Sioux City SD

We circled back through Sioux City, stopping here mostly just to see a different area. It turned out well, as usual. We even got to play in a dog park, which is something we’ve missed as Izzy’s leg heals.

This was definitely a top rated KOA. Clean, great staff, pizza delivery, even the little mining sluice was operational. While in the park, a baby bird flew in – and momma was upset. I got him back in the yard next door through a hole in the fence.

Table 32 was the only really local place we ate, we had a gas grill and cooked ribeye one night and salmon another. We’re getting used to fish and chips and reuben sandwiches, which is more the norm in this part of the country.

The main activity was learning about Sergeant Floyd. Charles Floyd’s main claim to fame was to be the only member of the Lewis and Clark expedition to expire while traveling. He died shortly after the trek got underway – appendicitis is suspected 218 years after the fact – and he was buried on a hill (bluff in these parts) in a grave marked by a large post. On the way back, the travelers realized that the river had swollen and almost washed Charles away, so he was moved further up the hill. Today, the spot is marked with a huge obelisk.

Even neater, a now-grounded steamship was named after Sergeant Floyd and serves as the Charles Floyd River Museum and Visitor Center.

And finally, like Abe Lincoln in Illinois and Nebraska, Sam Houston in Texas, and Juan de Oñate in New Mexico, any place that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark camped close to stakes their claim to the history and has some sort of interpretive center – which is okay, because we enjoy them all.

The scrap metal art was related to absolutely nothing but was cool. “Thing” was my favorite. After all this, a dip in the pool was called for.