A Serendipitous Vacation

I love a serendipitous discovery! It’s so exciting to pick out an unfamiliar book that turns out to be such a good read that I can’t put it down. I just had a serendipitous experience while visiting Sioux Falls, South Dakota. JC and I went to visit his sister, LaVerna and her husband, Howard, who had recently relocated there. JC’s cousin, Mary and her husband, Bob had moved to Sioux Falls a few years ago and LaVerna and Howard visited them, fell in love with the area, and chose to move there as well.

I remember wondering why JC’s family members had chosen to move to Sioux Falls. We have traveled to Western South Dakota to see the Badlands, the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore so my image of Sioux Falls was biased. I had visions of a small, western town filled with trucks, farmers, and ranchers (not being critical here). I was so wrong. Sioux Falls is a mid-western town of 180,000. It is the largest town in South Dakota. Larger than the capital, Pierre, which they pronounce Pier not Pea Air, as I had mistakenly pronounced all my life when reciting the states and capitals.

But I digress – Sioux Falls is filled with fun things to see and do. First thing to see is Falls Park where the Big Sioux River cascades over red quartz (jasper). The park is gorgeous and the first night there I commented that I would imagine there are lots of senior pictures, engagement and wedding pictures were taken there. That thought was confirmed a couple of days later when we were there and saw a bride and groom taking their place in front of the falls for pictures. I’m “birdwaking” again, back to my story. There is a laser light show each night at 9:30 with narration that tells the history of Sioux Falls. I was so impressed looking around at all the families sitting on blankets or in lawn chairs watching the show. There were people just out walking the park and enjoying the nice weather. I learned later that Sioux Falls has around 20 parks. We drove by several and they were all well-kept, beautiful parks and there were always families and couples picnicking or walking. There is a park with an amphitheater where plays and music events are held.

There are pieces of sculpture all around the city. They are made my local artists and placed on big blocks of red quartz. Residents vote on the best sculpture and then the city buys them and places them in their permanent collection. Downtown Sioux Falls is bustling at night with people eating and drinking at outdoor cafes and bistros. The downtown area has been well maintained. There are no boarded up buildings or structures left to ruin. The flowers and grass are beautiful - I suppose because they don’t get fried by the hot sun. There are several museums to visit and several colleges in town. There was even an Andy Warhol exhibit going on at a pavilion. Every day there are activities. No one should be bored there.

There is a small lake, called Catfish Bay, where nightly water shows are performed and in the winter you can take advantage of Great Bear Snow Park to ski, snow board and tube. Winter doesn’t slow the people of Sioux Falls – they just transition from summer sports to winter sports. While visiting a motorcycle shop I asked why all the motorcycle helmets were on sale and the sales person told me that it was time to clear the shelves to put out the snow machine helmets. “Winter is just around the corner,” she said. We were also surprised to learn that you can drive four-wheelers on the roads along with the cars. And everywhere we went people would say “it sure is a scorcher out today.” (It was in the low 80s). Of course when it’s 30 below in the winter they are comfortable and I would be trying to get warm.

There are a couple of wineries in the area which surprised me. Living in Missouri I’m used to all the grape varieties and I hadn’t seen any vineyards. While grocery shopping at the local HyVee I checked out the South Dakota wine selection. The wines are made from elderberry, chokeberry, strawberries, rhubarb and pears. We attended a wine tasting at the Straw Bale winery and tasted the local wines. I guess my palette isn’t sophisticated enough to enjoy the non-grape varieties, but it was a fun experience.

Sioux Falls has lots of flea markets, antique stores and goodwill type stores. Some are neat and orderly and some are so full you can barely move. JC and I love to antique so we enjoyed digging for great finds. I found a piece of Metroiska (Russian nesting dolls), that I didn’t have in my collection and we also added a small wooden boat with oars and great detail to our collection of little canoes and boats. The good will stores turned up a brand new with tags Stearns life jacket and denim jacket for me. We didn’t have time to go to all the flea markets and I was in sensory overload by the end of our stay anyway.

Sioux Falls is about 50 miles from Mitchell, the home of the Corn Palace. This is a must see for anyone visiting the area. The Palace is changed each year and all the design is made completely of corn. It is amazing to think that all the beautiful pictures are corn cobs…and speaking of corn, we went to the Sioux Falls Farmers Market. It was filled with all kinds of produce, some things I had never seen before, baked goods, flowers, meats and even a coffee booth.

I could go on and on. ..but if you get the chance to visit Sioux Falls it would be worth your time. The winters are harsh and I don’t know that I would be able to live there but my hat is off to those who do. My image of the dusty little western town was shattered and replaced with a clean, culturally diverse, pride filled city. Just like that good book that I can’t put down, I’m not “through with” Sioux Falls. There is still so much left for me to see and experience, so for now I will just mark the page and come back when I have more time.

A Serendipitous Vacation

I love a serendipitous discovery! It’s so exciting to pick out an unfamiliar book that turns out to be such a good read that I can’t put it down. I just had a serendipitous experience while visiting Sioux Falls, South Dakota. JC and I went to visit his sister, LaVerna and her husband, Howard, who had recently relocated there. JC’s cousin, Mary and her husband, Bob had moved to Sioux Falls a few years ago and LaVerna and Howard visited them, fell in love with the area, and chose to move there as well.

I remember wondering why JC’s family members had chosen to move to Sioux Falls. We have traveled to Western South Dakota to see the Badlands, the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore so my image of Sioux Falls was biased. I had visions of a small, western town filled with trucks, farmers, and ranchers (not being critical here). I was so wrong. Sioux Falls is a mid-western town of 180,000. It is the largest town in South Dakota. Larger than the capital, Pierre, which they pronounce Pier not Pea Air, as I had mistakenly pronounced all my life when reciting the states and capitals.

But I digress – Sioux Falls is filled with fun things to see and do. First thing to see is Falls Park where the Big Sioux River cascades over red quartz (jasper). The park is gorgeous and the first night there I commented that I would imagine there are lots of senior pictures, engagement and wedding pictures were taken there. That thought was confirmed a couple of days later when we were there and saw a bride and groom taking their place in front of the falls for pictures. I’m “birdwaking” again, back to my story. There is a laser light show each night at 9:30 with narration that tells the history of Sioux Falls. I was so impressed looking around at all the families sitting on blankets or in lawn chairs watching the show. There were people just out walking the park and enjoying the nice weather. I learned later that Sioux Falls has around 20 parks. We drove by several and they were all well-kept, beautiful parks and there were always families and couples picnicking or walking. There is a park with an amphitheater where plays and music events are held.

There are pieces of sculpture all around the city. They are made my local artists and placed on big blocks of red quartz. Residents vote on the best sculpture and then the city buys them and places them in their permanent collection. Downtown Sioux Falls is bustling at night with people eating and drinking at outdoor cafes and bistros. The downtown area has been well maintained. There are no boarded up buildings or structures left to ruin. The flowers and grass are beautiful - I suppose because they don’t get fried by the hot sun. There are several museums to visit and several colleges in town. There was even an Andy Warhol exhibit going on at a pavilion. Every day there are activities. No one should be bored there.

There is a small lake, called Catfish Bay, where nightly water shows are performed and in the winter you can take advantage of Great Bear Snow Park to ski, snow board and tube. Winter doesn’t slow the people of Sioux Falls – they just transition from summer sports to winter sports. While visiting a motorcycle shop I asked why all the motorcycle helmets were on sale and the sales person told me that it was time to clear the shelves to put out the snow machine helmets. “Winter is just around the corner,” she said. We were also surprised to learn that you can drive four-wheelers on the roads along with the cars. And everywhere we went people would say “it sure is a scorcher out today.” (It was in the low 80s). Of course when it’s 30 below in the winter they are comfortable and I would be trying to get warm.

There are a couple of wineries in the area which surprised me. Living in Missouri I’m used to all the grape varieties and I hadn’t seen any vineyards. While grocery shopping at the local HyVee I checked out the local wine selection. The wines are made from elderberry, chokeberry, strawberries, rhubarb and pears. We attended a wine tasting at the Straw Bale winery and tasted the local wines. I guess my palette isn’t sophisticated enough to enjoy the non-grape varieties, but it was a fun experience.

Sioux Falls has lots of flea markets, antique stores and goodwill type stores. Some of neat and orderly and some are so full you can barely move. JC and I love to antique so we enjoyed digging for great finds. I found a piece of Metroiska (Russian nesting dolls), that I didn’t have in my collection and we also added a small wooden boat with oars and great detail to our collection of little canoes and boats. The good will stores turned up a brand new with tags Stearns life jacket and denim jacket for me. We didn’t have time to go to all the flea markets and I was in sensory overload by the end of our stay anyway.

Sioux Falls is about 50 miles from Mitchell, the home of the Corn Palace. This is a must see for anyone visiting the area. The Palace is changed each year and all the design is made completely of corn. It is amazing to think that all the beautiful pictures are corn cobs…and speaking of corn. We went to the Sioux Falls Farmers Market. It was filled with all kinds of produce, some things I had never seen before, baked goods, flowers, meats and even a coffee booth.

I could go on and on. ..but if you get the chance to visit Sioux Falls it would be worth your time. The winters are harsh and I don’t know that I would be able to live there but my hat is off to those who do. My image of the dusty little western town was shattered and replaced with a clean, culturally diverse, pride filled city. Just like that good book that I can’t put down, I’m not “through with” Sioux Falls. There is still so much left for me to see and experience, so far now I will just mark the page and come back when I have more time.

The Yearly Vacation

It's that time again - the yearly vacation. Time to pack, plan the route, service the car..... We never sleep well the night before we leave so we usually get up in the wee morning hours and take off on another big adventure.

This year we're headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We've been to western South Dakota to Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands (in the days before GPS and we got lost) but we've never been to eastern South Dakota. JC's sister, LaVerna and husband Howard, recently relocated there so I figured we should go check out this area.

This was my year to pick where we vacation. This is the situation; I love the cold climates and JC loves the hot, sunny areas. To make things fair we alternate years. Last year we went to Amelia Island, Florida. The Gulf Oil spill had messed up his favorite Alabama beach so we headed to the Atlantic side of Florida. JC, the beach bum, was in heaven while I however was not. I like the beach but I don't like the sand that accumulates in everything, carting the big beach umbrella (with UV protection), the chairs, towels, cooler, etc. to the beach, watching for jelly fish and SHARKS! But, I can't complain - it was his year to pick.

Our first real vacation was to Wyoming to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. It was the first week of June and when we got there it had snowed heavily, some places got 3 feet. JC shivered and shook and was miserable for much of that trip. He loved the gorgeous scenery and the wildlife, but not the cold temps. But that trip was nothing compared to the summer we went to Alaska. This was a self guided tour that took us to the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean then back down to Denali. It sleeted and snowed (in mid July) while we were at the Arctic and a cold rain fell for much of the trip to Denali and Anchorage. Then another summer I dragged him to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where the temps dropped to the 40s and we had to buy sweatshirts and the mosquitoes had just hatched out so we had to buy insect repellent. There was a big fireplace in the lodge and JC huddled next to the fire while I happily checked out the scenery and took pictures.

So here we are again heading north but luckily for JC the heat wave has hit South Dakota so I doubt we will be buying sweatshirts. The thrill of the pre-Sturgis rally and has him all excited and he hasn't complained much about trip.

Next year I'm sure we will be headed south - I've already seen him on the internet checking out beach cottages on Dauphin Island. He is visualizing long, sunny days and I can feel the sand in the sheets already.