Out West 2016 - Day 3

May 29, 2016 (Sunday)

Waterfall at Pipestone National Monument

The first stop for the day was Pipestone National Monument ($3/person or free with annual pass). We watched the 22-minute film (interesting) and checked out the museum exhibits in the visitor center. American Indians have quarried the red pipestone found at this site for many generations, per the video it looks like very hard work to get to the correct stone.  The Indians use the pipestone to carve it into pipes which they use for prayer. It is believed that the pipe’s smoke carries one’s prayer to the Great Spirit. There was a nice 3/4 mile trail to enjoy that took you around to some quarries and a very nice waterfall. Allow an hour or two to really check the place out.

Sioux Falls

We stopped at Sioux Falls for a picnic lunch at Falls Park. The park was very beautiful and would highly recommend stopping to check it out. Parking was a little tough near the top of the falls area, but there appeared to be parking available farther downstream.

Continuing west, we stopped in Mitchell, SD to visit the Corn Palace. The exterior is all decked out in corn art – it is actually pretty amazing.  Each year the theme changes – 2016 was the “Rock of Ages”. There is not a lot inside to see other than souvenir stuff to purchase. There was also information on the inside talking about how much it cost to replace the murals - $130,000 per year! Also, it said that twelve different colors of corn are used and they are cut in half lengthwise and then nailed into place.

Corn Palace

Pierre Capital Building

 Next stop, the capitol of South Dakota - Pierre. The capital was constructed between 1905 and 1910 for about $1,000,000. A large addition was added in 1921. Another lovely capital with a lake and nice memorials. We had dinner at one of the TripAdvisor recommendations – Big Tom’s Diner.  It was decent and quite cheap. For dessert, we found a little ice cream place called the Cool Spot. We stayed at the Quality Inn in Pierre.