Day 3: The Black Hills

 I have always wanted go to the Black Hills. I think Mount Rushmore is something that every American should lay their eyes on at least once in their lifetime. Ailin and Luka were genuinely surprised when I told them I had never been there before and had always wanted to see it.

Okay, today was the all-day bus tour, which turned into an entire package that included breakfast, 9 hours on the bus with 4 one-hour stops, and some other shorter stops at picturesque points, 6 tunnels that the bus could barely squeeze through, lunch at the Game State Lodge, a roller coaster ride for the kids, and a chuckwagon dinner and show. We were there from 7:30 AM to 8:15 PM.

The one-hour stops were Mount Rushmore, Game State Lodge, Sylvan Lake, and Crazy Horse. My favorite mini-stop was at the Cathedral Spires. Awe-inspiring indeed. 

We also met some nice people and some really weird people. A multi-generational family all dressed in the same gray t-shirts with pictures of cows wearing lipstick, except for the dad who wore a bright red shirt. The kid was annoying, and the grandma and mom were very unfriendly. However, we also met a lady named Angela, a woman named Beth and her kid Josiah, a couple named Christine and Henry, a couple named Jose and Wanda. I am making these names up because I didn't actually get any of their real names, sadly. I felt a real connection with Christine, though I am 99% sure the feeling was not mutual. Angela and I connected because she, Beth and her kid, and us got LEFT when the tour bus first took off this morning at 9am! He left without 6 people!!! Unbelievable.

The tour guide told about 300 jokes throughout the day. He is a high school principal in real life. Nuf said.

We three had a reputation of constantly being the last ones on the bus after each stop. It was odd. I thought that in the USA, if someone tells you to be somewhere by a certain time, you should strive to be right ON time, not late, but not necessarily early. These people tended to get on that bus well before the appointed time, while the three of us would show up right on time...and apparently, this was a big no-no. This confused me, but then I started to just do it ON purpose cuz fuck them.

The roads were treacherous. I am so glad I opted not to drive. I would have been really annoyed at myself if I had tried, especially with all the motorcycles on the road this week. I don't even think I would have made it to Mt Rushmore, and I had no idea it was such a pain to get up there. Sylvan Lake was even worse because we had to go through a tunnel called Eye of a Needle.

The lunch was an amazing buffet at the lodge where Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace, often stayed and summered.

The dinner was slop - a mixture of all the things I hate. Hate, I tell you, hate. Baked potato, grizzly meat, baked beans, apple sauce - all slopped on a tin plate. Gross. Biscuit...how many biscuits can one eat out west? Spice cake - first time for this and I was not that impressed.

The men who served the dinner, as it turns out, were the members of the band. They put on a wonderful one-hour show. Some of our new "friends" left before the show started because they were exhausted. We thought about leaving too, but the kids wanted to see ONE song first. They insisted on staying for the whole thing because they were loving it. They knew lots of songs.

The kids loved all of it. Here are our favorites from 1-3:

Amanda

1. Mt Rushmore

2. Cathedral Spires

3. Lunch at the Game State Lodge

Ailin

1. Mt Rushmore

2. ??

3. ??

Luka

1. Seeing a Winchester for the first time.

2. Mt Rushmore

3. The music show

Okay, time for bed as we have a driving day tomorrow. We plan to start at 8am. After getting advice on Facebook group for travelers to YSNP and GTNP, I was advised to plan on 8 hours for the next leg of the trip and that includes stopping for gas or at a rest area for lunch.

Day 2: Sioux Falls, SD --> Badlands --> Rapid City

 We reached Rapid City at about 6:30 pm. Let's keep in mind this is Mountain Time, so actually, it would 7:30 pm Central Time.

That said, we left Sioux Falls at 10:30 after checking out at 9:00 and spending a little time at Walmart.

10:30 to 7:30 comes to 10 hours. The predicted time on Google Maps was only 5.5 hours. Why am I making such bad time???

We stopped at the Corn Palace for about 45 minutes, and this was unplanned.

We ate our picnic at a Rest Area because I knew we wouldn't get to the Badlands in time to eat there, and this was a good decision because CAN YOU IMAGINE trying to have a picnic at the unbearable Badlands? It was about 110 degrees there, and there were really no "picnic spots" anyway.

We entered the Badlands at the NE entrance and got out to see an Overlook and take some photos. After that, I left the car running, and I let the kids get out and take a few pics and then get back in.We took the scenic route from the NE to the opposite end, and it took so long to get out of there. It was beautiful, we some long-horned sheep (well, 2), but it was long.

At some point during the Badlands visit, the car stopped recognizing my phone and wouldn't connect to it, so I could not use the Google Map on the screen. The same thing happened yesterday but eventually, it did kick in.

We found our Canyon Lake Resort, which we were totally looking forward to. Unlike the internet photos, it is a rundown resort and the room smelled bad when we first entered. It's also very easy to get locked out, which happened twice to me in the first 30 min. She showed us some places where we could eat outside, and after ordering a pizza and making a salad, we took our dinner to a nice veranda overlooking the lake. But the bees. They started going after us and the food, and we got chased out of there. We couldn't finish our dinner because we threw it all into a big salad bowl and ran to our room. 

What I learned about today:

Ailin is feeling stressed out because she did complete her HW before the trip, and she is now realizing how impossible it is to do on a road trip. (Her HW requires her to use wi-fi for most of it.)

Luka is not that interested in this road trip. Maybe he will be when we get to Yellowstone, but so far, he is not being his best self.

Swimming with Ailin is fun and relaxing.

Driving can be both reflective and hard. It's not the lively, fun conversational/learning opportunity I had imagined. They either take lots of photos out of the car windows OR watch stuff on their smartphones OR sleep. There is very little conversation.

Lots of people ride their motorcycles to Sturgis, but many people drive and pull their bikes on trailers. We met some people in the pool, and they told us all about their Sturgis adventures. I had some questions about what it's like to ride a motorcycle on Hwy 90 for so many hours at 80mph.

Oh, and Hwy 90 switches up from 70 to 80 sometime during South Dakota.

The Badlands is really hot. I cannot imagine that people camp there or spend any amount of time there at all. The movie that really inspired me to do this trip had some major scenes in the Badlands.

Eating outdoors is nearly impossible here. Too many gross flies and bees.

Day 1: Antigo --> Sioux Falls, SD

 Had I planned the trip on my own, I would NOT have tried to drive 7 plus hours on the first day. I would have stopped and overnighted in a quaint town on the Mississippi. Dad had insisted that we drive all the way to Sioux Falls on Day 1, and I assumed (because he insisted) that he would drive part of the way. 

Things were complicated by the fact that I needed to stop at Enterprise Car Rental in Wausau to add Roadside Assistance to my contract. This add-on needed to be done in person so that they could check the condition of the car. Then, we drove to Onalaska, WI via a backroad route that took us through WI Rapids, a bunch of cranberry bogs, and finally through Tomah. Onalaska, it turns out, is next to LaCrosse and right on the border of WI and MN. Onalaska is the home of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Refuge, and they sell America the Beautiful passes. I wanted to buy one BEFORE arriving in Yellowstone just that I would be anxious about it all the way there. 

The refuge had a real prairie. We ate our lunch there outside, but it was so hot when the sun peaked out from the heavy cumulous clouds. We didn't see all the animals I had promised we'd see, and Ailin was annoyed that her iPhone's storage was full. Rather than stay for a short hike, I insisted we leave since it was so hot, I was worried we wouldn't make it to Sioux Falls before dark.

Crossing the Mississippi was gorgeous, but we couldn't stop to admire it. I regret that we couldn't enjoy the river in Pepin as I had planned on doing, but we did see a nice prairie, and the kids discovered Milkweed plants.

Minnesota I-90 was not nearly as busy as I had imagined. I thought semis would be whizzing past me, but that was not so. It was quiet and speedy and much faster than driving on backroads in Wisconsin. The landscape looked a lot like central WI. Lots of agriculture and not nearly as many lakes as they brag about. We stopped at some of the waysides so that I could stretch my back and legs. The kids mostly refused to get out of the car or use the restrooms unless forced.

My plan was to make this a really fun road trip and stop to see all the unique sights, like the Jolly Green Giant, and the Mermaid Fountain, and Belfort. But, we didn't have time and I couldn't find these places anyway. They were not right on the highway, and you had to know where they were to be on the lookout for the correct exits. A driver needs a navigator for these things, and time. Time was of the essence, and I could not stop anyway. Jolly Green Giant had already closed by the time we got near it, and that is also something to think about.

I realize why it's helpful to reach the destination well before sunset because driving into the sun SUCKS. We got there 10 minutes before the sunset completely, so the final 2 hours was me driving into the sun.

Tonight we are staying at La Quinta in Sioux Falls. It's next to a Perkins so we ate dinner there at 9pm. A bit late. Ailin and I swam in the pool for the final 30 minutes it was open, and we had fun playing. She didn't insult me even once.

I got a free travel magazine about SD, and found out about a Black Hills Tour. I decided to book a tour so I don't have to drive all day. I think it will truly allow me to feel like I have had a day off of driving. Without Dad here, it is just easier to make decisions like this since I don't have to worry about him and whether he would want to do those things or not.

Things I am learning:

Fill up at half a tank. It costs about 30-45 dollars each time.

Kwik Trip coffee would be better if I just used my own flavored creamer.

The kids want lettuce or something on their sandwiches.

I need something to keep my seatbelt from cutting into my neck.

I need to stop and stretch frequently.

Restaurant meals are so expensive with or without tips.

Kwik Trip only exists in WI and MN.

Heartbroken with Fortitude

 After a full year of meticulous planning, my dad broke the news to me that he really did not want to accompany us on this trip. The day before we were set to leave.

I was shocked by his confession, but I took it seriously rather than try to convince him to go anyway. I knew he meant it.

I went to my room and cried for an hour. I managed to get a hold of my sister and two friends via Messenger, and they each gave advice. Michele suggested I find someone to go in his stead. Louise and Aviva both said I should go anyway and have a great time. All three understood my immense sadness.

Immensely sad. Profoundly heartbroken.

I could take it personally, and when I dwell on it, my ego tells me to do just that. However, he clearly has some health issues and does not feel comfortable going so far away. Plus, he has some personal issues with caring for the property, the dogs, the bills. He just wasn't able to organize himself enough to go away for that long and doesn't feel he can depend on Seth. 

Had I been able to talk to him in person, I would have noticed these issues.

So, the remaining posts on this blog will be about the epic road trip with my kids because we did decide to go anyway.