Heading Back South

We are done in North Dakota and now it is time for us to begin our journey home. So, today we head south, back into South Dakota. We left Bismarck around 6:00am and headed toward Pierre. We stopped once for coffee in the first town we came to after crossing back in to South Dakota - that was Herreid. And then it was on to Pierre.

We went straight to the South Dakota Capitol and found a place to park.

We walked around to the front of the building and took a few pictures and then we headed inside. As we entered the Capitol the first thing we noticed was the absence of security. No security gate, no security guard. We walked down a hall and found the Governor's Office. We went inside and got some information. They gave us a self guided tour book and told us that we could go anywhere in the building as long as the door was unlocked. I also got my Capitol Collection stamp.
Then we went exploring. The building was quiet. There were very few people moving around - I suppose everyone was in their offices working. The building was beautiful, both inside and out - exactly what a Capitol Building should be. A total contrast to the North Dakota Capitol. I really enjoyed visiting this building and it ranks high on the list of favorite Capitols.

After visiting the Capitol we decided to try for a letterbox. So we headed over to Riverside Cemetery to look for Gone Fishin' I by RIFamily. At first I thought the box was gone. It is magnetic and was stuck to an electrical box hidden by a juniper bush. The bush had been cut down and there was no box on the electrical box. But after looking through the stuff growing around the electrical box I found the letterbox hidden in the grass. I took it back to the car to stamp in. When I replaced it I found a spot where it was hidden and made a note and took pictures to send to the placer so she could update the clues. Now it was time to continue our drive.

We left Pierre and headed to Chamberlain.

In Chamberlain we filled the car with gas and found something to eat. Then we got onto I90 heading east and stopped at a rest area to see the Dignity Statue. We took pictures of the statue and admired the setting. There were great views of the Missouri River and with the impressive 40' statue it was an amazing setup. While we were there we also walked through a Lewis and Clark exhibit. Once that was all done we went out to look for a letterbox. With a little effort we found State Bird?? by mt walker. After stamping in and replacing the box we were on our way again.

A short distance east on I90 brought us to Mitchell.

So while we were in the area we decided to stop and see the Corn Palace. We found a place to park and then we walked around the outside of the building taking pictures of all the murals. They were actually working on some of them so we got to see how they do it. Then we went inside and looked at some of the exhibits, got some squished pennies and bought a few post cards. It was interesting if now just a little bit weird but now we can say "Been there, done that!" Time to move on!

We continued east on I90 and made our way to Sioux Falls - where we are spending the night. When we arrived in town we made our way to Falls Park to see the Falls. We walked around the falls and took pictures and enjoyed the park. Then we went up to the observation tower to get a different view.  We spent about 30 minutes at the park and then decided we needed to get something for dinner. After eating we made our way to the hotel and got settled. We had a long day but it was good - we had fun! Now we need rest so tomorrow we can make our way to Nebraska and Kansas.