Summer Vacation - Spirit Lake Part I

After departing Sioux Falls, we stopped in Spirit Lake, IA to visit Grandparents. Here are Michele and Alex as they greet Zu Zu.

 

Michele and Alex enter the cool waters of Big Spirit.

 

Grandpa Bob floats out into the deep water.

 

Alex and Nick along the shore with the platform in the distance.

 

Cooled off, and ready for the sun.

 

Uh oh, looks like a sand throwing penalty.

 

Revenge is sweet.

 

Refreshing!

 

You sand my back ...

 

... and I'll sand yours.

 

Summer Vacation - Downtown Sioux Falls

Downtown Sioux Falls is a rich environment for buildings made of Sioux Quartzite. For information about Sioux Quartzite, follow this link here, and this one here.

Washington Pavillion.

 

Old Courthouse Museum.

 

Saint Joseph Cathedral.

 

Not everything I photographed is related to Sioux Quartzite, for instance, this is the Statue of David in Downtown Sioux Falls, and is one of only a few actual size replicas of the original. The statue did not come to the city without controversy .

 

 

The Minnehaha County Courthouse.

 

 

We checked the time on this sundial, and it was right on the money.

 

Summer Vacation - At The Movies

We decided to take in a movie while we were in Sioux Falls, I'll give you just one guess to see if you can figure out which one it was.

 

 

 

 

If you guessed The Simpsons Movie, you were wrong. We went to Harry Potter, Order of the Phoenix.

Summer Vacation - Must Stop Places

Whenever we visit Sioux Falls, we have a list of places we have to stop at. Most of those are restaurants, and a few of those are pictured here. This is by no means an all inclusive compilation.

On this day we drove over to Mr Goodcents, which serves up some very good sub sandwiches. Here is Grandma Rita and Josh as they disembark from that boxy looking, red, four wheeled, motorized, vehicle.

 

Here is the hungry crew waiting impatiently for me to take the picture because they are convinced they look ridiculous posing in front of Mr Goodcents (which they do, but don't tell them I said so).

 

Grampa and Grandma's house, notice the stork over the right side of the house.

 

Probably my favorite stop, The Keg. They serve the best fried chicken I've ever had. This place usually qualifies for two or more stops while we're in town, no kidding, it's that good.

 

Summer Vacation - Hot Harley Nights Part IV

These pictures took place towards the end of the night, and if you look closely you'll notice the smiles are getting much bigger.

 

 

 

Here's Tim Hawkins, whom we bumped into on our way back to our car.

 

Overall, this was a great year for Hot Harley Nights. Good crowd, good people, and a good band. We've already got it on the calendar for next year.

Summer Vacation - Hot Harley Nights Part III

This year we ran into a few faces we hadn't seen in many years. Here's Brian Baker, whom I had not seen since the early 90's.

 

That's my cousin Tonya with her husband Darren.

 

John and Lu sharing a laugh.

 

That's Mike, putting down a cold one.

 

Summer Vacation - Hot Harley Nights Part II

Michele chatting with Michele and Joan.

 

Mike and Lu checking out some bikes.

 

This bike was being raffled.

 

Michele and Gary enjoy some beverages while the band Jukebox Zeroes plays some great tunes in the background. We heard these guys play last year, and I have to say, they sounded just as awesome again this year.

 

Summer Vacation - Hot Harley Nights Part I

For the third consecutive year we attended Hot Harley Nights in downtown Sioux Falls. This years bash was every bit as good as the previous years, which means we'll probably be back next year. I took a ton of photos this year, so I'll break them up over a few separate posts.

This is a shot looking South on Phillips Avenue as the bikes approach the end of the parade route.

 

Shane and Michele standing among some of the bikes lining the streets downtown.

 

Looking back to the North at a never ending river of bikes.

 

One very talented gorilla.