VICTORY TOUR..Sioux Falls, SD, part 2

It would have been faster for us to go from St. Joe to Sioux Falls via the Pony Express! Mother Nature and the Missouri River thumbed their noses at the Corps of Engineers and had their way with hundreds of thousands of acres of prime farmland north of St. Joe. We saw farm after farm flooded and nice farm houses marooned in a sea of water.

Today was a first, we drove an interstate highway that had been sandbagged to keep the water from the roadway. There were portions where that worked, but there were long stretches of I29 that were innundated. We ran into a detour shortly after we left St. Joe, and given the scarcity of roads in this area it turned into a huge ordeal. We made a large horseshoe shaped detour, driving for miles on back country two laned roads. And even after we regained I29 we ran into serious construction that had traffic down to two lanes and 55mph. We traveled more than 60 extra miles and probably two extra hours to get to Sioux Falls.

The National Guard was everywhere, guarding roads that were closed to keep fools from wandering down and being swept away.

We pulled into a gas station and were curious about the crowd at the station across the road. Strangely, there was a duck boat at the station where we were refueling. I thought maybe they were taking sightseeing tours of the flood, but nope, it was the ingenious indian casino at work.

Their casino was on the river and all access but water had been flooded, so they brought in duck boats to ferry gamblers and keep those one armed bandits at work.

We have been playing tag all day with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Lots of signs and memorial spots. We passed Floyds Bluff, which must be the spot where Sgt. Floyd, the only member of the expedition to lose his life, died of an attack of appendicitis. The obelisk pictured is the memorial to him.

The names of some of these towns are very evocative. How about Council Bluffs? Can't you just picture a group of indians and white men meeting there for a pow wow on the high bluffs overlooking the Missouri?

Tomorrow we have a long drive to Custer State Park where we'll stay for two nights. We think we will be in for a bit of rain tomorrow. Time for bed..see you tomorrow!!