After an unbearably hot night sleeping in the RV, worried about Sheila getting heatstroke, our first stop was Walmart and Home Depot to find some insulation for the RV, which we ended up getting at Home Depot. We measured all our windows, bought a roll of insulation, and cut it up to fit each window, including the one letting light in from the side door. It's attached with painter's tape so we can easily put it up and take it down, and it seemed to help in preventing some of the heat from coming in.
Today is also apparently the last day of the heatwave that has wreaked havoc around this part of the country, and we'll be happy to have the respite after 4 consecutive days of scorching heat.
SculptureWalk
It seems that South Dakota loves their sculptures. Just like in Rapid City, Sioux Falls is decorated with various sculptures, starting with the Paladino Hohm Sculpture Garden, which had a pretty water fountain, and a handful of sculptures, including one of beautiful stained glass-style windows. There were also a few native South Dakotan plants and grasses, which Sheila enjoyed walking into (she absolutely loves tall grass, and will go out of her way to trample right through it).
Further along there's the various art that makes up SculptureWalk, which has 80 sculptures appearing mostly along Phillips Avenue. There's a lot of animal sculptures--including a lion, bear, and even an octopus and jellyfish--but also more abstract art decorating the streets. It was so hot that we stayed on the shady side of the road, bought ourselves a smoothie, and popped into The Spice and Tea Exchange (well, the last one is because Lisette loves spices and tea) and ended up buying a small fancy packet of wild blueberry monk fruit sweetener.
The Falls of Sioux Falls
Did we say that it was hot? Michael was the only one who braved a walk to Falls Park, home of the waterfall on the Big Sioux River. It was a bit of a trek to see the falls from the parking lot, and certainly on more pleasant days, we'd imagine that there'd be a lot of people hanging out at the park, grabbing a bite at the cafe, and wandering around the playgrounds and sculptures here. Not so much today, though, when people are trying to stay cool in the heat!
As we left Sioux Falls, we drove past our last sculpture sighting: a Big Cow that was once part of the Land O'Lakes plant, an American dairy company, followed by a gas station called Kum & Go. Okay, so we looked it up and the name is a play on the phrase "come and go" using the first initials of the founders, William A. Krause and Tony S. Gentle. That brand name would definitely be made fun of in Australia, it sounds like an innuendo!
Still Far to Go
Next stop: North Dakota, state #14 on this trip! The drive up was about 2.5 hours, and it was full of... not much! A straight highway, with lots and lots of agriculture. Even the billboards were advertising agriculture products, or Christian messages. Lots of fields growing crops, herds of cows trying to stay cool, and at one point, giant windmills for renewable energy.
The wind had been picking up steadily, and our RV was battling the gusts as they grew stronger. While we were cool in the RV with the air conditioning on, it was still a scorcher outside, with temperatures similar to yesterday, hovering at around 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).
Finally we saw the state sign welcoming us to North Dakota, but we couldn't stop and take a photo as it was next to the highway with nowhere to park. Instead, we ended up veering into our first stop across the state border, at Dakota Magic Casino & Hotel. While it was good to stretch our legs and stay cool inside there, the casino stank of cigarette smoke, so we didn't stay in there for much longer than a bathroom break and a free drink at the beverage station.
We were trying to figure out, however, if we should stay in the area, as there was a weather alert for tornadoes in the area. A couple of days ago there had been tornadoes in the northern part of North Dakota, and the video footage was intense: huge tornadoes captured on film, and 3 people dying. We definitely didn't want to get caught in that! Fortunately, the tornado warning was at a 2, and we decided to continue driving until we arrived at Fargo in North Dakota.
We parked near the public library in Fargo and fortunately, the wind had died down and temperatures were cooling, with the promise of a much cooler day tomorrow. After 4 days of intense heat, we were relieved to welcome the cooler weather!
Route Map
