This trip was actually a work trip, but I was there for 4 days and 3 nights, so I did have a little bit of downtime to do some exploring.
I stayed at a Homewood Suites by Hilton, and it was about 200 meters from Starbucks. I walked there the next morning braving the snow. Since it was snowing, I got my Christmas special drink which is peppermint mocha latte with almond milk, and it was delicious per usual.
In between events I had time to explore downtown Sioux Falls and we went to Falls Park. There is also a visitors’ center and museum/giftshop however I did not have the opportunity to go in because it was closed for the day already. I am what some would call a waterfall chaser and if I see a trail or park has a waterfall, I have to go see it. There were multiple waterfalls at this park. They were all frozen almost completely solid and was incredible to see the giant icicles. Despite there being quite a bit of snow and a frozen waterfall, it didn’t feel 15 degrees. We walked all around the park and up and down the bridges and pathways that followed the river. We spent about an hour there and enjoyed every minute of it.
South Dakota is technically considered the Midwest but once you are there it definitely feels like you are out west because everything is so spread out. I ate supper in Brookings, South Dakota which is about an hour from Sioux Falls at La Cantina. The food was great, and I met up with some friends from work. I single handedly ate probably 5 baskets of chips and salsa.
While there we also went to Dave and Busters. As everyone says it’s Chuck E Cheese for adults. The food was great we had about, an hour wait for our table and took the opportunity to played arcade games while waiting. The smash the plate game was my favorite but as a millennial the Dance Dance Revolution was calling my name. I was such a fan of that game when I was a kid. I went into that game with such confidence only to find out I was severely out of practice. We finally were called to grab our seat and order. I got the crispy chicken cobb salad as a wrap and then somehow also got a crispy chicken cobb salad as a side and had so much food. Not to mention the people I was with ordered appetizers and sides, and we were all sharing. Everything was great. Something important to know when you visit the upper Midwest, west or northwest. You will most likely not be able to find or order sweet tea. I would say about 90% of the restaurants only have unsweetened tea.
Some of us had a late flight out of Sioux Falls back home, so we had the entire day to explore. First, we stopped at Starbucks obviously. I got a honey almond cold brew it wasn’t my favorite, but I wanted to try something different. After that we headed to Palisades State Park in Garretson, South Dakota. We got there and there were tiny cabins to rent and on the decks of the cabins that overlooked large cliffs and a river. The views were gorgeous especially with the snow coming down. The sad detail of this stop was that we did not pack appropriately for a hiking trip we packed for a work trip. This meant we did not pack snowshoes or even just waterproof boots of any kind. If there had been many people, there and the snow was packed it would have been fine, but the snow was fluffy, and I sunk as soon as I stepped out of the car. We walked around a little but did not do any full trails. We did not spend too much time here and would love to come back when we are either dressed for the occasion or when it is not snowy.
We hopped back in the car and headed to another park called Split Rock Park. This was a little tricky to find. There was a gate blocking the driving entrance, but you see tracks where many had walked in. We drove through this very small town walked into maybe the world’s smallest grocery store and asked if the park was closed and if they knew if it would be okay if we walked in. They said it was fine to walk in on foot and the gate was just closed because of the snow and many people were getting their vehicles stuck. We parked down the street and walked through the gate and headed out on our snowy hike. This one was much easier because so many people had done this trail that the snow was really packed down. It was so packed we actually started jogging. About 3/4 of a mile in the snow got less compact and fluffier. During this time, it started snowing rather heavily. Two to 3 times I sank all the way up to my thigh in the snow, but we were already committed to this hike that I just went with it and had soaked pants, socks, and shoes. We hiked for about an hour and a half and got to a metal bridge that went over a small canyon. The canyon was probably 70-80ft to the bottom. I was slightly concerned to cross because the bridge was frozen and had snow on top and was going downhill with several frozen stairs. The view was so nice and it is so rare that I go hiking in the snow. I absolutely loved it. The trees blocked the wind, and the snow was gently falling all around. If we didn’t have an hour drive back to the airport I would have stayed longer and hiked further in, but we did need to eat still and catch our flight.
Upon arriving back to the car, I changed my socks and shoes and kept my wet pants on and just turned the heated seats on to dry myself off. On the way back we ran into a mini blizzard. I had to drive very slow and just kept watching for the double yellow lines so I could see I was still on the road. We made it to the airport and had to wait in line forever and only 30 minutes before our flight took off. I thought that was cutting it close until we sat on the plane for over an hour waiting for the wings to be de-frosted and was sure we were going to miss our connecting flight. We finally took off and had a short flight to Minneapolis and had already prepared to dart out of the plane. When it landed the stewardess said, “Everyone flying to Amsterdam get off first.” then listed everyone else’s destinations in the order they could get off the plane. We were the very last! We finally were permitted to exit and ran to our gate. We made it! I watched several episodes of The Chosen on the way home and am totally hooked! We made it back safely and was glad to be home.
Audrey Hikes a Lot 