Vacation: In July of 2018, we took a road trip to South Dakota. Along the way we made a few stops in Wisconsin and Minnesota, Wyoming, and North Dakota.

We drove 3,111 miles in 11 days (10 nights). We averaged 20.4 mpg and premium gas was approximately $3.50/gallon.

 

Start Here: Click on the Category or Event in the left-hand frame to view the corresponding photos.

Click here to start at the beginning, or click here to view all of the thumbnails on a single page. Scroll down to view videos from the road trip.

To enlarge a photo or thumbnail, click on it. Each photo is named in the following format: YMD-HMS. Hover over a photo to view this information.

 

Summary: South Dakota was absolutely beautiful. Not only were the Badlands and Black Hills amazing, but even driving the interstate was gorgeous.

Wyoming was similarly beautiful. Minnesota, however, was more like Wisconsin.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park (South Unit & Painted Canyon) in N.D. was very impressive and diverse. It's out of the way, but I highly recommend going if you can.

 

Favorites: My favorite parts of the road trip were climbing in the Badlands, driving the scenic roads, and swimming at the hotels.

Rosanne's favorite part was taking photos of birds, animals, and natural wonders with the camera.

Elliot's favorite parts were the Cosmos Mystery Area and the Waterpark in Rapid City. Ephraim's favorite parts were all of the water slides.

 

Other Notes: The House on the Rock elicited a wide range of emotions, such as confusion, anger, hatred, and fear. Haha, but it was pretty interesting.

Ephraim was snoring so loud that on the first night, he had to sleep in the bathroom of the hotel room. Poor outcast Ephraim.

In the Badlands, Elliot ran outside without shoes on and stepped on a cactus. His pain led to the new country single, "I Left My Socks In The Badlands"

Much of the Black Hills are at a higher elevation than Denver is, which I didn't realize until we got there.

We saw approximately zero police cars the entire trip. And there was almost no road construction... until we got back into Wisconsin.

We spotted license plates of all U.S. States except: Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Washington D.C.

 



Videos: Watch home videos from our road trip by clicking on these YouTube links:

    July 6   Cave of the Mounds
House on the Rock
    July 12   Devils Tower
Spearfish Canyon
Deadwood Shootouts
    July 7   Grandad Bluff
The Mall of America
    July 13   Painted Canyon
Theodore Roosevelt
Wild Horses & Skyline Vista
    July 8   Badlands (After Sunset)     July 14   Car Rides & Story Time
    July 9   Prairie Homestead
Minuteman Missile NHS
Badlands National Park
    July 15   Big Manitou Falls
    July 10   Iron Mountain Road
Mount Rushmore
 

Not Filmed

      Mitchell Corn Palace
Wall Drug
WaTiki Water Park
Crazy Horse
Leiney's Lodge
    July 11   Jewel Cave
Sylvan Lake, Needles, Wildlife Loop
Cosmos Mystery Area
    July 10   1880 Steam Train Ride


Total Running Time:
1 hour, 56 minutes [Playlist]
 

Destinations:

Car Rides:


Swimming:
Other Links:

 

 

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