Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore Trip

Camp at Custer State Park: $24/night
If not at Custer State Park, use a local campground.

Badlands National Park with stops at (kids printable worksheets) $15 per car

• Ben Reifel Visitors Center
• Wall Drugs
• The Windows Overlook
• The Fossil Exhibit Trail
• Yellow Mounds
• Pinnacles Overlook
• Minuteman Missile (for kids)

Bear Country, USA: 

• Allow 2 - 3 hours.
• Adult Adm $16
• Child Adm $10
• Worksheets for kids

Custer State Park Resort:

1. CHUCK WAGON COOKOUT: 
• Check in at Blue Bell Lodge, Custer State Park at 5 p.m.
• Old fashioned hayride in vehicle pulled wagon
• Get a souvenir cowboy hat and bandana for each paying guest
• Adult Adm $47
• Child Adm $37
2. HORSEBACK RIDING:
• Check in at Blue Bell Lodge Stables (605-255-4700)
• 1 HR Trail Ride (Adults $36/ Child $30)
• 2 HR Trail Ride (Adults $48/Child $40)
• 1/2 Day Trail Ride (lunch included) $125 per person
• Full Day Trail Ride (lunch included) $200 per person
3. JEEP TOUR
• Jeep Tour only (Adults $43/Child $36
• Jeep Tour/Chuckwagon Combo (Adults $82/Child $62)
4. HALF DAY BOAT RENTAL $35
• Sylvan Lake 605-574-2561
• Legion Lake 605-255-4521

CHUCKWAGON SUPPER AT FORT HAYS

• Adults $24
• Kids $12
• (could also start in Hill City at 7 a.m., take the 1880's Train to Mount Rushmore and Black Hills tour, return to Hill City at 5 p.m. and then do Chuckwagon Supper =     Adults $83/Kids $40)

HORSEBACK RIDING (1/2 Day) AT ROCKIN R RIDES

• Adults $65
• Kids $60
• Overnighter  Adults $220, Kids $215

BIG THUNDER GOLD MINE:

• Expect to spend 2 - 3 hours.
• Mine tour (Adults $9.25/Kids$6.25)
• Panning ($7.25 ea with Mine Tour)

OR WADE'S GOLD MILL

• Panning Lesson & Tour (Adults $16/ Kids $12)
• Allow 2 - 3 hours

CAVE TOURS: 

• Wind Cave
• Jewel Cave (see Mt. Rushmore on the way)

MAMMOTH MUSEUM:

• Adults $9
• Child $7
• Jr. paleontologist excavation program is available for an additional $10 (subject to availability).

EVAN'S PLUNGE WATER PARK/MINERAL SPA: 

• Adults $12
• Child $10

2013/05/20 - 05/29 Atlanta Vacay

We took a quick road trip to Atlanta, GA for a week.  In this post I will post a brief run down of our itinerary, costs, and what I would have done differently. Regarding souvenirs, I just stuck to adding to my iron on patch and pressed penny collection. Where food was concerned, I loaded up the ice-chest with sandwich goodies for the most part. Several times, my sister cooked for her family and ours.

Mileage RT from our home and back was 1659 miles.
Pretrip Tires: 349.67
Fuel:  489.28
Lodging: 180.00 (camping in Pop up Camper at Old Hwy 41 Campground #3, Acworth, GA = $30/night)
Admission Fees:  500.45
Food: 274.42 (eating at the Attractions and at Fast Food places)
Gift Shops:  186.54
Parking Fees: 30.00
Cash at ATMs: 200

Total $1830.69

Looking at that total price, I think to myself, "Whoa!  I could've done much better than that!" Let's see where I could've made those changes, for future reference.

Day 1, Monday: 

• Traveling. 
• Lunch at Subway $19.40
• (I would have made sandwiches prior to embarking on our trip - Thereby saving $19.40)

Day 2, Tuesday:

• The Varsity $34.58
• CNN (included in City Pass) $330
• Paid Parking $10
• Souvenirs $ 43.19 $10.78

What I would have done differently:

• Probably NOT done The Varsity
• Savings $34.58

 Day 3, Wednesday:

• Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield FREE
• Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History $33.50
• Picnic Lunch
• Souvenirs $9.00

What I would have done instead:

• World of Coke (Adm included in City Pass)
• Paid Parking $10
• Picnic Lunch
• Souvenirs $25.70
• Savings of $6.80

 Day 4, Thursday:

• Stone Mountain $136.95
• Lunch at Stone Mountain $38.59
• Souvenirs $12.82 $17.42 = 205.78

What I would have done instead:

• Georgia Aquarium (Adm included in City Pass)
• Paid Parking $10
• Picnic Lunch
• Souvenirs $32.40 $44.23 = 86.63
• Savings of $119.15

 Day 5, Friday:

• Nephew's graduation day
• Pablano's with the sisters $13.25

What I would have done instead:

• Nephew's graduation
• Lunch with the family
• Fernbank Museum with the kids (Adm included in City Pass)
• Souvenirs
• Pablano's with the sisters $13.25

 Day 6, Saturday:

• Georgia Aquarium (included in City Pass)
• Paid Parking $10
• Lunch at Aquarium $40.75
• Souvenirs $32.40 $44.23

What I would have done instead:

• Atlanta Zoo (Adm inc in City Pass)
• Parking $10
• Picnic Lunch
• Souvenirs

 Day 7, Sunday: 

• World of Coke (included in City Pass)
• Paid Parking $10
• Picnic lunch
• Souvenirs $25.70

What I would have done instead:

• I would be traveling home
• Savings $65.70

 Day 8, Monday:

• Traveling
• Picnic lunch

I think if I had done things differently, I would have saved approximately $250.00 on this trip. I feel like I surely could have done the entire trip for under $1000, especially if I had stuck to mostly free activities instead of touring the Must See zones.

Atlanta, May 2013

We're planning a little jaunt to Atlanta, GA.  Here is what I have planned. Suggestions are welcome.

Drive to Red Top Mountain State Park to park our camper.

Tuesday,  Day 1: 

• Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Centennial Olympic Park (?)
• CNN Studio Tour
• Georgia Aquarium
• Starlight Drive In

 Wednesday, Day 2:

• Atlanta Zoo
• Atlanta Cyclorama
• World of Coca Cola
• Dixie Coca Cola Bottling Plant
• Martin Luther King Memorial (get NPS Passport stamped!)

One of these days we'll do lunch at the Flying Biscuit and The Varsity

Thursday, Day 3:

• Stone Mountain

Friday, Day 4: 

• Luke's Graduation ceremony and lunch with the fams. 

Saturday, Day 5:

• Six Flags

VDR Day 18: Stopping point

I feel the need to make a quick update here.  I noticed on this Virtual Dream Roadtrip that we managed to make it to Banff National Park, Canada and then we simply stopped.  No, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth or even into a deep glacial gorge.  I simply stopped typing.  Life got in the way and my plans had to cease for a while.

Therefore, I'm making this quick post to let you know that the return route was planned to come back south through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, a corner of Texas, and then home to Louisiana.  Hopefully, soon I will be able to post more updates with attractions and links to such for the return trip home.

Thank you for your patience.

Little House/Laura Ingalls Roadtrip

Possible July 2013 Road Trip

Route:  Livingston, LA - St. Louis area, MO - St. Charles, MN - Pepin, WI - Burr Oak, MN - Fairfax, MN - Walnut Grove, MN - DeSmet, SD - Interior, SD - Salix, IA - Independence, KS - Mansfield, MO - Livingston, LA

Approx mileage:              2,842 miles, 46 hours RT

Approx fuel costs:           $840 (based on 13 mpg and $3.50 per gallon x 2842 miles)

Approx Adm fees:           $840

Approx Camping fees:   $200

Approx food Budget:     $300

Approx trip cost:            $2180

States we will visit:

Wisconsin -  Base camp at Whitewater State Park, St. Charles, MN

• Pepin, WI (Little House in the Big Woods                                     
• The Little House in the Big Woods (a.k.a. LauraIngalls Wilder Wayside)
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum (small - allow about an hour to visit)
• Pepin Depot
• Also see Caddie Woodlawn Park and House, Menomonie, WI (read books)
• Nelson cheese factory
• The Pearl of the Lake paddlewheeler
• Eat at the Pickle Factory Bar & Grill
• Effigy Mounds National Monument, Prairie Du Chien, WI

Minnesota -  Base camp at Whitewater State Park, St. Charles, MN

• Spring Valley, MN (Almanzo’s teen boyhood home)
• Spring Valley Methodist Church Museum
• Fairfax, MN - Base camp at Fort Ridgely State Park
• Mankato, MN –
• Children’s Museum of Southern MN
• US – Dakota Conflict of 1862 Self-Guided Tour
• Pioneer Memorial Park , 1351 North Sixth Street
• Betsy & Tacy’s house tours and gift shop (Maud Hart Lovelace stories?)
• Treaty site history center, 1851 N. Minnesota Ave, St. Peter
• Walnut Grove (On the Banks of Plum Creek) = 1 day while on way to De Smet, SD
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum
• Ingalls Dugout Site
• Nellie’s Café, Hwy 14, Walnut Grove
• English Lutheran Church (where Pa’s bell now hangs), 450 Wiggens Street
• End O Line Railroad Park and Museum, Currie, MN

South Dakota

• De Smet, SD
• Ingalls Homestead
• De Smet Depot Museum
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial
• Surveyor’s House & One Room Schoolhouse
• Cemetery
• 16 point Driving/Walking Tour
• DOWNLOAD ITINERARY FROM http://www.liwms.com
• Murdo, SD
• 1800’s Town
• Wall, SD
• Minuteman Missile
• Wall Drugs
• The Prairie Homestead in Phillip, SD
• Interior, SD
• Badlands National Park

Iowa

• Burr Oak, IA – (4^th home left out of Laura Ingalls LH books.  The family spent their in between years here and had a baby boy who died.  Pa managed a Hotel where the family lived.)
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Park & Museum, 3603 236^th Avenue, Burr Oak, IA  52101
• Master’s Hotel
• Missouri Valley, IA – Stay at Wilson Island State Park, 30 minutes N of Council Bluffs
• Union Pacific Railroad Museum
• Lewis & Clark Monument and Scenic Overlook
• Squirrel Cage Jail & Museum
• Western Historic Trails Center

Missouri

•   St. Louis, MO – Stay 2 or 3 days
• Museum of Westward Expansion (located under Arch) & Gateway Arch – plan to stay 30 min – 2 hrs
• Butterfly Garden  - 30 mn – 1 hr
• Missouri History Museum – 1 – 2 hrs
• St. Louis Zoo – 2 hrs
• Anheauser-Busch Brewery – 1.5 hrs
• Grant’s Farm (and home of the Clydesdales) – 2 – 3 hrs
• Tour home of Scott Joplin
• Daniel Boone’s homestead and Boonesfield Village
• St. Louis Area State Parks
• Dr. Edmund A. Babler State Park – 40 mn west of St. Louis
• Hawn State Park* - 1 hr 15 mn south of St. Louis
• Meramec State Park – 1 hr 9 mn South west of St. Louis
• Robertsville State Park – 54 mn SW of St. Louis on Hwy 44 (old Route 66)
• St. Francois State Park – 56 mn S of St. Louis
• St. Joe State Park – 1 hr 15 mn S of St. Louis (Abt 40 mn W of Hawn SP)
• Washington State Park – 1 hr S of St. Louis
• Illinois State Parks
• Pere Marquette State Park, Grafton, IL – 1 hr upriver from St. Louis
• Horseshoe Lake State Park, Pontoon Beach, IL – 20 min E of St. Louis – primitive camping only
• Branson, MO
• Silver Dollar City
• Mansfield, MO
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum
• Bakersville Pioneer Village and Heritage Seed Company
• Mansfield Cemetery where Laura, Almanzo, and Rose are buried

Kansas

• Independence, KS - Stay at Elk City State Park
• Little House on the Prairie Museum

Note to self:  Here's a link for some more info
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-10617.html
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/GettingOutThere/South-Dakota.htm

Collecting Brochures for Yellowstone Pkt

Arkansas

http://www.arkansas.com/places-to-go/cities-and-towns/city-detail.aspx?city=Beaver

http://www.explorenwar.com/

http://www.cityofeurekasprings.org/

http://www.greatpassionplay.org/

http://www.thorncrown.com/

Missouri

http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/

http://mostateparks.com/park/watkins-mill-state-park

http://www.nps.gov/hstr/index.htm Harry S. Truman Site

http://www.jessejames.org/

https://www.claycountymo.gov/Historic_Sites/Jesse_James_Bank_Museum

http://www.ci.independence.mo.us/nftm/

Iowa

http://www.iowahistory.org/historic-sites/western-historic-trails/

http://thehistoricalsociety.org/jail.htm

http://www.uprrmuseum.org/

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2512

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/15861

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/12132

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/9117

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Destinations/StateParksRecAreas/IowasStateParks/ParkDetails.aspx?ParkID=610117

Nebraska

http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/parks/guides/parksearch/showpark.asp?Area_No=143

South Dakota
Yankton
http://www.dakotaterritorialmuseum.org/

http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/

DeSmet
http://www.ingallshomestead.com/

http://www.southdakota.com/lake-thompson-recreation-area/179

Murdo
http://www.1880town.com/

Interior
http://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm

http://www.wall-badlands.com/

http://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm

Keystone
http://www.bigthundermine.com/

http://cosmosmysteryarea.com/

http://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/wica/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/jeca/index.htm

Cut through WY
http://www.crookcountymuseum.com/

http://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm

Into Montana
http://www.nps.gov/libi/index.htm

http://www.grandviewcamp.com/

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/content/mt/en/fo/billings_field_office/pompeyspillar.html

http://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/grko/index.htm

http://www.livingstonmontana.org/ - Look for campgrounds

http://www.mtrv.com/

Wyoming
http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm

http://www.casperwy.gov/

http://www.casperwyoming.info/

http://www.casperwy.gov/ParksRecreationandEntertainment/Museums/FortCasparMuseum/tabid/188/Default.aspx

http://www.wyomingtourism.org/thingstodo/overview/State-Parks-and-Historic-Sites/1349309

Colorado
http://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm

http://www.estesparkcvb.com/lodging.cfm

http://www.nps.gov/blca/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm

http://www.visitlajunta.net/bents.html

http://www.nps.gov/sand/index.htm

Kansas
http://www.dodgecity.org/

http://www.stateparks.com/ford_county_state_park_in_kansas.html

http://tourist-attractions.find-near-me.info/in/dodge-city-ks

Independence, KS
http://liwfrontiergirl.com/independence.html

http://www.laurasprairiehouse.com/sites/independencehome.html

http://www.stateparks.com/elk_city.html

Oklahoma
http://www.stateparks.com/lake_murray_state_park_in_oklahoma.html

Louisiana - HOME!

VDR Trip, Day 17: Banff, CA - W. Glacier, MT

Banff National Park, AB, Canada - Glacier National Park, W. Glacier, MT

262 mi, 5 hrs
Appx fuel costs: $ 92
Adm. Fees: $ 22
Camping Fees: $ 20/night

Today's plan is to leave Banff National Park, AB, Canada and head down to one of America's greatest areas, Glacier National Park, West Glacier, MT via the Cowboy Trail (aka Alberta #22)

We might make a brief stop at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump for some interpretive center activities.  Admission is $22 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children ages 7 - 17.

Another stop I'm looking at will be in the town of Pincher. From there, we'll head on in to Glacier National Park for a night or two.

If we stay only one day, we'll definitely be driving the Going to the Sun road and probably take a walking tour in the park's headquarters.  It's till unknown whether we'll do a bus tour.  There are also horseback rides and rafting available here.

Glacier Nat'l Park Fees:
$25 per car
Bus tours are $40 - $75