South Dakota: Travelogue

6/09
We started out later than we wanted, and the DVD player didn't seem to want to work for us at first. It was drizzly and grey as we left. Around Mooreton, we got off the Interstate and stayed only on highways.

We stopped in Wyndmere around 10:30am. The weather got better as we headed south. We also started to see more buffalo. We stopped in Ellendale for lunch at a little bistro-style place downtown called Serenita. Even the bathrooms were swanky (table-top fountain in the men's room--that's class!). Other than this place, Ellendale seemed like a dying small town with hardly anyone out and about.

We got into Aberdeen around 2pm. While waiting for Isabella to wake up, we drove around downtown. I was impressed by how old the area looked while still being maintained.

As soon as Isabella woke up, we headed for Storybook Land, and it was very fun! We got to take a little train around the entire grounds, then got to see a big castle, ride a carousel and a twisty balloon-type ride. There was also a petting zoo and a Wizard of Oz themed gift shop (looked like Dorothy's Kansas house) with a back door that led you through a tornado-to-Oz experience. It was pretty cool.

It took a bit of effort to find our campsite, and a tremendous amount of effort to get the fire lit in the wind that pounded us. We had us some burgers & s'more's, though. Unfortunately, I put out the fire as Karissa was getting stuff out of the van, so the smoke got inside and made the van and us reek of smoke the ENTIRE vacation. Oops.

6/10

Morning was chilly, but the weather was nicer. We stopped in to see the Dacotah Prairie Museum downtown, plus the Riverside Memorial Cemetery (where the oldest residents were buried) before leaving Aberdeen. We drove through a lot of small towns along the way, saw things like a prehistoric rock in Tulare, and massive in-town highway contruction in Wolsey.

We made it to Mitchell around 2pm. The first place we went was the Prehistoric Indian Village/Archeodome, where were we got to see the site currently being worked by archaeologists, Isabella got to dig for plastic bones, and I got to show her (clumsily) how to use an atl atl.

We stopped at an antique mall which didn't have much, then checked out the Corn Palace, before eating at Jackpot Gamblin', where Isabella asked the young waitress what happened to her eye (she was in an accident which resulted in her eye being injured).

Afterward, we made our way to Sioux Falls, stopping along the way at a sculpture park. That was awesome. A lot of the sculptures were great, but the bull's head was just nuts. It was guarded by 4 mino-sentries, and when you looked into the back of the head, you found sculpted bats and little dragons hanging around a crucified demon. I want that bull head & his sentries in my backyard!

I don't remember what time we got into Siuox Falls, but I was happy to find our motel room.

6/11

It was raining today. We found our way to the Washington Pavilion, where Isabella got to see a T-Rex skeleton, play with educational water and air eshibits, and she and I piloted a space shuttle into the ground (we're not pilots, so sue us).

After the museum, we ate downtown at the Phillips Avenue Diner, which was awesome! It was busy, though, so it took a while to get back out.

After a break & a nap, we took Isabella to the Sertoma Butterfly House. It's like a giant greenhouse with tons of butterflies just flittering around in your face and eating fruit and all that.

Later on, we tried to find a Middle-Eastern restaurant, but it vanished, so we settled for Famous Dave's, which was just as good.