Garretson South Dakota

 Garretson, South Dakota is famous as being the location of a daring escape by Jesse James following a failed bank robbery in 1876. Legend has it, that in order to escape the pursuing posse, James' horse jumped the 18-foot chasm known as Devil's Gulch. Now there are two city parks where you can hike and explore the cliffs around Split Rock Creek. Even on a summer Saturday, both parks were quiet and not crowded at all. Just the way we like it.

We first hiked Devil's Gulch Park where legend says the famous escape happened...

Yeah, I don't think any horse jumped that gap

Next was the Split Rock Dam Park where you can take pontoon boat tours to see the cave where the James gang held up while waiting for the law to give up the chase...

Sioux Falls South Dakota

 Chris had the opportunity to take a long weekend, so we took advantage of it by packing up the van and driving south. Our ultimate goal was Omaha, Nebraska but we make a pitstop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on the way. 

The weather didn't look promising on our first day, so we made the decision to stay in town and do a bit of exploring...

Sioux Falls is famous for their falls. Our lunch stop wasn't great but the park downtown didn't fail to disappoint! 

The view from the observation tower was totally worth the climb up the stairs!

Like all rivers in the Midwest, this one was disgusting and muddy! Yuck!

There was still a bit of ruins from the old flour mill that was on the site...

Before we got too far away, we walked over to the bridge so we could see the Arc of Dreams...

Then we grabbed a flight of beer and some cookies from a local bakery before we walked up the hill to the Cathedral of St. Joseph...

But for dinner we went to The Barrel House for some delicious half-priced cocktails, mac & cheese and chislic (a regional snack of deep-fried or grilled chunks of meat). Yum!

We got to the campground in time to set up, play some games, watch the fireflies and wonder if it is just too hot and humid in the Midwest for car camping... :/