2024 South Dakota Adventure # 3

Continuing on with the South Dakota Adventure I did September 13-23, 2024! Again….don’t worry — you don’t necessarily have to read these in order, but it might flow a bit better if you read # 1 and 2 first…..but it really won’t be confusing to do them out of order.

When I closed out post # 2, we just finished the last night in the Baymont hotel in Sturgis and now we’ll be starting the drive toward home.

Day # 8 – Friday, September 20th: Last night was our last night in the Rapid City / Sturgis area. I repacked my overnight bag – the one that I will take in to the hotels each night on our drive back home – with the clothes I’ll need for the next three days (four counting this day, but the overnight bag didn’t have those clothes in it – I wore them!) 

This was the day I was waiting for!!! I finally get to see the Badlands again! If you haven’t been reading these posts in order, I’ll mention here that getting to visit the Badlands once again was one of the main reasons I decided to go on this trip…..it turned out that there was WAY more than just the Badlands that made the trip amazing and we did a TON of things that were “new to me” (not something I saw or did on my other two trips to the area), but I was still primarily excited to visit this particular spot! It is one of my most favorite places in the world…..it does have a lot of competition – many places are way up there on my list of awesome places, but for some reason, this one sticks out as an extra special memory for me. And, it didn’t disappoint me to go back!

What time did we need to have our luggage loaded and get on the bus? Yep…..8:15…..8:15…..8:15…..8:15!!! I really regret not getting a video of the bus chanting our “back on the bus” song….it’s a key part of our trip and just can’t be described in writing! we left about 8:30 and arrived at the Badlands about 10:00 am.

First – here’s a photo of me in 2024 (left) and 2016 (right) and my very favorite photo of the Badlands taken in 2016 – in fact, my favorite photo of the entire cross country motorhome trip it was part of and maybe my favorite photo of all time…..it was taken when I happened to turn around and saw my brother and sister-in-law hugging while looking out over the beautiful valley in the Badlands – I snapped it quick before they moved!!!!

We made a couple stops at overlooks, but mostly drove through the park with the buttes and valleys and spires all around us – what awesome views we had! Photos can never do justice to this kind of spectacular beauty, but even the photos I took through the bus window are undeniable that this is God’s majestic artistry right here before our very eyes! I could not help but be overwhelmed with emotion and love and awe and just WOW……looking at the splendor of it all! My only regret is that I couldn’t see in every direction at the same time – the fact that I could not do that meant that I was missing some of it…..

There is another route through the park that takes you along the ridge that looks down into the deep valleys that is superb….but, it is a gravel, dusty, bumpy road that is not at all suitable for a bus – we took the motorhome down it in 2016 and, while we absolutely don’t regret it, we did have a rough go of it. However, the paved route is just as spectacular….just a different perspective – one that is just as amazing in it’s own way!

These striking geologic deposits contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds throughout the park’s 244,000 acres protecting an expanse of mixed-grass prairie. The name, as I understand it, came from the first Native American settlers who, when they came across this section of the prairie and saw that nothing could grow or thrive there, gave it their name for “Bad Land”, which became The Badlands.

So — following is my attempt at showing restraint in not posting every photo I took and trying (poorly, I’m sure) in just posting the very best of the ones I took:

Ok….so restraint is not my strong suit when it comes to stuff like this…..I can’t pick just a few…..each photo is so very different and shows off the range of ever changing beauty that it is impossible to tell the story in just a few shots! But, I’ll stop here….and move on to the rest of the day!

We also stopped at the Ben Reifel Visitor’s Center for our morning rest stop. It was an interesting place with educational exhibits, some researchers going about their work, and of course, a gift shop! I purchased a bag full of t-shirts for myself and my brother…..because I am quite certain I’ll never go back there again (although, you never know) and I actually didn’t get any t-shirts on my first trip (I just got a refrigerator magnet) and the t-shirts my brother bought on that 2016 trip were lost when their house burned a few years ago. So, we now have several t-shirts each to remember our beloved Badlands!

OK….just a couple more of the views after the visitor’s center….then, I promise I’ll move on!

After we left the Badlands, we stopped at a Subway for lunch…..I had to mention this stop because they did THE BEST job of handling a bus load of hungry people I have ever seen! They moved us through the line with ordering and serving in no time flat! It was so very impressive!!!

The following are things I captured on the highway on our way to Sioux Falls, SD:

Our afternoon rest stop was at a place called Al’s Oasis in Oacoma, SD…..that was fun! It is like a strip mall with a grocery store, a clothing store, a restaurant, gift shop, and even some arcade games!

It’s not every day you go into a grocery store and find a life size bison and other stuffed wildlife all on display!

This is a large refrigerated walk-in room in the middle of the grocery store full of liquor and beer and stuff like that….all guarded by the wildlife display on top!

Dinner that night was at the Best Western in Sioux Falls, SD – they put on a pasta buffet for us – very nice!

Then, we arrived back at the same Avid Hotel in Sioux City, IA that we stayed in on the way out. I, again, got a big chuckle out of how the square light around the bathroom mirror reflected as a bright square around the pupils in my eyes…..again, I’m easily amused! hahaha Still love that hotel…..this time I was in a different room with the layout in the opposite direction of the previous room (the bed and bathroom was on the left on the way out and on the right on the way back…..which makes sense because we’re now driving in the opposite direction! Ha ha ha……a little travel humor for ya!

Day # 9 – Saturday, September 21st: The next morning and early afternoon was mostly driving with a rest stop and lunch at McDonald’s somewhere along the way. Our tourist stop on Saturday was at Amana Heritage Museum. This is a quaint communal settlement established by Germans who were religiously persecuted and fled Europe around the 1800s. The video of their history was fascinating and the original communal buildings were interesting. They also had many shops….including a Christmas shop, leather shop, general store, several wineries, gift shops, bakeries, and much more! The weather was perfect that day – just right for strolling the streets and taking in all the things the village had to offer.

That night, we had dinner at PERKINS!!! Breakfast for dinner! YAY! I really miss Perkins around here and knew I would absolutely not miss out on ordering some of their pancakes while I had the chance!

Our hotel on Saturday night was the same SureStay Plus in Coralville, IA that we stayed at on the way out – the one I said wasn’t my favorite – not that it was bad at all….just that it wasn’t “quite” as comfortable a night’s sleep as the other hotels! BUT….this time, either the bed and pillows in the room were better than the other one OR I was a lot more tired….not sure which, but I hit the bed and crashed and slept like a log all night long! Just goes to show…..don’t give up on something or “poo-poo” it after just one experience!

Day # 10 – Sunday, September 22nd: Sunday was another mostly driving day with rest stops and lunch at Wendy’s somewhere along the way.

But…..at 4:00 pm we made it to the Studebaker National Museum in south Bend, Indiana!!! WOW!!! What a place! Three floors of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen! Studebaker made everything from buggy’s to race cars to luxury cars to military vehicles to postal carrier vehicles! How could a car company that made such stunning vehicles go out of business? And, why can’t we get cars that these anymore!!!???

Sadly, we only had an hour there, as they closed at 5:00…..I was able to quickly go through all three floors on the Studebaker side and pick up a couple t-shirts (one that says “I’m not old, I’m a classic”) and a refrigerator magnet. But did not have time to go through the History Museum side – I noticed they had an All American Girls Baseball League display that I would have liked to see – I did get a t-shirt that said “there’s no crying in baseball”, though!

This is Don…..he was on our bus……I usually try to respect the privacy of my fellow travelers, but after hearing I was going to blog about our trip, Don said “I can’t wait to be in your blog and can’t wait to read it!” I’m not sure if he literally meant he wanted to be “in” my blog, but here he is, anyway! Hi, Don!!! Thanks for bringing the humor to our trip every day along the way! 🙂 (Don was also featured in the part about Deadwood in post # 2….he was chosen, along with our other bus-mate, Wendy, to help Wild Bill tell the story of his demise!)

I remember hearing that my father had a Studebaker when I was little…..not exactly sure, but I think it was a Lark!

The Studebaker Museum was our last tourist stop of the trip!

That night, we ate at Bob Evens and had a really good meal! Our hotel was a new one we didn’t stay at on the way out….Holiday Inn Express in Perrysburg, OH — VERY NICE!!! Our last hotel stay of the trip!

Day # 11 – Monday, September 23rd: Monday was out last day — no tourist stops….just a rest stop and lunch at a Chick-Fil-A somewhere along the way. We arrived back in Batavia safe and sound just about the planned time of 4:00 pm! YAY! As much fun and amazing memories this trip made, I was so very happy to get home and sleep in my own bed Monday night!

That’s all for my 2024 South Dakota Adventure! Hope you enjoyed the photos and stories!

If you’re reading this one first, be sure to scroll down to read the other three posts:

2024 South Dakota Adventure # 1
2024 South Dakota Adventure # 2
2024 South Dakota Adventure # 3 (this is the one you’re reading now)
Random Pics of America’s Heartland

Thank you to Kathy and Rachel for making this a most excellent adventure and to all my bus-mates for sharing your time and experiences with me! I had a wonderful time and hope to see you all on another trip in the future!