Sioux Falls Calls
We started our journey toward Yellowstone late Thursday afternoon because we wanted to make it to Sioux Falls on day 2, but more about that in a bit. We made it to Columbia, MO around midnight yesterday so that we would be ell on our way and able to stop at the Sioux City, IA Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center today before it closed. Columbia to Kansas City is fairly dull, but I did get a glimpse of the home field of my childhood favorite team, the Kansas City Royals.
We headed north on the very next exit toward Iowa. In NW Missouri just a few miles before crossing into Iowa, we happened to drive into Craig, Missouri, a very remote and tiny town built along the railway way back when. Only one paved road went into downtown where there was a row of brick buildings dating back 100 years it appeared. There was a bank and cafe and a post office which had already closed at 12:30PM on a Friday - perhaps it was lunchtime.
Craig was the town that time forgot, but there was something so appealing about that. Just a couple of miles from the completely unsuspecting drivers on the nearby interstate, it appeared to be a town of about 500 people if that. We talked with two older men sitting on a bench outside the cafe. They politely bantered with every person, young and old, that walked by, and the passersby bantered back. They were all friends, and these men had the time simply to sit and visit and talk with their neighbors. Judging by the nearby railroad tracks, I surmised, and they confirmed that the town had sprung up as an old railway town. I got the sense that most days were like this Friday afternoon, and I was envious of the way of life I assume the people of this town have . . . that they don't have to deal with the hustle and bustle and activity and stuff of the life we left behind . . . sitting at a desk until nearly evening most every day and then hustling home nearly every night to change clothes and go back out for the next activity.
We talked with the men about 2011 . . . the only other time in our lives that we had tried to pass through this area but were unable. They nodded knowingly before we even began to recount the Missouri River flood that covered much of the area in 2011 for 92 days. Downtown Craig was spared because of a levy, but the men mentioned how the standing water turned much of the nearby land and affected buildings into "stew." In 2011, we were on our way back from our only other foray into S Dakota and came to the end of southbound Interstate 29 as it plunged beneath the floodwaters in Iowa - long before we would have reached Craig - and the reason we sought a detour that took us on an entirely different route..
The men were articulate and much less country sounding than me and yet one of them mentioned how he had grown up just a couple hundred yards from where we were talking. The area was surrounded by lush green farmland for miles around. I told Donna that these were my kind of people . . . very friendly to us strangers and clearly having a deep sense of community - and no pretense at all. This rural flyover country is not the "deliverance" country that some of us from the south are all too familiar with. I'd love to try their way of life . . . at least for a while.
After Craig, we were back on the road - next stop Sioux City, Iowa. The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center on the Missouri River was an engaging place to get us in the right frame of mind to contemplate our westward travels and all that we will see and learn. As mentioned, we have done the S Dakota part of our journey once before, but the kids were much younger and have little to no memory of our prior travels depending on whom you ask. We also wanted to give Stephanie Bentley and her kids, our traveling companions and extended family for all practical purposes, a glimpse into our upcoming adventures.
I especially wanted to make it to Sioux Falls, SD tonight. It is a beautiful, vibrant city with a beautiful river and spectacular waterfalls cascading through town.
I vividly remembered the beauty of this town from our prior visit and wanted us all to experience it again. We took in the falls before dinner and then ate at a sidewalk cafe as motorcycles and a pedal tavern and all sorts of foot traffic passed by. It is a very vibrant and hipster kind of place for its size and seemingly for its location in flyover country. Even live music was echoing through the bustling streets of this town.
After our mostly northern journey today, we look forward to heading west tomorrow. Right now, we are about as in the middle of the country as you can get.
We'll head to the Badlands and then toward Rapid City (Hermosa) for 3 nights.
We headed north on the very next exit toward Iowa. In NW Missouri just a few miles before crossing into Iowa, we happened to drive into Craig, Missouri, a very remote and tiny town built along the railway way back when. Only one paved road went into downtown where there was a row of brick buildings dating back 100 years it appeared. There was a bank and cafe and a post office which had already closed at 12:30PM on a Friday - perhaps it was lunchtime.
Craig was the town that time forgot, but there was something so appealing about that. Just a couple of miles from the completely unsuspecting drivers on the nearby interstate, it appeared to be a town of about 500 people if that. We talked with two older men sitting on a bench outside the cafe. They politely bantered with every person, young and old, that walked by, and the passersby bantered back. They were all friends, and these men had the time simply to sit and visit and talk with their neighbors. Judging by the nearby railroad tracks, I surmised, and they confirmed that the town had sprung up as an old railway town. I got the sense that most days were like this Friday afternoon, and I was envious of the way of life I assume the people of this town have . . . that they don't have to deal with the hustle and bustle and activity and stuff of the life we left behind . . . sitting at a desk until nearly evening most every day and then hustling home nearly every night to change clothes and go back out for the next activity.
We talked with the men about 2011 . . . the only other time in our lives that we had tried to pass through this area but were unable. They nodded knowingly before we even began to recount the Missouri River flood that covered much of the area in 2011 for 92 days. Downtown Craig was spared because of a levy, but the men mentioned how the standing water turned much of the nearby land and affected buildings into "stew." In 2011, we were on our way back from our only other foray into S Dakota and came to the end of southbound Interstate 29 as it plunged beneath the floodwaters in Iowa - long before we would have reached Craig - and the reason we sought a detour that took us on an entirely different route..
The men were articulate and much less country sounding than me and yet one of them mentioned how he had grown up just a couple hundred yards from where we were talking. The area was surrounded by lush green farmland for miles around. I told Donna that these were my kind of people . . . very friendly to us strangers and clearly having a deep sense of community - and no pretense at all. This rural flyover country is not the "deliverance" country that some of us from the south are all too familiar with. I'd love to try their way of life . . . at least for a while.
After Craig, we were back on the road - next stop Sioux City, Iowa. The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center on the Missouri River was an engaging place to get us in the right frame of mind to contemplate our westward travels and all that we will see and learn. As mentioned, we have done the S Dakota part of our journey once before, but the kids were much younger and have little to no memory of our prior travels depending on whom you ask. We also wanted to give Stephanie Bentley and her kids, our traveling companions and extended family for all practical purposes, a glimpse into our upcoming adventures.
I especially wanted to make it to Sioux Falls, SD tonight. It is a beautiful, vibrant city with a beautiful river and spectacular waterfalls cascading through town.
I vividly remembered the beauty of this town from our prior visit and wanted us all to experience it again. We took in the falls before dinner and then ate at a sidewalk cafe as motorcycles and a pedal tavern and all sorts of foot traffic passed by. It is a very vibrant and hipster kind of place for its size and seemingly for its location in flyover country. Even live music was echoing through the bustling streets of this town.
After our mostly northern journey today, we look forward to heading west tomorrow. Right now, we are about as in the middle of the country as you can get.
We'll head to the Badlands and then toward Rapid City (Hermosa) for 3 nights.
Comments
Post a Comment