South Dakota

We spent the last evening in Sioux City outside, sitting in the breeze as the sun was setting (8:45-9:15ish). I can't get over how late the suns sets here. On Thursday morning, we planned to get up and travel north to South Dakota. We didn't have to get up as early since it would be less than 2 hours away. A small storm came through after we fell asleep. Boy, the thunder sure does sound louder here too.

We left our spot at the Scenic Park RV Campground around 9AM this morning. We were only on the road for about 10 minutes before we crossed into South Dakota. It came so fast I didn't have the camera ready to catch the welcome sign. So I took some pics of roadside attractions instead.

We first came to Vermillion. We saw it on our map and wanted to drive through thinking it would be a small little town. We were surprised to discover it's home to the main campus of University of South Dakota (Go Yotes) and the National Music Museum. We drive around the town for a bit but didn't get out to explore. I hope we can come back through while in the area.

Daniel had been looking at areas on the Missouri River in SD as our "final" or most northern destination of this trip. He had 2 or 3 places in mind but finally settled on Yankton. After leaving Vermillion, we traveled a short distance further to Yankton. We had several campgrounds/RV parks picked out as possibilities (or so we thought), but once we pulled into the first one, we quickly realized that most of them were full time, seasonal campsites and they did not reserve for daily use. A nice lady working at the one we drove through explained to us that this area is pretty much the summer destination for most who live in the state, this is the largest recreational area on the river and a popular place to have for a "summer home". She also recommended that we try to get a reservation at the Lewis and Clark Recreation Campground. I called immediately and was able to secure a spot. We were only about 5 minutes away and thankfully they let us check in early. After we got set up, Amelia and I rode our bikes around to explore a little. This campground is huge with over 400 sites. It's beautiful here. It's like Guntersville Lake in that there's a dam here on the Missouri that created this Lewis and Clark Lake. We are looking forward to spending some time here for the weekend.

Not long after taking these pictures, some rainy weather moved into the area. We rode into town to do some laundry and make a grocery store stop. We also checked out a few thrift/antique stores before getting back to the camper. It's supposed to be stormy tonight and into the morning. Praying that we get through that ok.