Day #28, Day Off in Sioux Falls, SD

I actually slept in until 8:00 am this morning and had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel breakfast room. No wolfing down bagels and eggs this morning. I tried out the waffle machine and had Strawberry Waffles. My laundry is clean and my bike is ready (had the chained replaced on Friday) so I really have nothing on my schedule all day long. It will be a day of relaxation and chilling out. I killed time by reading email, writing a blog post and surfing the internet before walking over to the Empire Mall at 11:00. The mall is actually the largest tourist attraction in South Dakota (seven million visitors a year), a surprising claim in the state that includes Mount Rushmore. The economy must be doing well in this area, because I saw no evidence of the closed and empty stores I have seen in the east. I was a "Senior Citizen Mall Walker" and did two laps of the mall for exercise or just to fight off boredom. I browsed at the cell phone kiosks for a phone upgrade, cell reception has been spotty on the trip for Peggy and my's generation one cell phone, I was satisfied to look but not buy anything for now. Lunch was a Grilled Chicken Burrito at Taco John's with dessert a DQ Strawberry Blizzard. (theme for the day must be Strawberry) I walked back to the Comfort Suites and watched part of the NASCAR race from New Hampshire. The big decision for the day will be where and how far to walk for dinner. I will need to research that on Google Maps. Looks like I have my choice of Old Chicago, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Chili's, Fudrucker's, Applebee's and Texas Roadhouse. Not much local flavor available but a full slate of Americas favorite chain restaurants. I went for the Texas Roadhouse, and had barbecued chicken and strawberry cheesecake for dessert

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