Our first day of vacation in South Dakota started off with a trip to the State Penitentiary. We left home on Tuesday afternoon and drove until Sioux Falls, SD. We stayed there overnight and decided to start the morning off on Wednesday with Falls Park in Sioux Falls. We let our Garmin show us the way and we ended up with a closed road. We thought we were almost there because a signed with an arrow stated "Falls Park." There were a bunch of cars parked by the closed road so we came to the conclusion that everyone going to the Park must have just parked on this road before the road closed. We weren't sure what to do since we were actually at the State Penitentiary and it seemed odd, but we just shrugged our shoulders and thought it must be right. Well...
As we continued to walk down this road we started to get the feeling that no one else took this route, plus we couldn't see any falls or any park around either. So...
We just kept going anyways!
It seemed like the right thing to do. We kept saying that we were tourists so we can be ignorant, right?! However, I did have to comment on Chadd's choice of shirt color that morning...jumpsuit orange!
I'm not going to lie and say I didn't start to get a little concerned when I saw this sign...
And this is the kind of buildings we were walking by. For some reason, it just didn't feel right. Finally we got down the street a couple more blocks and found some men hanging outside their homes that didn't look much better than the one pictured here. We asked them if Falls Park was around here. They pointed up the street and said, "Yeah, about 8 blocks that way." So, we just kept on going!
WE FOUND THE PARK!!! Determination paid off!
And the park and the falls were beautiful. Looking on the bright side we got our exercise that day!
We are standing on the observation tower at Falls Park and as you can see, that huge building on top of the hill...well, that's the Penitentiary, and that's where our car is parked!!!
Here's the beautiful Falls Park from the observation tower.
Here we are with the buffalo statues right outside of the restaurant Al's Oasis we stopped to have lunch that day. We were a little concerned when a tour bus piled into the restaurant ahead of us, but it was fast service despite the crowds!
This is the way Chadd sees the world. His idea to take the picture of the Al's Oasis from underneath a buffalo.
The buffalo!
Our next stop was Wall Drug. You've all seen the famous Wall Drug bumper stickers. I saw one on a van right before we left for vacation.
Here's the standard "Sit with the statue" picture! Chadd was jealous because I had my hand on his knee...ok, not really!
Christopher loved the statues. He liked to touch them. Chadd too!
This is Chadd devouring his first ever "buffalo hotdog!" Mmm, mmmm.
Ashly tried it too. They both said it tasted just like a regular hotdog.
Chadd and his statue lady friend. This is what he was doing while I was busy changing a dirty diaper. Jeez, I can't leave him alone for one minute!!!
This is the famous Jackolope and all it's got to offer. Boy, it sure was worth the drive just to see the jackolope!
Here's the four of us!
There were lots of fun little rides for Christopher to enjoy. And he did enjoy them!
The famous Wall Drug...where the ice water is free!
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