My older daughter was not able to accompany the three of us several years ago, when we went to Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, so we planned to start in that part of South Dakota. Rapid City gets no direct flights from my home in Florida or hers in DC, which means you have to fly somewhere else first and then take one of the few flights to Rapid City. That meant I had to get up at 3:50 am and we were in the car at 4:42 for Orlando International Airport. When we arrived at 5:13, I said good-bye to my husband at the curb and hurried in to American Airlines. It is most unfortunate that they do not let you pay for your luggage online. It takes more time at checkin and then they make you put the luggage tag on the suitcase yourself. I had trouble getting the kiosk to read my credit card, but one of the employees said he had the magic touch and he got it to work.
Since I paid for the TSA Pre last year, I was able to go in that line and I was through security by 530. Out at the gates, I checked on my gate and then got in the rather long line for Nature's Table. I thought I should eat healthy, so I chose the Sensible Starter, which was egg white and cheese and spinach on what turned out to be thick white bread, and I got a bottle of juice for a total of $7.65. The bread was way too thick for the fillings and the whole thing was rather dry. I then passed the time reading a chapter from my younger daughter's college textbook on the geology of the national parks in order to prepare for the Badlands.
By 6:38, I was seated in 25C on AA2998 to Chicago. The seat next to me had been empty the night before, but a rather large woman soon showed up. The seats and leg room were minimal and I do not like to sit with my arm touching someone else. The overhead bins were huge. Why not splurge on a little room for the seats?
Pushback for our 7 am flight was at 6:55 and we were finally in the air at 7:15. There was an entertainment panel on the seatback, but with only 4 hours sleep, I chose to nap.
We landed at Chicago O'Hare at 8:44 and taxied for 15 minutes. I was off the plane at 9:02 at Gate H17 and had to get myself in a hurry to L6A for my 10:10CDT flight. As I got to the L concourse, I was greeted by my older daughter with a bagel sandwich for me. At 9:15, we were at the gate, where I was to have about 20 minutes to scarf down the large, delicious sandwich. It turned out that I needn't have rushed, as they were delayed disembarking the previous flight.
I take my CPAP machine on trips and have a great fear that they will try to gatecheck my carry on bag, which just can't happen. My daughter had paid to sit more forward in the plane and took my bag, because we thought there might be more room up there. Turned out to be correct. I was in the last row and those bins on this small ( 2seats on each side) plane were full of equipment. I did get lucky, as the other two seats across the aisle were empty and I was allowed to sit over there. I had some nice views out the window, while my daughter was busy reading the Badlands article up front.
Our pushback was at 10:15 and we took off at 10:30. At 11:26 MDT, we landed in Rapid City, South Dakota. The luggage carousel had moved downstairs, since the last time I was here. On our way, we stopped at the terrace to take photos of the Black Hills in the distance. Our luggage was the last still there, so easy to find.
Our car was a Toyota Camry with only 1514 miles on it. By the time I thoroughly photographed it and we loaded it up, it was 12:26 and 90 degrees.
My daughter programmed our GPS ("Sarah") for the Badlands National Park as we headed off. We had some confusion with what she was telling us and eventually realized we were headed for the southern unit down on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Well, at least we can say we saw some of that, before we turned around.
Finally, at 2:11 with 1612 on the odometer, we paid the $20 entrance fee at the Badlands Interior entrance. Within 4 minutes, we were parked at the Cedar Pass Lodge for lunch. We both chose the Sioux Indian Taco with buffalo meat for $9.45, but she had a Coke, while I had a Diet Coke, for $250 each. The Taco was on a huge, fluffy circle of Indian fry bread and it was delicious. Even though it was quite filling, we did not want to miss out on the South Dakota state dessert, Wojapi Kuchen. We planned to split a piece, but as soon as we found out it came in various flavors, we decided to get two- strawberry rhubarb and chocolate chip- and split both of those. I thought it was a bit like a chess pie and my daughter thought it was like a custard pie. Either way, both flavors were delicious.
We looked around in the shop and picked up a couple of things, before moving the car over to the Ben Reiel Visitor's Center at 3:48. I got my passport stamped and we watched the video, as well as checked out the displays. The gift shop took more of our money, before we started our driving tour at 5 pm.
We got out at several stops along the way and took some fantastic photos. Driving up onto the Wall, which, no doubt, gave the town its name, revealed fascinating geology. We were both glad we'd read the chapter. As always, we're suckers for prairie dogs and love photographing them. We also got lucky and saw bighorn sheep.
When we headed to the back for the new restroom area, I was distracted by a rock shop. While we were picking out goodies there, I got a call from the hotel to be sure we were coming. She said it would be a 2 hour drive, so we hurriedly finished our business and hopped in the car at 7:59.
Luckily, I 90 had a speed limit of 80. The sunset kept me guessing as to when to shift to regular glasses. We could see lightning in the Black Hills ahead of us and I became concerned about heavy rain at our destination, as Custer is in the Black Hills.So, at 8:42, at a McDonald's on the edge of Rapid City,my daughter got umbrellas from the trunk, while I made a pit stop.
We were on the road at 8:50 and it wasn't long before it started to rain as we climbed higher and higher. We passed campgrounds, cabins, and small towns. In Hill City, a deer ran right through downtown just ahead of us! There was some traffic, but stores and restaurants were closed. At 9:43, we pulled into the Bavarian Inn in Custer, which I'd chosen for its location and because we'd liked it when we'd stayed there before.
The desk was still open and gave me a friendly welcome. The simple room was clean and bright. There were silk flowers on the tray with the toiletries and a rubber duck in lederhosen on the tub.
My daughter closed the blinds on the door and we were soon in bed, exhausted from our long, but enjoyable day.
