Day 10

Day 10: Wednesday, July 1st 2009

Sioux Falls, SD to Interior, SD

After packing up and checking out of the Holiday Inn at City Center in the middle of Downtown Sioux Falls, Tara and I walked the path along the Big Sioux River to the city's namesake. The falls were fantastic, winding through quartzite

with numerous drops, some as large 15+ feet,

and eddies galore. We saw ducks, geese, rabbits, squirrels and a prairie dog along with a large number of locals enjoying the park that the city has built around the falls. We walked back downtown and noticed the numerous sculptures all around. Sioux Falls had a "sculpture-fest" in 2005 as part of a revitalization effort and each piece remains well maintained. We continued along Phillips Avenue until we reached an eponymously named Diner, where we enjoyed an early lunch instead of a late breakfast. Following our meal we purchased way too many postcards and headed out to the Badlands National Park.

The drive from Sioux Falls to Rapid City is one that I have made many times while living in Rapid. One of my all time favorite locations along the drive is the scenic view at the rest stop in Chamberlain, SD looking down upon the Missouri River from the East,

then stopping in town for an A&W Root Beer Float. Since Erie, PA, Tara and I have passed countless A&W restaurants, but we have always driven by with the knowledge that we would stop at the one in Chamberlain. The one in Chamberlain is closed.

We trudged on, spirits low, until we reached the Badlands National Park. We purchased the yearly pass for all National Parks since we hope to visit close to a dozen Parks this trip alone. The scarred landscape, with its sharp crags and peaks, and its layers of mulicolored sediments is difficult to honor with words alone.

The storms that we were predicted never came to fruition above us, but dark clouds were all around, lending an incredible backdrop to the dozens of pictures we took.

We traveled south from the park in search of our Budget Host Motel in Interior, SD. The room is straight out of "My Name is Earl" minus the TV, but they have a nice little general store and serve up all you can eat stew for dinner and all you can eat pancakes for breakfast, both for a minuscule price. A feral cat and a fat toad came by for a visit as we sat in the plastic patio seats outside our room reading and watching the sunset.

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