The Great National Park Adventure 2015 - Day 3 - We Get to A National Park!

The sunflower fields in South Dakota were amazing!

Day 3 of our adventure began very early as we had an action packed day ahead of us!  It helped that we had been able to push the Corn Palace stop up a day because as it turned out we needed every minute we could find in this day!

Badlands National Park (Entry Fee:  $15.00/vehicle)

Our first stop of the day was Badlands National Park.  It was about a 4 hour drive from our hotel in Sioux City, South Dakota to the entrance of the Park.  Again, lots of hay and sun flowers along the way!!  

Now I have to preface my comments on this park by saying that I had been to what I thought were the "Badlands" when I was a child.  We had stopped at Wall Drug (more on that later) but had never turned down the road to the National Park.  Let's just say that I had a less than wonderful memory of this area and was almost reluctant to go back.  My husband had seen beautiful pictures of the Badlands but had never been there.  I kept telling him he was crazy!  I know...typical!

Well....let me say...I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this National Park!  The little bit of area that I had seen from I-90 the first time was in NO way representative of what the park was all about! 

There is easy access to the park off of I-90.  From I-90 East take exit 110 at Wall and follow the signs to the park.  From I-90 West, take exit 131 (Interior) and follow the signs to the Park.  From either direction, you will end up on the Highway 240 Badlands Loop Road.  This road will take you through the park.  There are pullouts to stop and take a look at the amazing sights close up.  

The Badlands themselves are hard to describe.  There are interesting rock formations, beautiful colors and lots of wildlife to enjoy along the way.  

We ended up spending about an hour and half making stops and taking photos.  You can walk out close to many of the formations and there are raised boardwalk paths in many areas (careful...the material they are made from is a little slick) and these are useful to keep you away from the rattlesnakes that are in this area.  There are many rattlesnake signs.  Be sure to heed the warnings!!  The walks to the overlooks are easy to make and I would suggest that you make sure to park and take a closer look.  

Interesting Fact:  The Badlands are some of the fastest eroding landscapes on earth with erosion rates averaging 1" per year in their fragile layers.

The wildlife was fun to view.  The prairie dogs were cute and the pronghorns and big horn sheep were all fun to watch and very close to the roadside.  We didn't even have to get out of the car to see them.  When we entered the park we had asked the ranger about seeing Bison.  She gave us a great tip and told us if we really wanted to see lots of Bison to make sure that we stopped at Custer State Park if we were heading that direction.....which we were!

This park is very different from many National Parks but definitely worth the stop!!

Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota

Well before you ever get close to Wall Drug you will see many, many signs telling you that you must stop and see it!  You will see signs advertising the Free Water and 5 cent coffee that makes Wall Drug famous.  These signs in the middle of miles and miles of prairie break up the monotony and make it virtually impossible not to do as they stay and stop!

This is a great way to spend a little time.  It can be as long or short of a stop as you would like.  We happened to hit Wall Drug right around lunch time so we took advantage of the restaurant inside and then took a look around.  The food was quick and hot, relatively inexpensive and tasty.  I had a cup of the famous 5 cent coffee and it was very good!  

After lunch we spent a little time walking though the stores and the backyard area.  You have to make sure to stop and see the T-Rex!  

Yes it is a little "hokey" but again it is a place that you just have to see at least once.  The food is good, the restrooms clean and the stores fun to spend some time.  It's a great break in the middle of "nowhere" and I would highly advise you make time for a stop!

Wind Cave National Park (Free to Drive Through, Fees for Cave Tours)

Our next stop was just under a 2 hour drive from Wall Drug.  Honestly this was a bit of an add-on Park for us since we were going to be in the area, we figured "why not?"  Reviews were a little more negative leaning and we weren't sure what we would find but it was just down the road from Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore so again "why not?"  

Visitor's Center Wind Cave National Park 

Tickets for the Cave Tours are available for purchase at the Visitor's Center and are on a First Come/First Served basis.  We got to the park later in the afternoon so we were too late to get a ticket for the Cave tour.  We also had other places to get to still so I'm not sure the cave tour would have fit into our tight schedule even if there had been tickets available.  We did make the short walk from the Visitor's Center to the cave entrance and it's a fairly short and easy walk.  

What we didn't realize was that the Cave is really the only thing in this park!  Other than a couple of Bison, we really didn't see anything else here.  

So.....my tip for this park would be to stop if you want to go through the Cave, otherwise, you can really skip this park and head straight for Custer State Park!

Custer State Park ($15.00/Vehicle) - **Must See**

The Prairie Dogs were so cute!

Our next stop was Custer State Park and we were very excited about getting here since the Ranger at Badlands National Park had told us that this was THE place to see Bison up close and personal.  We entered the park from the south from Wind Cave National Park and it didn't take very long for us to hit the wildlife jackpot!

The first thing we came upon was a Prairie Dog Town....there were Prairie Dogs everywhere! 

 The next section brought us to a parking area that was full of wild burros.  The burros had been brought to the park years ago for burro rides.  Once the rides were discontinued, the burros stayed behind and have been in the park ever since.  They were adorable.  They check out out people's cars and even nibble on mud flaps!  Some people even bring carrots along to feed them. They seem very gentle and were allowing people to pet them but as with any wild animal, you need to use common sense!

As we left the parking lot with the burros we saw a few more along the side of the roadway and then it happened....we hit the Bison Motherlode!  From a distance, all you could see was a field of Bison!  As you got closer, there were Bison everywhere!  They were in the fields, along the sides of the roads and even IN the roads blocking traffic.  Needless to say, you must exercise caution and drive slowly because you never know when one will decide to stand in front of your vehicle.  We found out later that August is rutting season for bison so they tend to gather in large groups during this time so we lucked out with being there at a perfect time for viewing!

This was truly one of our favorite places on the trip.  It was well worth the $15.00 entry fee.  You could look in the eyes of a bison from your car window....amazing!  

Tip:  If you can only do a portion of the park, make sure that you take the Wildlife Loop!!

We spent about an hour and half or so driving through the park, taking pictures and just enjoying ourselves!  The scenery is nice but definitely takes a backseat to the wildlife!

Iron Mountain Road

We left Custer State Park by way of Iron Mountain Road.  This road runs north from the park and takes you a "scenic back way" to Mount Rushmore.  I would highly recommend you take this road if you are continuing on to Mount Rushmore.  It is only open seasonally and you will see why as soon as you start out on it!  

We continued to see large herds of Bison on and near the roadways as we exited the park.  As we got further outside the park and closer to the entrance to Mount Rushmore, the road became increasingly windy and narrow.  In fact in places the two lane roadways split in half to go around trees!  There were also wooden bridges and stone tunnels along the way.  It reminded us of an old mine ride type roller coaster as we were driving along!  Make sure that you look around while you are driving/riding because there are some great views of Mount Rushmore in the distance.  

This is a 17 mile drive and worth every minute of it!  I don't know when I've had so much fun on a road!

Crazy Horse Memorial - (Fees vary...$28.00 vehicle over 2 passengers)

Since we didn't have much time before dusk at this point, we made a very quick side trip to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  We had been there about 7 years prior and were interested to see how much progress had been made on the memorial in that period of time.  Well......

First of all the entrance fees vary widely.  There is a fee for everything.  Here is the admission schedule:

$11.00 per person OR $22.00 for two people in a car OR $28.00 for two or more people in a car.

$5.00 per rider on a motorcycle, $5.00 per bicycle.  Ages 6 and under Free

Once you figure out the fees to get in (which are rather high compared to most of the things in the area) you will drive to a parking lot .  There is a visitor's center with displays and a movie and an outdoor area with a small cafe and models of the sculpture.  There is an observation deck area where you can view the actual statue in the distance.  

What I can tell you is that the memorial looked virtually unchanged in the 7 years between our visits. I would be hard pressed to tell you any difference other than the head of the horse was drawn on the rocks now so you can see where it is supposed to go.  Honestly I'm not sure if anything was different.

Therefore......I would say that for the price of this attraction, it is interesting to see once...it is not worth making a repeat visit.

We arrived very close to the end of the day there and I will say that one of the employees told us we could get our tickets validated and return the next day when there was more time to visit but there really was nothing further to see and we were traveling out of the area the next day so we did not do this.  

There is a laser show after dusk from Memorial Day to Native American's Day (the second Monday in October).  We did not have time to stay for the show as we wanted to make our way to Mount Rushmore before dark.

Mount Rushmore ($11.00/vehicle - National Park Passes NOT accepted)

Just before dusk we finally made it to our last stop of the day...Mount Rushmore.  We had purchased the National Park Pass before we headed out on this trip (I would highly recommend this when visiting more than a couple parks in a year!)  but were surprised to see that they were not accepted at Mount Rushmore.  The passes are good at National Monuments however, this fee is actually for the parking garage which is run by an independent company and not the National Monument Service.  The parking garage has lots of parking and several levels and areas but is a bit confusing to maneuver to find a spot especially since we arrived so late in the day.  We finally located a spot and headed up the couple flights of stairs to head into the monument area.  

We were able to snap a few photos and then decided to head into the cafeteria just before it closed because we were starving at this point!  There was no place to eat from the time we left Wall Drug till we arrived at Crazy Horse and we didn't have time to eat there.  So we grabbed a quick bite to eat and  waited till dark for the monument to be lit.  

We had seen the Monument before in the daylight so we were excited to see the lighting ceremony.

Check the schedule for when you are visiting to see what time the lighting ceremony is.  There was a film before the lights were turned on and the ceremony lasted about a half hour.  It was very nice and very patriotic.  

This is very much a MUST SEE attraction if you are in the area.  If you get a chance to stick around for the lighting ceremony it really is nice but make sure you see it in the daylight also.  It is amazing with the contrast of the blue skies behind it!

Hampton Inn Rapid City, South Dakota

After a long day of driving we were anxious to get settled into our hotel for the evening.  Our stay on this evening was at the Hampton Inn in Rapid City.  It was about a half hour drive from Mount Rushmore to the hotel.  When we arrived we found the staff to not be overly friendly or helpful and our room had a vague smell of stale smoke even though our room was non-smoking.  The room itself was clean and sufficient for a quick overnight stay.  Time to get some rest for our next action packed day!  

Coming Next:  The Great National Park Adventure 2015: North Dakota!!

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The Great National Park Adventure - Day 2: Hay, Windmills, Corn Palaces and Lots of Driving

Breakfast before heading on our way.

After a very long day 1 of the trip, we got some rest, had some breakfast at the Hampton Inn Minneapolis and were ready to start the real part of our adventure.  If you haven't read my planning blog for this particular trip, I will tell you that this day was largely based on the fact that my husband and I are trying to get to all 50 states.  He is a little bit behind me in his quest so we diverted a little bit on this travel day to help him get a couple of states that he hadn't been to before.

The Original Plan

The original plan for the second of travel involved driving from Minneapolis south to Des Moines, Iowa and then west to Omaha Nebraska before heading back north to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the evening.  Once we took a look at the travel times and what there was to do, we altered this a bit.  We still needed to get to Iowa and Nebraska for my husband to add to his state total but we found a little more efficient way to go about it.

The New Plan

The new plan was to drive Southwest in Minnesota to Sioux City, Iowa and head to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.  We would then cross over into Nebraska at South Sioux City and then continue our trek northward to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Windmill farms were very common across Minnesota

Off We Go!

Now that we had a plan, we set out to follow it.  Driving from Minneapolis to Sioux City, Iowa was interesting.  We saw many small lakes, lots and lots of rolls of hay, a crop duster in action, and windmill farms.  The sky was blue and our ambitions high.  We kept driving into Iowa and we saw more rolls of hay, lots of cornfields, and more blue skies.  About four and a half hours after we left Minneapolis we found ourselves in Sioux City, Iowa!

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center - Sioux City, Iowa (Free)

This was a quick but enjoyable stop for us.  It was nice to get out of the car and move around a bit by this point.  We found rather quickly that we didn't know a whole lot about Lewis and Clark and their Expedition.  Now we have seen signs along our many travels indicating that we were in areas explored by Lewis and Clark but this was the first time that we actually took a few minutes to learn a little more about the expedition itself.  

The center is open Tues-Friday 9 AM - 5 PM and Sat and Sunday Noon - 5 PM.  Admission is Free

There are a few statues outside of the building.  Once you go inside, they do not allow any photography.  (I did sneak one picture to give you the idea of what the exhibits are like.  Shh....)

Inside there are several exhibits following a timeline of the expedition.  There are also interactive stations where kids can get their "passports" stamped or decide what kind of a position they would have held in the expedition.  The tour is self-guided and there is a short (15-20 min) film that you can watch to get an overview of the expedition.  It held our attention and again gave us a little rest from the traveling.

We spent about 1/2 hour looking around.  I would recommend an average stop of an hour if you have children who would like to explore a bit more and take part in some of the interactive displays. 

Nebraska

Nebraska was a very quick stop for us on this trip.  From the Interpretive Center we headed across the bridge from Sioux City, Iowa to South Sioux City, Nebraska.  At this point it was time for lunch so we stopped for a quick bite to eat before heading North to South Dakota.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

From South Sioux City, Nebraska it was a little over an hour drive to get to our stopping point for Day 2.  Once we realized that we had cut quite a bit of time off our original schedule by taking a shorter route through Iowa and Nebraska than planned, we decided to tweak our schedule once again.  

Since we were heading through Sioux Falls right about check in time, we decided to check in to our hotel first and then head to a stop that we originally had planned for Day 3....The Corn Palace in Mitchell South Dakota.  

The World's Only Corn Palace - Mitchell, South Dakota (Free) 

The World's Only Corn Palace - Mitchell, South Dakota

The Corn Palace in Mitchell was just a little over an hour west of our hotel in Sioux Falls.  While it involved a little back tracking, we decided it was worth it to check it off the list on Day 2 since our Day 3 was going to be action packed.  

Corning Around!

The Corn Palace is open most weekdays from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM year round.  They are closed on major holidays.  Be sure to check their website for the hours during the time you are planning your visit as it does vary.

http://cornpalace.com/information/

Each year the Corn Palace is redecorated and a new mural created.  Over 250,000 ears of corn are used in the murals and the colors are all natural.  The inside of the Corn Palace is used for basketball games during part of the year.

This is one of those places that you have to visit if you are in the area, just to say you have visited!  Make sure you give yourself at least 1/2 hour to visit and take photos both inside and outside.  There are a few shops around the area and there are snacks available inside the Corn Palace.

The inside of the Corn Palace

Cattleman's Club Steakhouse - Mitchell, South Dakota

For dinner, we decided to stop at Cattleman's Club Steakhouse in Mitchell.  We arrived just around 5:00 PM on a Saturday but happened to just beat the crowd.  By the time we left, the parking lot was full and there was a line out the door so I would suggest you try an early dinner to beat the crowd.  

The atmosphere was casual and had a "western" feel.  The service was good and the staff friendly.  We had the Prime Rib which was the house specialty and it was very tasty.

Hilton Garden Inn - Sioux Falls, South Dakota - South

After our visit to Mitchell we returned to our hotel for the evening.  This hotel was located very near to I-90 and had easy access to the highway.  The lobby was very nice and the staff friendly.  Since my husband has diamond status (How important the loyalty rewards are!) we were upgraded to a suite for the evening.  

The suite was very nice....very spacious.  It had a separate bedroom and sitting area, microwave, refrigerator, Keurig and Sink as well as 1.5 bathrooms!  Very nice for getting ready in the morning! Our room was very quiet.  Parking was on an outside lot and free.  

I would recommend this hotel for location and convenience as well as hospitality and quality.

 

It was time to get some rest.  Day 3 was going to be the start of our long days of travel so it was nice to have a great room to relax and rest up before the next morning!

Coming Next:  The Great National Park Adventure - Day 3 - We Get to A National Park!

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The Great National Park Adventure - Day 1: The Start of Something Special

When I last left you all I had laid out our crazy plan for seeing some of our Nation's best National Parks.  I am happy to report that after 2,574 air miles, 4,000 road miles and 9 states we were able to accomplish our goals!  A lot can happen during that time and now it is time for me to share my adventures with you!

Every Adventure Has a Starting Point

Every adventure has a starting point and this adventure was starting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Since I live in Ohio, getting to the official starting point involved some flying time.  An early morning flight from Cleveland to Chicago to Minneapolis had us at the starting gate by 10:00 Central Time.

One of the things that is always a hassle is the rental car pick up.  So many airports have gone to off site rental car centers where you have to take a shuttle bus to the facility (usually several miles from the airport) and pick up/drop off your vehicle.  There is nothing more fun than picking up all your bags from baggage claim, dragging them outside to find the rental car shuttle, loading them up on the shuttle, riding to the facility, getting the bags back off the shuttle, locating your car and leaving.  It adds quite a bit of time to the whole process.  HOWEVER,  Minneapolis does NOT have a central rental location or off site locations for the larger rental companies!  This was a huge plus!  We were able to pick up our bags, walk to the on-site rental area, pick our vehicle and we were off!  

Tip:  Before you book your rental car, see if you qualify for their quick rental program.  Each company has it's own name for this.  Emerald Aisle, Executive Aisle....check with the company you choose and see if it's free to sign up.  This will save you a whole lot of time when picking up your rental vehicle.

First Stop - Mall of America

Our flight arrived well before the time that we were able to check into our hotel.  This was perfect for us since it allowed for a visit to the Mall of America.  If you like to shop.....a stop at the Mall of America is a necessity.  Boasting 520 stores and 50 restaurants as well as the world's largest indoor amusement park....this mall is quite the tourist attraction!  

We were very pleasantly surprised to find that the mall was very close to the airport (approximately 10 minutes).   Since we arrived right around lunch time, we started our visit with lunch at Ruby Tuesday's.  Once our appetite's were satisfied, it was time to take a look around.

If you read reviews on the Mall of America you will find many people who feel the mall is nothing special and others who love it.  What we found is that it is a mall with lots and lots of stores.  There are multiple levels of stores and the stores repeat periodically so if you came in at any entrance you could probably find the most commonly shopped at stores nearby.  You can do a whole lot of walking if you want and you can most likely find anything you would be looking to find at a mall and then some!

We found there to be stores that are in every mall and then there are stores that are more specialty stores.  For instance, there is a Peeps Store with all things Peeps!  There is every color of peep you can imagine there.  If you want Peeps to eat...they are there,  Peeps to cuddle with...they are there, Peeps to wear....they are there!  Another unique store is the Lego Store.  Other than the Lego Store at Downtown Disney, I haven't seen that many Legos in one place.  We also had a great time at the Lindt store picking up some mint truffles for the road!

You have probably heard about the roller coaster inside the Mall of America.  What I didn't realize is that it was a whole amusement park!  It is the Nickelodeon area and is appropriately themed for the entire family.  We didn't have time to ride the rides but we did take a few minutes to stop and drive some boats around the small pool for a dollar!  Of course there are food items in this area that you would find in any outdoor amusement park.  You could spend a lot of time and money in this area!

There was even a water ride!

We easily spent a few hours having lunch, walking around and picking out truffles.  I would allow 2-3 hours at a minimum if you are in the Minneapolis area and want to take a look around.  

Tip:  There is a parking garage attached to the mall.  Be sure to write down your vehicle location because the garage isn't small either!  

Heading to Downtown Minneapolis

Hampton Inn and Suites - Downtown Minneapolis

Just as a reminder for those of you who have read my previous blogs or for information to those new to my blogs, because my husband travels for business a lot, and because Hilton offers many different hotel brands at many price points that fit with his allowances, we try to book Hilton hotels as much as possible to accrue all of our hotel points in the Hilton HHonors program to maximum our ability to receive free nights.  

We were able to find a Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Minneapolis that fit our plans to a "T".  This was a brand new property, opening just a short time before our stay.  If you didn't know you were staying at a Hampton Inn you could easily mistake this property for a higher end hotel.  When we arrived at the hotel, we pulled up to the valet area.  For us, we find it more convenient to just pay for and use the valet service when it is offered at a hotel.  This valet service was on the pricier side (however with it being a downtown location it was to be expected) coming in at a cost of $30.00/night.  The hotel does offer a self park option for $13.00/night.  That parking was located in a nearby parking garage.  

The staff was very friendly and efficient when we check in.  We were given a room on the 6th floor.  We were given instructions on how to use the elevators to get to the guest rooms.  The elevator required an active room key card to access the guest levels of the hotel.  If you read TripAdvisor you will find that some people don't care for the added step of the key card in the elevator but I felt that this was a very nice added security feature.  Any time you are in a major downtown area, a bit of added security is a welcome thing.  Our plans for the evening were to head to Target Field for a baseball game between the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins so we asked for directions at the desk when we checked in and were given very simple instructions.  

View from our room

The room itself was very clean and quite modern looking for a Hampton Inn.  We had a view of the city from our room and found the room to be a good size and the bed very comfortable.  The best part of this hotel was the proximity to the ballpark.  The day we were there just happened to be the hottest day of the year in Minneapolis.  Not only was it 95 degrees, the humidity was off the charts.  The great thing about the hotel is that is directly connected to the skywalk that takes you all around the Downtown area in a climate controlled environment!  We simply just had to take the elevator to the 2nd level, walk out of the elevator into the skywalk, make a left and take a quick 10 minute walk to the ballpark!  No worrying about where to park your vehicle or how to get to the ballpark, it was very simple! 

If you have stayed at a Hampton Inn you know that they provide a free breakfast in the morning.
This hotel was no exception and in fact they provided a VERY nice version of breakfast.  There were several hot offerings as well as several cereals, pastries, bagels, waffles and oatmeal.  The coffee was hot and fresh and able to be taken with you if you wanted one for the road.  The breakfast room was spacious as was the seating area.  

I would highly recommend this hotel as a terrific option in the downtown Minneapolis area.  

Target Field

My husband and I are season ticket holders for the Cleveland Indians so when we started planning this adventure, we were looking for a week that the Indians were out of town so we wouldn't miss any of our scheduled games in our package.  It was a perk that they happened to be in Minnesota at the same time that we were planning our visit.  One of our future bucket items is to visit all the baseball ballparks in the country so this worked out well for us!  

After we checked into our hotel, we headed over to the ballpark in the skywalk.  It was a very short 10 minute walk to reach the gates of Target Field.  The great part was that the walkway was air conditioned.  It was extremely HOT when we emerged from the walkway!  We arrived early enough to take a look around the ballpark.  It really is a very beautiful park, very interesting design and lots of statues and things to see around the perimeter.  

The food options were a bit different than what we are used to in Cleveland, but we found the food to be tasty.  We had terrific seats behind home plate and other than the very warm temperatures, we had a great time at the ballpark.  After picking up an Indians win, we headed back to the hotel for the evening.  It was a long day from the time we left our house for the airport and the time we got back to the hotel to call it an evening!  There was no problem getting some rest and we were going to need it since Day 2 of our adventure involved lots of driving!

Coming Next:  

The Great National Park Adventure - Day 2:  Hay, Windmills and Lots of Driving

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The Great National Park Adventure - Our Crazy National Park Plan - August 2015

Well it's that time again....time for me to hit the road on my next Adventure.  When you read this you will wonder what the heck I was thinking when I planned this one!  I can tell you I am already thinking the same thing.  However it is planned and as always I will keep you posted on how it goes!

Things to Consider

When we decided to plan this vacation there were several things that we were taking into consideration and things that we wanted to accomplish during this vacation.

1.  We want to get to Glacier National Park.  - This is easier said than done because of the limited time that The Going to the Sun Road is open all the way due to snow cover.  It is usually open by the end of July through part of September.  We figure it will be open in August so that is why we planned this vacation for the time period that we did.   This was our starting point.  There really is no easy route to get to Glacier so we decided to be a bit creative and accomplish some of our other goals along the way.

2.  We wanted to get to North Dakota.  - I am currently sitting at 48 states in my quest to visit all 50 and North Dakota is one of the ones that I have not visited.  (Arkansas is the other one.)  When you see the crazy path that we are taking you know why we are doing this!

3.  My husband is also close to getting to all 50 states but he is a little behind me.  In addition to needing North Dakota he also needs Iowa and Nebraska.  To be honest I don't have a real desire to drive all the way through either Iowa or Nebraska again but we compromised and are doing a little side trip and hopefully have found some interesting things to see along the way.

4.  We decided as long as we were traveling around this area, we would try to hit as many National Parks as we could along the way.  We have been to Mount Rushmore (which is not a National Park), Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park and since they are all great places and we were close (relatively) we decided to take a little longer path.

5. Once we got to the Grand Teton planning, we had to decide between returning home from Denver or Salt Lake City.  Since Salt Lake was cheaper (even though the flight connects in Denver) and I have family in Salt Lake City, we decided to head that way.

Our Itinerary 

So you all can follow along here is our crazy itinerary for this trip:

Day 1:  Fly from Cleveland to Minneapolis.  Check out the Mall of America and catch the Indians 

             Twins matchup in the evening.

Day 2:  Drive from Minneapolis to DesMoines Iowa and on to Omaha, Nebraska before ending up in

             Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the evening.

Day 3:  Drive to Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace and then on to Badlands National Park

             Next stop is Wall Drug because you can't travel through South Dakota without going to 

             Wall Drug!  From Wall Drug we will be going to Wind Cave National Park before calling

             it a day and staying in Rapid City, SD.

Day 4:  We will get an early start and head to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse before driving to

             North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  We will then head into Montana and 

             end our day in Billings.

Day 5:  We will detour a little bit and head to Little Big Horn Battlefield about an hour south of 

             Billings and then head to Kalispell, Montana for the evening.  This is going to be a very long

             travel day!

Day 6:  We will be spending the day in Glacier National Park and again staying in Kalispell for the 

             evening.

Day 7:  We will revisit Glacier in the morning and then head south to Bozeman, MT 

Day 8:  We will drive in from Bozeman to Yellowstone National Park and through Grand Teton

             National Park before ending our day in Jackson Hole.

Day 9:  We will head back into Grand Teton National Park.  One of my favorite spots is Jenny's Lake 

             I want plenty of time to take it in!  From there we will head to Idaho Springs for the night.

Day 10:  We will drive from Idaho Springs to Salt Lake City in time to catch up with family and then 

               head to Park City for the night.

Day 11:  We will fly from Salt Lake back to Cleveland.  

We shall see how this plan actually works out!  It's always interesting to see how it starts out and how it really plays out!

We have our National Park Pass purchased and ready to use along the way!

See You All When We Get Back

I will try to tweet and post to Facebook along our way but start looking for blogs once we return!!