Winding Down

The Trip – Day 21

Murdo, South Dakota – Fairmont, Minnesota

Missouri River Sioux Falls

322 miles

Falls Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The Badlands of Day 20 was the last planned national park visit of our cross country trip. We were now headed to Minneapolis to visit our daughters and their husbands before heading home. (After driving over 6,000 miles, the 50 miles off the interstate made the Twin Cities “on our way”...) We had spent the night after the Badlands in the small town of Murdo, not quite halfway across South Dakota, a state we had never been in before this trip, so we looked out for surprise adventures that might appear in the rest of that state on Day 21. We found two.

South Dakota Rest Stop Teepee

Surprise Adventure #1 happened when we crossed the Missouri River a little more than halfway across the state and stopped at a nearby rest area in Chamberlain, South Dakota. As we had come to expect of the rest areas on this trip, it was rich with views, overlooks and, in this case, a museum. The Lewis and Clark expedition of the the early 1800s camped on the banks of the Missouri River here, so the rest area thought it a good place to have a Lewis and Clark interpretive center complete with a keelboat replica. There was an

outdoor balcony with panoramic views of the Missouri River, and for those willing to take a short hike on the rest area trails, closer views of the river. There was also a stylistic teepee, a reoccurring structure at most of the state's rest areas. We hiked a short trail, went to the interpretive center, went out on the balcony, and, of course, took many pictures.

View of Missouri River from rest stop trail

Train bridge over the Missouri River

Interstate I90 over the Missouri River

Surprise Adventure #2 happened when we looked for a place to stop for lunch. Sioux Falls seemed a likely town. (“Falls? Did someone say falls?”) Idaho Falls was named for the falls on its river. Sioux Falls must have some to have earned its name. After lunch we went in search of Falls Park on the Big Sioux River and found a wonderful park area with a five story viewing tower, a cafe, historical ruins of an old mill, and a beautiful series of falls. More natural in formation than the man-engineered falls in Idaho Falls, the Sioux Falls tumble over a series of reddish quartzite rocks, rocks one can climb out on to experience the falls from the midst of them. We climbed the tower, a substantial brick building with an information center and gift shop on the first floor. The view from the fifth floor of the tower gave a good view of the entire falls area, which extends almost a half mile. We had already eaten lunch, so we did not check out the matching brick cafe across the river from the tower, but from the look of the people eating on the outdoor patio, it was a popular spot for lunch on a weekday. The remains of the Queen Bee Flour Mill was

Inside of the remains of Queen Bee flour mill

nearby, a once seven-story brick mill built in the 1870s, now a remnant of walls, its interior space used as a summer music venue. The falls themselves were beautiful, not huge, but a series of cascades varied in direction and height, all spilling over reddish chunks of quartzite. We walked up and down both sides of the river and out on most of the rock outcroppings within the river itself, taking what would be the last excesses of photos for this trip.

Five story viewing tower at Falls Park

 

 

 

 

After a few hours, we hit the road again, traveling I 90 toward western Minnesota. Ninety miles later we were no longer traveling roads new to us but back in the familiar middle of the country. We stopped at a hotel in Fairmont, Minnesota, our last official night of our trip. Tomorrow we would be on all familiar roads, heading up toward Minneapolis for the July 4^th weekend. After not seeing real rain since Day 1 of our trip, we would also end up driving through severe storms and torrential pull-off-to-the-side-of-the-road downpours the next day. Welcome back to the midwest...

Seems like that guy singin' this song

Been doin' it for a long time

Is there anything (s)he knows

That (s)he ain't said?

 - Neil Young, Falling From Above, Greendale

Next and Final (I promise!):

(It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over...)

Notes to Myself

The Trip Recap