Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip to South Dakota (2023)--Prologue
9/8/2023
The Lead-up
South Dakota--specifically, the Rapid City area--was a travel destination we had mulled over often over the past 10-15 years. Twice, we were set to plan a trip there; in September 2015 and September 2017. Both times, we decided on another trip to Maui, pushing the funds we had saved for South Dakota into Maui both times. But Rapid City was a go-to place we hadn't entirely forgotten about.
There was another planned trip to Maui set for April 2023.
WAS.
What happened? The post-COVID economy happened. When the Islands Of Aloha reopened to tourism in 2021, the demand was immediately fierce, and why not? There was this pent up demand and it simply exploded all over popular destinations, Hawai'i being one of the most popular. We were two of those people looking to break free from our home and spend some time on the island (Maui) which had captured our imagination during our wedding/honeymoon trip there in 1996. Ten more trips there followed, each one special and unique in its own right. So with dreams of a 12th trip there, we booked a suite at the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort through our favorite hotel and resort rental company, Chase N Rainbows.
Once we were within the time frame where booking airfare was possible (just over 11 months prior to return), I began the oft-repeated ritual of searching for the best price on an airfare/car rental. If you have done this, you know that the prices fluctuate. At times daily, at times wildly. There is no special trick to this, just persistence. It helps if you enjoy the process as I always had. The prices, at first, were very high as they nearly always are. I had learned through experience to just wait, to check and re-check the prices on a daily basis. Living where we do, there aren't many options on how to get there. You have Delta and you have United. You fly out of Duluth or out of the Twin Cities. You book either the airfare and car rental as a package or do it separately. That's it--only eight options. It's kind of a pain in the butt but, as I said, if you enjoy the process, you don't mind.
The prices stayed high and actually got higher as time progressed. What had been fun was quickly turning to frustration. Supply and demand wasn't causing any kind of fluctuation in the prices other than upward! After nearly two months of this, I told Patty what was going on with the prices and that we were looking at rates nearly 40% higher than when we had gone there in 2018. The question never asked before arose; was this worth it?
And then an answer we had never considered came back; no. And so we canceled our resort reservation, costing us a nominal cancellation fee.
Suddenly, a whole lot of options arose on where to spend our vacation funds. Our first choice was a weeklong trip to Door County, Wisconsin. I covered this trip here
We decided after returning from Door County that we would be travelling to South Dakota after Labor Day. Hotel rates would be lower then, and the hectic summer crowds would be greatly reduced. Rapid City would be a base of sorts for us, giving us fairly easy access to different points we wanted to make day trips to such as the Badlands, Custer State Park and Devils Tower in Wyoming. The planning and booking of hotel rooms was a smooth process, as well as reserving a rental car from the Alamo location at Duluth International Airport.
We had been using Birch Hill Kennels to board Kimo (and now, also Kona!) on previous trips but they wouldn't be available when we took our trip. Susan from Birch Hill and others spoke highly of Lewis Lane Kennels not far from Pike Lake and after talking with them, we were comfortable using them for Kimo and Kona's "staycation". 
On the day before departure, the dogs went to what would be their home the next ten nine days, I drove up to the airport to secure our rental car. We had reserved an Intermediate size (Toyota Corolla or similar) but they were out of cars in that class. They gave us a free upgrade to a full size vehicle, a very nice 2023 Chevy Malibu with only 7,800 miles on it. It was an interesting experience renting a car in our home town. On Maui, you show up at the rental counter, secure your car and then have access to ALL the vehicles in the size you ordered. Here in Duluth, you are given a parking spot # and the car in that spot was what you got.
With this little detail out of the way, all we had to do was pack the final few items into our suitcases and try to relax a bit.
One more sleep and then we would be on the road!
Previous: 8/11/2023--"There's Nothing Left...It's Gone"
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