of a huge flour mill that only stayed open for two years since there wasn't enough water or wheat for the mill to operate.

You can get a feel for the size of the falls by comparing the size of the people around the falls. This place was really utilized by the people in this area. The park was simply lovely and was a great place to take the kids for an outing and this Friday afternoon apparently was a good time to get out of the house.



These folks were fishing downstream of the falls. Notice who was having to get the hook out of the fish. Bet he had to bait the hook, as well.