Yes, Virginia, There is a S.....

 After the canine excitement yesterday, and the weather worry last night, we decided to relax today and cruise around Sioux Falls, SD. A drive into downtown led us to the Blarney Stone restaurant about noon.

Trust me, the fireplace was for show! The temperature was much lower this morning, and promised to top out at about 83 with much lower humidity after the T-storm, so it was a very comfortable day.

An order from the lunch menu got us a Sheperds Pie and Fish & Chips. Great food!

After a fortifying lunch, we headed off for a walk around downtown. 

The downtown area encompasses a large area, with original sculptures placed along the sidewalks to not only brighten the area, but encourage one to pause and reflect.

"Frisbee Dog" caught our attention first:

A tree made from silver spoons is a curious sculpture:

This sculpture harks to the history of the Sioux Empire as this area is known. A warrior and his horse preparing to cast a spear.

A water feature made from local sandstone made us stop for a few moments. Notice the young boy enjoying the cool water!

Near the fountain, a stainless steel dragon threatens the young boy!

We can do it!

"Delicate Balance" deserves two photos, because the facial expression is priceless! We all can relate to the predicament!

And the "Twisted Toad" made us chuckle!

"Charlotte" reminded us of our family's 4-H past:

Just a few blocks north of downtown, we found the city's namesake. Yes, Virginia, there is a Sioux Falls! 

Donna was a bit wind-blown on the falls overlook, but agreed it was worth it for the cool temperature!

At the Visitors Center at Falls Park, a bronze of "The Farmer" reminded us of the dependence of this area on land, water, and sunlight for the thousands of acres of corn and beans.

As we made a huge counterclockwise circle around the city, we passed one of the areas largest employers:

We understand chicken is a best seller in the company cafeteria....

Back on Interstate 90, five miles east of Sioux Falls, we were in Branden, SD, which is the home of a huge industrial park with easy access to the interstate and points both east and west. The largest facility there is Marmen Energy, a precision metal manufacturer. Should you want valving, piping, or control units for oil and gas, energy production, or, for that matter, any industrial application, Marmen can cast it, machine it, weld it, and polish it. This facility fabricates the huge towers needed to support the thousands of wind turbines used for energy creation. Three of the units were still in the shop, waiting to be moved to the storage yard. In the foreground, thousands of sheets of steel are waiting to be bent and formed into tube sections.

An almost inconceivable number of tube sections are waiting for shipment.

Two of the sections were being prepped for shipment. Incredible!

Alas, we must leave Sioux Falls. The city has much to offer, and we haven't even scratched the surface. Starting tonight, and over the weekend, there are free live concerts in Falls Park, Farmers Markets, and the Grand Opening of Candy World at the local Scheels store! As usual, we miss all the good stuff by a whisker!