SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — South Dakota’s few COVID-19 requirements are very apparent to out-of-state visitors here for the Labor Day holiday weekend. Those vacationers are heading home tonight, either on the road, or in the air, back to states where mask policies are much stricter.

We did a quick scan of the parking lot here at Falls Park and found vehicles from Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, Illinois, Ohio and North Carolina: people from all across the country trying to squeeze out every last drop of the holiday weekend here at the falls.

“With so much going on, we’re trying to take it one day at a time and try to move cautiously and it’s pretty much wide-open out here, so we just felt like this would be a good place to come and enjoy this day,” Howard James of Greensboro, North Carolina said.

Falls Park was crowded with visitors taking advantage of the social distancing this popular attraction offers. Many wanted to get their site-seeing done early, before the weather turned cold.

“I’m not a winter person, so it’s a lot nicer to come when it’s warmer for me,” Sheryl Nailor of Rock Falls, Illinois said.

Travelers at Sioux Falls Regional Airport were on the final leg of their holiday weekend return trip home.

“I don’t mind going back home, that’s fine, a couple days here is good,” Steve Dosset of Evansville, Indiana said.

Members of the Dosset family, from Evansville, were visiting relatives in South Dakota this weekend. They were surprised by the number of people here not wearing masks.

“I noticed South Dakota is a lot more open than Indiana, where we’re from, and so it was kind of different seeing people without masks where in Evansville, they’ve had masks on since March,” Cindy Dosset said.

Still, the Dossets say they did not feel their health was at risk during their South Dakota visit.

Meanwhile, the Ramirez family is heading back to Los Angeles after visiting relatives in Iowa. Their coronavirus vacation precautions will remain in place long after they’re home.

“We’re in an airport and you’re coming in contact with people, but once we’re home, we’re definitely going to quarantine because we did see family so we’re not going to expose anybody over there,” Paola Ramirez of Los Angeles, CA said.

Traveling in the midst of a pandemic has left the Ramirez family somewhat reluctant about flying home.

“Being on vacation is definitely a different vibe, and having to go home just means going back to reality. Yeah, I wish I could be here a little while longer,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez tells us she was, at first, “overwhelmed” by South Dakota’s wide-open spaces compared to the high density of Los Angeles. But during her stay, she came to enjoy the openness and says she can’t wait to make a return visit here.