Our 2017 South Dakota Family Vacation
We did it. We took the All-American RV road trip to South Dakota. And it was amazing! One day to get there, two days to get back and and six days in between to enjoy as much as we could of the Blacks Hills. There were lots of snack requests, lots of tears, and SO MUCH WHINING but we all had a fabulous time. I plan everything, and a vacation is even more of an excuse to step up my game.
Friday
The husband worked a half day and picked up the RV before heading home. We rented our RV from Rent-N-Travel in Spring Lake Park. The scheduling and pick-up/drop-off were smooth. They showed my RV clueless husband how to work everything in the brand new 2017 model and let him leave his car on their lot for the week. This is not the cheapest way to go. On craigslist there are tons of people renting out RV’s but if you want to go with a legitimate company I would recommend Rent-N-Travel. We spent the rest of the day packing the RV for the week. A benefit of getting the rental in our hometown is that it makes packing easier; pack once and unpack once.
Saturday
With everything ready to go we planned on leaving at 7 am, we didn’t hit the road until 7:30 am but I am calling that a win. We knew it was going to be a loooooong day! The eight how drive ended up taking 15 hours. We started off trying to drive as long as we could without stopping and we made it until lunchtime without a real stop. We had a picnic lunch at one of the visitor centers along the way. Most of the visitor centers have geocaches, which are a great way to break up a long drive. My dad always planned geocaches for long car trips and I plan on keeping that tradition going. Our next big stop was in Wall, South Dakota at the World Famous Wall Drug Store for dinner. You can kill a ton of time there, they have so much to do; shopping, play area, photo opportunities, and food. From there we eventually made it to our campground. We had two big stops and about three other short stops along the way.
Geocaching
We stayed at one campground for the whole week. Some people decide to move around a little bit but we thought it would be easiest to park it once and rent a car from the KOA for our daily activities. This increases the cost a bit but it is so much more convenient then driving the RV everywhere, you don’t have to pack up the RV every time, there are some roads you cannot take an RV on, and there are some activities you need to be in a regular sized vehicle to enjoy (Wildlife Trail in Custer and Bear Country).
The Mount Rushmore KOA at Palmer Gulch is a KOA Resort a little more than 5 miles from Mt. Rushmore, located right in the middle of Black Hill National Forest. It is an amazing place to stay, they have two pools, a waterslide, splash pad, huge playground, basketball courts, mini golf, gold panning, horseback riding, a restaurant and other food establishments, and daily activities. They claim to be the largest KOA in the country. All of this comes with a price, and if were to go again we would probably stay at another campground for the first half of the trip and stay here for the second half. Only because we were doing SO MUCH that we didn’t get to enjoy most of the amenities everyday. Why pay for it if you are not going to use it?
Sunday
Our first day! We started with a hike known as Devil’s Bath Tub Trail, I also heard of it referred to as the Iron Creek Trail, but Devil’s Bath Tub sounds way cooler. It was about an hour north of the KOA and located off of Highway 14 and Cleopatra Ln. The hike was AMAZING! The whole trail is along Squaw creek and zig zags back and forth from either side. You NEED TO BRING WATER SHOES! You will be crossing the creek over and over, which in my opinion makes it awesome. We hiked in for a little bit and hiked out, we didn’t complete the hike, I have no idea how long it goes, but with three kids we had a lot of fun and felt accomplished.
Since we were already so far North we drove into the city of Spearfish for lunch and this was some of the best food I have ever had in my life. We drove through town and randomly picked a restaurant and got so lucky. Killian’s in Spearfish is so good! If you are ever in town you have to stop here.
After lunch we went to the National Historic Fish Hatchery. It is a fun and more interactive than others historical stop and the kids enjoyed it. Lots of live fish to see and feed and it is interesting to learn about how they shipped fish across the country.
Monday
We went to Mt. Rushmore, of course you have to! It is thee stop! We viewed the monument and went on the Presidential Trail for more views. The girls were more excited by it then I thought they would be. It would have been nice to go on a guided tour and get more history but that wasn’t happening with kids.
For lunch we went to Bobkat’s Purple Pie Place in the city of Custer. We had a real lunch there that was nothing exciting, but we had to eat before we indulged in some pie! We shared a slice of the Bumbleberry and the Peanut butter. So delicious! The girls shared Birthday Cake Ice cream. A fun place to stop!
Then we headed to the Alpine Slide at Rushmore Tramway Adventures in the city of Keystone. Along with the slide they also have chairlift rides and zip lining. To get to the top of the slide you have to take the chairlift up the mountain where you are given a cart that goes on a track and then ride down. The chair lift was horrifying, I have issues with heights and it was not a fun experience. But the slide part was a lot of fun and the girls enjoyed the thrill.
Tuesday
First we drove to a hike known as the Osprey Trail. It goes near Pactola Lake and there are supposed to be a lot of Osprey in the area to view, we didn’t see any, probably because there was too much whining going on, and we weren’t able to look. The trail is beautiful, there are views of the lake, and there was a great spot for skipping rocks. To get there we drove through the Pactola Pines Campground. There is an entrance to the trail at the end of the Loop A Camping area.
After, we drove into Rapid City to treat the girls to some cowgirl boots and had lunch at Pizza Ranch. I accidentally ate some bacon here, so gross, ick.
On the way back to the KOA we stopped at Cosmos Mystery Area. If you have never been to one of these mystery areas they are worth the stop, there are a bunch across the country and claim to be areas that defy gravity. It is fun, confusing, makes you feel a little sick, but entertaining.
That evening we had reservations for the Circle B Ranch Chuckwagon dinner and show. They have a fun little play area with lassoing, panning, and shooting so we got there early to hang out. Before dinner they do a skit between the Sheriff and the Biscuit Bandit that the kids in attendance have to capture. Very cute but loud. A traditional cowboy of the west meal is served as you walk through a line holding your metal plate and have food placed or slammed onto it. Dinner is followed by a singing performance of country/cowboy songs. The whole experience was fun and authentic.
Wednesday
We started off with a drive on the Wildlife Loop through Custer State Park. We saw buffalo up close and personal, we saw prairie dogs, we saw goats, and we saw donkeys, all while staying in our air conditioned vehicle. We had been told that the donkeys will be looking for snacks and will come right up to your car. Well, its true! The two donkeys who had their heads all the way in our car enjoyed lots of petting and graham crackers. This was very exciting for the girls, and me too!
Custer was south of our KOA on the way to Hot Springs so we continued in that direction and stopped for lunch in Hot Springs. We ate at Hot Springs Vault and it wasn’t good, don’t eat there. Just a bland burger place.
There is no natural place to enjoy the hot springs except for Evan’s Plunge, an indoor swimming facility with a fee. That is not how I wanted to enjoy the springs, I want to be outside! I searched and searched and found a swimming area called Cascade Falls, its not hot but it is warm and you get more of the experience that most of us have in our minds when we think of hot springs. It ended up being a beautiful falls area with warm clear water and great shallow spots for the girls to play and a deep swimming hole perfect for jumping in. It was amazing, magical, enchanting, etc. Worth the drive!
Thursday
We had more of a low key day. we took the 1880 Train from Hill City to Keystone, had a packed lunch on the train, shopped in Keystone, and then took the train back to Hill City and did some more tourist shopping. There are fun views from the train, some narration about the area, and wildlife to view.
Afterwards we headed back to the KOA where the eldest and the Husband went horseback riding while the younger and I enjoyed some ice cream.
Friday
We headed out in the direction of Bear Country USA and drove through this really cool wildlife park. There are bears! And more bears! Bears everywhere! And some other animals, but Bears! It was very cool. For most of the park you drive through slowly in your car and then at the end there is a small area to get out and see some smaller animals.
Then we drove to Storybook Island, a very large playground based on fairy tales and Disney movies. We rode the little kid train and the merry- go-round but didn’t stay long. Everything is made of metal and it was so so hot, it was not pleasant. Fun for the kids, not so much the grown ups.
Saturday
We drove out of the KOA, early, at 7 am and headed East towards home. We drove through Badlands National Park and stopped at some view points and the Fossil Trail. The area is very cool and very beautiful. It’s crazy how you are driving through flat grassland and all of a sudden there is colorful rock and canyons. It was a very hot day so we decided not to hike. We really wanted to but oh my G-d the heat! At the visitor station the girls completed the Jr. Ranger program. We purchased National Park Passport Books for all of us and had them stamped. We had lunch in the RV and continued East. We stopped for the night in a campground near Sioux Falls.
Sunday
We finished our drive home! Yay! And were rewarded by having to unpack the RV and clean it and SO MUCH LAUNDRY!
The trip was amazing! We all had an amazing time, we came home tired but happy. I felt like we all bonded a lot on the trip and got to know each other better. It seems weird to say that about your kids that you are with everyday. Of course I know them! But taking them out of their natural habitat showed me what they are really capable of. And not just the kids, the husband and myself were able to relax and really enjoy our time together. Experiencing new things as a family brought us all closer together.
