Vacation Planning
By: Mr. Wilson on
February 13, 2012
After that we plan to head up to the Black Hills. We'll probably hit Cascade Falls on our way up toward Hot Springs. After that ... who knows! There's so much to do: Custer State Park; Needles Highway; Jewel Cave; Sylvan Lake; Harney Peak; the mammoth dig; Mt. Rushmore; Reptile Gardens; and on and on. We'll probably rent a cabin and stay for anywhere from 3-7 days; four days is probably most likely at this point.
I've been to the Black Hills many times, but my most recent visit was way back in July 1995*. I imagine things have changed a fair bit since then. What's hot these days that we just have to see? What should we definitely avoid? Any "hidden gems" we ought to investigate? Any cabin recommendations?
The vacation is five months away but I'm already looking forward to it. Who doesn't love a road trip? Joey and Keishor have never been on a vacation like this so it will be fun to see their reaction to everything. I imagine we'll hear many shouts of "This is so cool!". And probably lots of "Are we there yet?"s as well. I guess that's unavoidable.
* The last time I was in the Black Hills was in 1995 with my parents. It was our last major family vacation, though my sister didn't go with us. I read a lot of books on that trip, one of which was Congo by Michael Crichton. I really enjoyed it. On a particularly scorching hot day we decided to enjoy the air conditioning in a theater. We decided to see Congo since I had just read the book. SPOILER ALERT: the movie sucked donkey socks. Whodathunk that one of the most memorable parts of that trip would be going to watch one of the most wretched atrocities in cinema history? Amy! Amy! Ugh. Stupid animatronic gorilla.
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I suggest you see “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. Best action movie of 2011. And best all around movie in the Monkey genre category for 2011 too.
Believe me, the will redeem the monkey movie in your mind forever.
If you are so inclined, buy the video players for the kids. Get the one that has 2 screens so that you can spread them through the car. You can buy a FM transmitter to plug into the video machine to transmit to your stereo as well so that everyone can hear the movie.
If you go that route, utilize Red Box. They have maps of where each one is located, and instead of getting 50 movies that you could easily lose on the trip, just get 1-2 at the Red Box then transfer them out while you’re driving.
Bring a cooler, but instead of ice, grab a bunch of juice boxes and freeze them and use them for the ice. When they melt the kids can just drink them and there is no swishy water in the cooler and extra cold juice boxes.
If you’re planning on camp cooking, we cook everything in advance, that way you just have to reheat it over the stove vs. totally cooking it.
We have the kids pack 2 bags. 1 is for their toys. We always include crayons/markers, coloring book, plain paper, books to read, hotwheels, plastic lizards/spiders/bugs, etc. The second is for their snacks. Freeze the fruit (again, it will melt and it’s actually almost better than fresh), include pretzels, a peanut butter sandwich (if no allergies… and no jelly, jelly is messy), etc. Whatever snacks you want them to have. We set it up so that both bags are within their reach so they had the very grown up luxury of picking when they ate a snack and when they played with toys.
Those are just my suggestions 😉 Have fun!
Oh, and while in the BlackHills, try Storybook Island. Your boys would love love it. It’s free (donations accepted) and totally kid friendly.
http://storybookisland.org/
Out of all the things we did, the kids had the most fun here.
I’m not familiar with that park. We’ll have to check it out. Thanks!
Yeah, we have a two-screen DVD player that can play one or two DVDs. Very handy, although the cords can be a pain. We try not to rely on TV, though, so We’ve only used it once or twice. I’m sure it’ll get used a fair amount this summer, though.
Yeah, we only put the video’s in for long trips. I try to keep in mind that though we are enjoying the scenery, the kids are bored out of their brains 😉 And mine refuse to sleep on trips so we have to fill it with something (and I can only deal with so many fun kids games and songs).
We went up that way last summer. I really enjoyed the Fur Trade Museum in Chadron. Evans Plunge was a bit hit, too.
We had a family reunion at http://www.rafterj.com/ in July 2008. Thought it was a great place. Newer cabins. Clean. Free pancakes every morning. Great location for us, as we enjoy Hill City/Keystone. Close to Mt. Rushmore/Custer State Park.
We’re heading to the Hills this summer, too, for the same family reunion. This time they decided to try vacation rental homes. If I were in charge, I would have went back to Rafter J, hands down.
We’re still trying to figure out what all we want to do. Our soon-to-be-4-yr-old was only a few months old last time. Definitely planning to ride the 1880s train this time around. We’ll hit Wall Drug and the Badlands and the other touristy places. And I suppose we’ll spend some time reunionizing. Thanks for the Storybook Island tip, George.
Thanks for the tips!
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