Rollin’ Rivards: Cottonwood Lewis and Clark

Cottonwood, Lewis and Clark - Yankton, SD

Yankton is the county seat of Yankton County, South Dakota.

As the first capital of Dakota Territory, it was named after the Yankton tribe of the Western Dakota people. Yankton is derived from the Dakota word I-hank-ton-wan ("the end village").

Yankton is located on the Missouri River just downstream of the Gavin's Point Dam and the Lewis and Clark Lake, and just upstream of the confluence with the James River.

Yankton is commonly referred to as the "River City", due to its proximity to the Missouri River and the importance the river played in the city's settlement and development. Yankton has also earned the nickname "Mother City of the Dakotas", due to the early important role it played in the creation and development of the Dakota Territory, which later became the 39th and 40th U.S. states of North and South Dakota..

The city is located on one of the last free-flowing, natural stretches of the Missouri River. The segment of the river that lies between Gavins Point Dam, four miles west of Yankton, and Ponca State Park in Nebraska, has been designated by the U.S. National Park Service as the Missouri National Recreational River.

The central business district of the city is located on a natural landing along the Missouri River, and the city rises in the west to "Mount Marty" (actually a high bluff along the river).

Lisa and Karma were admiring the art on the River Walk in Yankton, SD.

The Discovery Highway bridge crosses the Missouri River connecting Nebraska to Yankton.

The double-decker Meridian Bridge over the Missouri River was decommissioned for auto traffic in 2008 after the new Discovery Highway Bridge was opened. This old bridge was converted into a pedestrian bridge, and is part of the city's extensive pedestrian and bicycle path system. The Brokaw-Auld Trail is a linear park and recreational path along Marne Creek, and the State of South Dakota has developed trails and paths to and throughout the Lewis and Clark Recreation Area.

Looking downstream the Missouri River from the upper deck of the Meridian Bridge, we were able to just enjoy the peacefulness and serenity the river provided us. The sounds of water gently rushing downstream is one of the most pleasurable and soothing sounds I have learned to appreciate during our travels. We took so much for granted when we were young workaholics. When life is an endless rat race, it is very hard to find joy in the simplest of things. Our goals and priorities have definitely changed since we retired. One of our biggest current goals is to slow down and focus on finding joy whenever and wherever we can. If you seek joy, there is so much joy to be found in the smallest of things. If you seek drama and negativity, that is what you find instead of joy. What are you seeking?

Our beautiful view of the Discovery Highway bridge was there to greet us on this sunny day.

Love locks—padlocks typically engraved with a couple's name and the date before being placed on bridges, fences, statues, or other installations to commemorate their indestructible bond—are a fun display of affection and a sweet symbol of your lifelong commitment to one another. This couple took it to another level using different colored locks to create hearts. We have seen several walls/bridges with these love locks as we travel. Most seem to be near water and are often on a bridge leading to the water.

We found this Navy memorial to the USS Scorpion SS-278. She was lost in 1944 with no record of what actually happened to her. All of her crew was presumed to have died at sea.

The next naval vessel to bear the name USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was a Skipjack-class nuclear-powered submarine that served in the United States Navy, and the sixth vessel, and second submarine, of the U.S. Navy to carry that name.

Scorpion was lost with all hands in May, 1968. She is one of two nuclear submarines the U.S. Navy has lost since the submarine service started. The other lost submarine was the USS Thresher (lost at sea in 1963 with 129 lives lost). She was one of the four mysterious submarine disappearances in 1968, the others being the Israeli submarine INS Dakar, the French submarine Minerve, and the Soviet submarine K-129. The cause of these four disappearances remains an unsolved mystery.

There has always been speculation among the US Navy Submarine members that the Scorpion was sunk by the Russians in retaliation for the loss of K-129. K-129 was lost earlier in the month with no explanation. There still remains several unconfirmed theories about this ironic and mysterious phenomena of the missing submarines in 1968. It seems unlikely that these were purely coincidental and unrelated in some way, but no indisputable proof has yet to be confirmed

This is the last US naval vessel to bear the name Scorpion and most likely there will never be another one.

Karma and Lisa were visiting with Mike as we strolled around the park. "Mike" is a running joke between us. Soon after we first met, Lisa called me Mike, instead of Mark- actually she did that a few times! Neither of us have any idea where the name mix up came from or what triggered it.

Yankton River walk has a lot of art located throughout the park. It was such a great day to leisurely stroll around the park and enjoy the weather and the park. We took our time and just enjoyed being outdoors together on such a beautiful day. Karma was just happy he was able to come with us. He does not care what we are doing as long as he gets to go. Inevitably, several people will stop us every where we take him to ask about him or to love on him. He thrives on this added attention. Plus, he knows that being a good boy will be in his best interest to get treats and increase his odds of him getting to go with us. I can often get him to comply with what I ask if I remind him good boys get treats and CHEESE! He literally has acted like a switch flipped when we discuss good boys getting cheese. Too bad that trick did not work that well during the kids' terrible two's.

We found this Veterans' Memorial in Yankton. We try to seek out and support various organizations that celebrate our veterans. It is very humbling at these memorials to consider the true cost of freedom. Much blood has been shed and some gave all, to pay the high cost for our freedom.

As we made our way around the park, this view of Gavin's Point Dam from the South Dakota side greeted us. We could see many little fish along the edges of the shoreline. Not all agree with us about finding and enjoying the small things in life. We are so thankful we have this chance to travel and appreciate so many of the gifts around the country the Lord has given us.

We saw these white water birds at the base of the spillway section of the dam from the Nebraska side.

This was another view of Gavin's Point Dam from the Nebraska side. The Nebraska side allows the public to see the Power House portion of the Dam. There are no locks at this location for boat traffic to travel further on the Missouri River. We have really enjoyed watching boats pass through the locks as we travel. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be thrilled to be doing so many of the things we are doing, I would have laughed and denied it.

Lisa loves collecting rocks on our hikes. Actually, she collects rocks anywhere she sees rocks- it is not limited to hikes only. Several pair of her hiking pants have extra pockets to help her smuggle more rocks out of the parks. Her pockets are typically overflowing and her pants are sagging by the time we get back to the car. We still do not have a solid plan for what we are going to do with all these rocks, but that does not seem to keep her from collecting more rocks. I have accepted the fact that our hikes will now take longer as she stops to look at rocks. It does give me a chance to catch my breath. We find joy in seeing each other finding their joy. For some unknown reason, the rocks bring her tremendous joy and are a great stress reliever/outlet for her. So our load of rocks continues to grow and has taken over a lot of valuable real estate in the RV.

Lewis and Clark would have seen these bluffs looking much like we see here as they explored in 1804. There are so many tributes to Lewis and Clark all through this area. Their story continues to be told over 200 years later.