South Dakota - Day One

Eric and I started talking back last winter about planning some sort of family vacation for the coming summer.  Our biggest wishes were that it was a reasonable driving distance, we could rent a house, and that it would be covid-proof - meaning that even if covid was flaring up, we'd still be able to safely go.  We reflected on places we've been and decided to consider a trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota.  The more we thought about it, the more doable it seemed.  It was about 12 hours from home, affordable, and mostly outdoors.  When Eric found a travel blog, detailing a schedule of  how to spend each day, that sealed the deal.  We found a 3 bedroom townhouse in Rapid City to be our main hub.  We would divide our trip into two portions with an overnight in Sioux Falls, SD.  We would go the first week of June to avoid crowds and excessive heat.  We were so excited!!

We departed Rhinelander at about 6am on June 1, with our Honda Pilot packed full to the brim.  The kids picked fun activities to do from the "crate of fun" and enjoyed their snackle boxes.  Our first stop was Hudson, WI.  We walked  across the bridge of the St. Croix River, basically straddling the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota.  It felt good to stretch our legs, but we were anxious to get back on the road.  

We continued through the twin cities and started to head to southern MN.  There is nothing there.  No restaurants, no gas stations, just windmills and endless desolate prairie.  We finally found a Dairy Queen to stop at for lunch.  It was absolutely disgusting - probably the worst place I've ever eaten.  It was dirty, the service was terrible, and the food tasted bad.  Thank goodness we were only about 2 1/2 hours from our Sioux Falls destination!

We ended up staying at the hotel recommended on the travel  blog and I'm so glad we did.  The pool area was absolutely outstanding, complete with waterslides, a mushroom, and hot tub.  The water was shallow enough that Simon could touch the whole time.  The adults got 4 drink tokens each and the rooms were spacious and very clean.  It was an absolutely wonderful place to stay.  We ordered Little Caesars pizza for supper and felt relaxed and refreshed as we ended our first day on the road!