Waterfalls, Coasters, and Bears.... OHHH MY?

South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska? Where the Hell am I?! Oh, and lets not forget flooded towns and closed highways.... So where to begin? The day started with what may just be the highlight of my trip... Sioux Falls/Falls Park. I was thinking I'd only need maybe 30 minutes or so here but I ended up staying almost 2 hours... Then I was off to the Great Plains Zoo. After that I grossly overestimated how long it'd take to get to Omaha and ended up doing everything I planned on doing Friday today... So we'll see what happens Friday now. Oh, and all that flooding on the Missouri River? yeah, good times... and thank god for a GPS! 
So lets get things started here....

 Falls Park!

 OH, REALLY?

Amazing... And while not the biggest or best waterfall out there, they were still quite impressive and uh, pretty? I don't know.. I enjoyed it.

Hey look, falling water.

I'm not sure what the deal is with these guys... But I'm sure Yatpay will appreciate the photo...

Moving on with the day.... Great Plains Zoo, at only like $8 a person.... I'd go back.. Oh hey, and they have bears!... and Cheetah, Wolf, Tiger, Bongo...

Great Plains Zoo :D

SOUTH DAKOTA DUCK!!!

Cheetah Hunt?

Moo, Moo, Moo!

OMFG! RED PANDA! Anndddi it's being amazingly adorable! I wish somewhere near Orlando would get them! (ORLANDO, IE: NOT Miami!)

Giraffeosaurus-Rex's

<rant>So the Zoo has this.."train" thing.... Having not seen what it really was, I bought a ticket thinking it'd be along the lines of a Chance C.P. Huntington.... You know, like what the Omaha Zoo has... Well, this is what I got.....

BOOT-LEG! (But I guess it really is my fault for not looking into it first, ha)</rant>

Umm, yeah.... Moving on.

While Rhinoceros arnt really my thing, I gotta admit that the babby one was freaking adorable!

Annddd Sleepy Kitty says its time to drive to Nebraska. :O

But wait... How could I forget....

 Happy Bear swim time! (Stupid sun glare!)

ok, nowww it's time to drive to Nebraska........

Yup

....wouldn't be an update without a photo of me driving....

Random Moment time...So I'm in the Midwest and all over the news is the massive flooding out here along the Missouri River (and others) but I had no idea it would effect me, while aware of it.. I was unaware I'd end up in the middle of it. And while I didn't get many photos (I was kinda driving a car you know... here's a few photos of what I saw...

And to top it off... this happened....

The entire highway becomes blocked off... I ended up having to use country back roads and backtracking a bit to get myself to Omaha.. and all I gotta say is thank god for my GPS and current maps! (Thanks mom!)

But woo, I made it! My 34th state? (+DC)

Well, having made it here hours and hours before I ever intended... I got myself started on what was to be my Friday 'To-Do list", now giving me an 'extra day' to play around with...hmm

Woo, Skateland Playdaze. (Cha-Ching?)

CAR WARS! GET IT! ITS LIKE A PLAY ON STAR WARS...HOW CLEAVER!

Miner Mike, I feel so dirty...and its powered.

But hey, it gave 3 laps forward and then 3 laps backwards...Moving on...

Well, Skateland was supposed to be Friday's thing... But I got into NE so early I was like "might as well".. Well I knew Skateland wouldn't take anytime.. and it was still only 3pm when I left..In the "might as well" spirit... I headed over to Fun Plex, Nebraska's only "park" (well... more of an over-sized FEC/FFC) and completed all of my would-be Friday tasks.. So yeah... here we go.

Fun Plex, how thrilling.

Home to the Big Ohhhh! The states only real coaster, and likely the only coaster with four H's in a row in its name....(a quick trip to RCDB confirms this)

It's very exciting... Well, no, not really.. But the locals seem to eat it up.

 And you know, its a fun ride for what it is. (took 3 laps)

And in other park news... I also rode the Tilt-A-Whirl, Ferris Wheel, <3 Rock-O-Plane <3 (although not as good as Arnold's) and thhiiissss

Holy crap, a working Chance Chaos! Somehow I've managed to track one down the last 3 years of my travels (this, Valleyfair's, and Adventuredome's!)

Oh, and they have this incredibly small water park that I didn't go into, as well.. I could have.. but I needed to find a hotel.. Speaking of which... Here it is, in all its BALLIN'-ness.

Element by Westin, one of only nine (the first was in Massachusetts!)

Right in the middle of Omaha's 'Midtown Crossing' area. How hipster of me.

 Its like stepping into a model show-room at IKEA, only its a real hotel room. Pretty sweet and I got it more than half price! :D So yeah, South Dakota...Iowa...Nebraska... SLEEP! We'll see what Friday brings.

Yup, I've arrived.

Well, kinda.

So the day started the way most of my ways end.... At IHOP with the mono-peeps but instead of just going home and passing out... its off to the airport to another airport and to a third one just barely...and a few hundred miles of driving and a few new states too! Oh hey, and an amusement park. Who knew?

mmm, pancakes

lol, on time......

Random waterpark somewhere near Chicago...?

yay! I'm just gonna skip the ranting and bitching and skip to this...

Welcome to IOWA! I pretty much stepped off the plane, into my rental and drove some 200 miles...

yup, lots and lots of driving.. but it'll be worth it.. I hope. 

(Arnold's Park is a park I've wanted to hit for a while and has a lot of history and is loaded with classic rides.... ) But first.. SIDE-TRACKED!

Hippo Approved

(if I ever get sick of Orlando...... )

Ok, back to Arnold's

That took too long! 

Luckily the park makes up for the fact its in the middle of NOWHERE, and while I get that Iowa itself isnt exactly tourist central, Arnold's is still forever away from anything else...

But its got a Roll-O-Plane, that tilts :D

And more to my liking...

 A Rock-O-Plane! And it let single riders on... Unlike.......

the parks Chance Wheel... DENIED! :(

moving on....

The park is home to a pretty easy mirror maze and this odd Tilt-House built about the station of....

 The Legend, the main reason I came all the way out here.

And while the ride was absolute-crap in the back row... In the front it was quite enjoyable and re-rideable with some damn good air on the last hill!

In the shadow of the Legend is the parks kiddie coaster, no adults, I didn't even ask...

 Oh man!

 They also have a small, but fun flume. I had no idea this was even in the park. I guess with the Roll-o,Rock-o,Spider, and Legend... I kinda overlooked it until I showed up at the park. oops.

With lack-of-sleep catching up to me and the fact I still had another 100 mile drive (and another state to get to).. I made my last lap around the park and headed out onto one of the several boat docks to get a few last photos (and to put my foot into Lake Okoboji. you know, for the credit)

A not so sketchy dock on Lake Okoboji, with its FREEZING cold water... Oh hey, and Arnold's Park.

Yeah, its time to leave now.......

So I headed back out on the road again in no-mans land Iowa driving towards Sioux Falls, South Dakota rocking the TRON:legacy  OST as the fields roll past dotted with wind-turbines and a light rain in the area thinking to myself... This is just what I needed.. To get away.

I don't know how to explain it I guess, but in that moment it was lovely.

Annddd this big-ass-rest stop thing that marks your arrival to South Dakota... Yup, I've arrived. 

In my travels I knew I'd end up here someday.. But I'm not sure why.. or when.. but if I could find excitement in such lovely places as West Virginia and Delaware, I believe South Dakota has a fighting chance..

Microtel, Hippo Approves just to get some sleep.. yeah, sleep, ZzZzz