Sioux Falls is an oasis in the cornfields. Downtown has a few big buildings, a lot of cute shops and sidewalk cafes, and an spectacular park with a big pink waterfall made out of Sioux Quartz.
p.s. This isn't my picture, I borrowed it from waymarking.com. (I have replaced the borrowed pic with ones i took.-andrea) Our friend Levi told us that the Big Sioux River flooded so high this spring that water covered almost all of the exposed rocks. This river has a history of killing boaters in the rainy season.
Ira and Levi by falls.
Not far from the park is an old penitentiary. It was built from the pink quartz by forced manual labor and is located across the valley from a massive stockyard so that the smell of blood is frequently on the wind.
It was a grueling ride to Mitchell the next day, despite leaving town at six in the morning. Wind was blowing at twenty mph, gusting to thirty. Locals have told us that it gets worse. There are huge semi trucks that each haul two trailers, and they turbulate the air so powerfully when they fly by that it can blow a bike off of the road. I hate those things.
We are trying to reach the Missouri River tomorrow.
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