Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip to South Dakota (2023)--Day 2
9/10/2023
Hello, Rapid City!
Good morning from Sioux Falls
I cannot praise Apple Car Play enough--while being able to see the current trip info on the screen including how far before the next turn, how far to our destination and the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), it would also advise on which lane to be in! Sweet. I asked Patty "What did we do before stuff like this was available?" and she replied "We got lost a lot".  It makes navigating in unfamiliar areas a relative breeze and would come in quite handy while driving around the Rapid City area.
This morning started an unusual (for me, at least) tradition of getting up at 5:30 a.m. Why? Because the Best Western and Americinn start serving their free breakfast at 6:00! Today's was quite good, featuring hot treats such as sausages and waffles to pastries, hard boiled eggs, fruits and, very surprisingly, POG! POG is a Passion Fruit/Orange Juice/Guava Juice mixture. While not a diabetic’s best friend, I've always considered this stuff to be nectar of the gods. We were introduced to this amazing drink on Maui about 15 years ago and I was a big fan at first sip.
With a shower and a quick nap out of the way, we hit the road again, headed to Rapid City. But first, I had to fuel up. I couldn't find the gas lid release switch! Consulting the owner's manual which they had thankfully kept in the glove box, I found out there wasn't one. You press on the lid on the outside of the car and it pops open. It was also the first time in a long time I drove a car where you filled the tank on the passenger's side rather than driver's side.
That figured out and a full tank of gas in the Malibu, we headed up I-29 for a couple miles, then west on I-90. For the majority of today's driving, we would be driving in a landscape which can be simply described as "boring as hell". The speed limit on this interstate is 80 mph from Sioux Falls to just east of Rapid City and it makes for interesting traffic patterns. Semis don't do over 80, and considerably less whenever climbing a hill of which there are many along the way. Campers follow pretty much the same pattern. Then you have the drivers who will jump into the left lane to pass someone going 78 and will keep their cruise control set to 80. The idea of speeding up to pass someone when someone is coming up on you in the left lane seems to be a foreign idea to many drivers in this state. It's a stark contrast to how people drive in Minnesota. It also makes using adaptive cruise control quite useful. I lost count of how many times I had to hit the brakes while in the left lane waiting for some yahoo to take their sweet time barely passing a truck or camper who was in the right lane. What to do? Hit the horn and risk a road rage incident or, worse yet, get brake checked? Your only option is to take a deep breath, try to relax and remind yourself that Rapid City will still be there even if you arrive ten minutes later. But it's a pain in the ass.
Don't recall ever seeing a sign like that in Minnesota!
You have to be careful when asking Siri for directions to a hotel, especially when there is more than one in a given area as there exists with Best Western Plus hotels in Rapid City. When she directed us off I-90 in Rapid City and then wanted us to take a right-hand turn, I was immediately confused. "Wait a minute, I thought our hotel was south of the freeway, not north?!" And then I let it go. Arriving at the hotel, Patty went in and grabbed a cart. Returning to the vehicle she told me "They said check-in is at 4:00 (it was just after 1:00 when we arrived) and they're really busy so they might get us in then". No problem, we would just hang out in the lobby, drink some coffee and kill some time!
I confirmed our 4 p.m. check-in and the clerk told me that they were full on Saturday night and were suffering short staffing in the room cleaning area.
But I had this nagging thought in the back of my head that something was amiss, even though I couldn't put my finger on it. After a cup of coffee I decided to go get the reservation. And then it hit me--we were probably at the wrong Best Western! I went back inside and asked the clerk "Hey, is there another Best Western nearby?"
"Yeah, the Best Western Plus Rushmore is three miles to the east"
I looked at my reservation, confirming that THIS hotel (Best Western Plus Ramkota) was the wrong one!
"Oops, sorry guys, we're at the wrong hotel!"
With that, we loaded all our crap back in the car and took off.
Getting to the Rushmore just before 2 p.m., we were able to get right into our room, on the top floor of this very nice and clean five-story hotel. It was more isolated than the Ramkota, with a large hilly field just outside our window. It was also rated higher than the Ramkota--in fact, Trip Advisor had pegged this as the top rated hotel in Rapid City. It was fairly new at just over four years. The clerk told me that this area had been just a huge field less than a decade prior.
Patty asked about the Governmental rate but since she didn't have any ID proving she worked for any governmental agency, we were out of luck. But I was a Rewards member (which I had forgotten about!) so this availed us a 10% discount. Sweet!
This room, like at the Americinn, has two queen beds, but this one has that great view I spoke of and nicer furnishings. It was bigger and there was an extra chair with a foot rest. It's more than acceptable and I was sure we'd be happy staying here for the next six nights.
Getting settled in, we were hungry! The check-in clerk gave us a list of recommended restaurants. We had our own list after some careful research on Yelp and various websites and decided on the Millstone Family Restaurant as our dinner choice.
This place brought back memories of the Country Kitchen restaurants the Duluth area used to enjoy. Both places feature simple, well-cooked, tasty food at decent prices. I saw they had Pigs In A Blanket on the menu and had to try those. For those who are old enough, it was a comfort food staple when I was a kid. It featured, in my family's case, a hot dog wrapped in a pastry. I recall never really looking forward to eating these, but I also never turned up my nose at them. The ones served here were far different--a sausage with a pancake wrapped around each one (there were three) and maple syrup on the side. From an "I want food now!" standpoint, these were perfect! Patty had the salad bar which they thought was just a basic salad bar, Nothing spectacular, nothing terrible. Just middling. Overall, it was a filling meal at a decent price. Exactly like we remember Country Kitchen to be!
Pigs In A Blanket at the Millhouse
Back at the hotel, we settled in for what would hopefully be a good night of sleep. Five days of fun lie ahead.
Previous: 9/9/2023--Our Trip To South Dakota (2023)--Day 1
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