Our Black Hills Vacation – Day 1

Let’s Go On Vacation Together!

I had planned to sit down each morning of vacation to share our trip with you in real time, however, South Dakota doesn’t believe in Sprint cell service, and it seemed the mountains were demanding our FULL attention. No Wifi anywhere, except an occasional weak signal at restaurants. So, I took notes every evening in a journal while deer grazed less than 100 yards from me as I reflected on each day of our adventure. I was channeling my inner Henry David Thoreau as I recorded the ponderings of my heart in this incredible setting!

So, are you ready to go on vacation with us? Buckle Up, because we’re headed to the Black Hills of South Dakota!

Vacation Eve:

The night before vacation involved piles of clothes surrounding an unpacked large duffle bag.

By 10 p.m. we had reached the “I should just cancel this vacation! No one is appreciating this fantastic trip we have planned” phase of vacation prep. Lolo couldn’t find more than 3 pair of socks and claimed to not have enough outfits for six days, and Gman brought me neon orange shorts with a red t-shirt and thought that would be good for the week. Finally Lolo discovered three outfits crumpled in a backpack from her Washington D.C. class trip at the beginning of June! So at 11 p.m. I started a load of laundry. Fun times.

Vacation – Day 1:

The “discussion” about who would sit where in the van began around 8 a.m. and quickly escalated to “no fair!” So I barked seating assignments, which resulted in a couple slamming bedroom doors. The decision was that each child had their own row, which would hopefully limit “she’s touching me” arguments. Lord, have mercy! Vacation prep is stressful! There was crying, sassing and a little bit of yelling, but we finally had the van loaded by 11 a.m., only an hour off-schedule. But that’s ok, I told myself. It’s vacation! No strict schedules allowed – just relax and enjoy! I made the kids pose for a picture at the back of the loaded van.  They grumbled because the sun was in their eyes.

They needed to get used to the picture taking because I wasn’t going to miss out on capturing this entire trip on camera. THIS is memory making and I never want to forget it, so get used to it, kiddos!

The plan was to drive about 4 hours to Sioux Falls, SD and overnight there to break up the 10-hour trip. I have a 6-hour driving threshold. I could never be a truck driver. A few hours on the road and we approached the western corner of Iowa. I had never traveled Iowa’s northwestern border and was stunned by the scenery near Sioux City, IA. The Loess Hills were a pleasant surprise and my vacation excitement escalated. We were on an adventure, exploring new sites, breathtaking views and roads we’d never traveled.

Several bathroom breaks later, we arrived in Sioux Falls around 4 p.m. and had no trouble finding our hotel. We stayed at the Dakotah Lodge because I had found a Groupon and read about their indoor water slide. Reading TripAdvisor reviews may be my new favorite pastime. Hilarious! You should try it.

Upon entering the Dakotah Lodge we were greeted with a baby behind the front desk, the smell of, well, sweaty men mixed with Axe body spray to try to mask the stench. Oh well, one night, we can do it! We unloaded the van, viewed the pool (not bad, although lots of virtually unattended kids, which always makes me anxious. I feel like I need to be the babysitter and make sure no one drowns!). I’m going to rate this hotel 3 stars because it appeared to be family owned, and I’m all about that. I could tell they’d tried to modernize the rooms (another point for them), but I can’t go higher than 3 stars because…it smelled badly. Also there was discussion at the front desk about what charges were lesser than “possession” and which charges were more serious. Mmmmmmkay! Yikes!

We decided we’d hit the pool AFTER checking out Falls Park and eating dinner. Falls Park did not disappoint. The kids had so much fun climbing rocks, getting their feet wet, watching ducks and geese swim and just being adventurous in a new place. If the rest of vacation was like this, I would be so happy! It was hot, but windy. Apparently it’s always windy in Sioux Falls. Who knew?

 

 

 

I love learning about the history of towns, geological formations, etc. Reading about things that are billions of years old makes our life feel so short, doesn’t it? And it really is! This information about the Sioux Quartzite was just the first of many things on this trip to confirm how very much I want to live and love BIG in this short life we’re given.

We ate dinner (or Supper, depending on where you’re from) at a burger place called Sickies Garage.

My travel rule is to avoid restaurant chains if possible, unless it’s one we don’t have in our area. This fit the bill. Service was slow, but worth the wait. Or maybe we were just really hungry. Either way, we enjoyed our burgers and then headed back to the Axe Sweat Lodge for swimming. The kids loved the water slide and swam for over an hour before we started showers and bedtime prep.

While they settled into bed enjoying The Disney Channel on low volume, I stepped outside to the van. Luckily our van was about 20 feet from our room, so I felt comfortable leaving them alone for a bit. While outside, I met an amazing Canadian couple.

Noel & Jen were traveling from Ontario after visiting their adult son in British Columbia. They embarked on an epic road trip across the Rocky Mountains and were in Sioux Falls for a night before heading towards Chicago. She works in commercial banking and he works in the auto parts industry. They were such a lovely couple! We shared stories about our travels, parenting and politics (I can’t help myself sometimes! Plus these are crazy times and I am so curious to know what real people in our allied countries think!). We exchanged slices of our life stories over a beer Noel & his wife offered me as we chatted.

This is by far my favorite part of travel. Meeting people from all over the world, sharing stories and remembering how very much the same we all are is an important reminder. Regardless of where we’re from, our educational background, skin color, religion, etc. – the human experience is one more similar than we realize. I love that so much.

Jen commented how brave it was to take this trip with my kids. I found that comment strange because that notion never dawned on me. But as I told my new friends, we can’t let fear stop us from living life. We can’t let it stifle our need for adventure. I wouldn’t call it brave though; I’d call it necessary.

Day one was a great start to what would become the best vacation ever.

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss my recap of DAY 2 of our Black Hills Family Vacation. Next up….Westward bound to Custer at 80 mph!