Sioux Falls

The campground where we are staying in Granite Falls, MN is very nice. However, it does not have a monthly rate. The daily rate (which goes up on weekends) is good for a daily rate, but multiplied times 30 is very high.

FYI---we've paid between $20 and $50 for single night camping. Most monthly sites are in the $500-600 range.

But, the good news is that we have decided to leave on the weekends and go adventuring. The last post about Pipestone National Monument was our first excursion. We dry camped that weekend, so no cost for camping, though the cost of gasoline was probably about the same as if we'd stayed at the campground in Granite Falls, but w/the added bonus of getting out and seeing more.

This weekend we're in Sioux Falls staying at a casino about 30 miles north of town. It's our anniversary on the 14th (6 years!) so we're taking Monday the 15th off, which is pretty exciting.

Why Sioux Falls? Well, I have a membership at Massage Envy that I haven't been able to use for several months since we haven't been anywhere close to a Massage Envy location. From Granite Falls, the closest Massage Envy is either Sioux Falls or St. Cloud, MN. I called Sioux Falls and got appointments, so that was the winning location.

After getting set up on Friday, we went in search of a place to eat. The casino had a buffet and a snack bar, and neither of those were appealing. We'd seen a sign for a place called Mad Mary's Steakhouse. We drove around and only found a Subway. We were pretty discouraged, but finally found Mad Mary's and had a very nice dinner. Not too fancy, but good steaks and for dessert we had sour cream chocolate cake and ice cream.

We had massages yesterday (Saturday) and I also had a facial. We were (and still are, but to a lesser extent) so knotted up that the massage therapist suggested we come back very soon for 90 min massages. We'd love to, but it might be a week or two before we're near another Massage Envy.

We're staying in a town called Flandreau which is home to the Royal River Casino. They have RV parking for $10/night which includes electricity. However, it's only 30 amp service and we use 50 amp. We're able to use the 30, but can't run everything at the same time.

Do you remember Green Acres? They had similar issues.

We also look like them.











I plugged in the coffee maker and the refrigerator started beeping because it didn't have enough power.


After our massages we went to Escape 605 and tried a puzzle room. This was a very fun experience and something we'll definitely look into again in different cities as we travel.

Click here to see their site. We were in Aunt Edna's Condo. We were the only ones and that made it fun too. For one thing, the room was rather small, so having more than a couple people in there moving around might have been chaotic.

Puzzle rooms/escape rooms seem to be a pretty new thing, so we're excited that we're actually on the front end of a trend.

We arrived about 20 mins early. There was a sign on the door that said "The door will be locked until 15 minutes before your scheduled time." I tried it anyway, but couldn't get in. Then the receptionist tapped on the window (not the door) and motioned for us to enter. I asked if she'd unlocked the door remotely and she said, "No, it's been unlocked for about an hour."

How can I expect to escape a puzzle room when I can't even get in the unlocked front door?

At the appointed time we were lead to Aunt Edna's Condo, which was a room about 10X12. There were five different containers with padlocks on them and various items around the room that were meant to be clues or possibly red herrings. We had an hour to gather the clues and escape. If we did so without any clues and before time ran out, we would get our  names on the leader board.

There was a video screen above the door w/the time on it and a video camera where an employee was watching and listening. If we needed a hint, we were told to wave at the camera and she'd type something on the screen.

We started out strong, figuring out the clues to the four numbers of the first combination. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any of the locks to open, so we moved on to something else. I unscrambled some letters and got the message "Look under the table". Beneath the coffee table a set of clues were attached with Velcro. We used them to figure out who/what was Aunt Edna's "beloved Bernard" which was one of the three things we had to find (and the only one we found successfully).

We asked for clues two or three times and might have escaped if we'd had another 30 minutes (that's a big maybe). We did get 2 of 5 locks open and had the combo to a third. We sure had a good time. When time was up, the employee who'd been giving us clues came in to show us what we'd missed. If we'd gotten everything, at the end the back wall would have swung open for our escape.

Get on The Google and find a puzzle room or escape room near you and give it a try. It would be fun w/a group. There was a group of women there for a bachelorette party and they had a good time. Apparently, you can bring alcohol, so you might ask before you can bring refreshments with you. It would be fun w/kids too. The puzzles were clever and a couple were a little tricky, but not so hard that they couldn't be solved or that you'd get frustrated (too much).

After that, we came back to the casino/campground. I went to the only grocery store in town for a few items and found SDSU ice cream.  When we were in Brookings, SD a couple weeks ago, I'd read about an ice cream parlor at the South Dakota State University where the students make ice cream as part of the university's AG department.

I stood in front of the ice cream section, debating. The SDSU was almost $8 per half gallon. Pretty high for ice cream you have to scoop yourself, but I'd read good things about it. There was an employee nearby and so I asked her opinion. She said, "It is really expensive, but it's really good." So I went for it.

Wow. Totally worth the price. I got the cookies and cream. Smooth and delicious.

Then today (Sunday) we went to the casino and Chris won $150. Awesome!

Now we're debating between spending the afternoon vegging out or going back to explore Sioux Falls. I've already had one nap today, but I'm not opposed to a second.