Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip to South Dakota (2023)--Epilogue
9/17/2023
Final Thoughts
Had we known what beauty was in store for us in the Rapid City area, would we have canceled two previously considered trips on favor of a 10th and 11th trip to Hawai'i? It's hard to say. Probably not in view of how stuck we were on going to Maui as often as we could. But now that we've been there, I see some definite advantages to doing a road trip over a trip where you have to fly to get there. The primary one is that you can pack so much more into a car than you can into those bags which have size and weight limitations when flying. There is also the benefit of being able to see the land while driving. Compared to a view of the ground from 34,000 feet up in a jet, it's not even close.
This trip has changed our preference in hotels. We had been avowed Americinn people in the past. A recent poor experience we had at their hotel in Inver Grove Heights made us rethink that preference, as did a couple overnight stays we had enjoyed at the Best Western Dakota Ridge in Eagan. It is hard to compare chain hotels since they vary from location to location but if we compare the two hotels we stayed at during this trip, the Americinn in Sioux Falls and the Best Western Plus in Rapid City, this is how they compare (to us, at least. Your opinion may differ):
Ambience--the view from our room at the Best Western will be either a) the parking lot or b) a very nice hillside complete with cows that descend it in afternoon to graze and hang out. At the Americinn, it will be either a) the parking lot or b) a nearby industrial-type garage with a parking lot.
Advantage: Best Western
Cost--We paid $170-180 at the Americinn, $150 at the Best Western Plus
Advantage: Best Western
Room size--Best Western. There was an additional six feet of space with a chair/foot rest
Room amenities--I liked the soap and shampoo better at the Americinn. Likewise, the shorter desk made it easier to type on a laptop. Also, the water in Rapid City is much softer, although this speaks more of the area than the hotel
Friendliness of staff--Best Western, somewhat. Not a huge difference, they were just more pleasant to converse with
Overall--the Best Western Plus in Rapid City. This would be true even if the prices were the same. Since they're 10% cheaper, it amounts to a moderate to large advantage over the Americinn in Sioux Falls
So, with a wonderful vacation out of the way, what's next? There are several ideas in the hopper and we really don't know which one we'll choose. Who knows? Something else might pop up we haven't thought of yet.
With that in mind, here are our current options:
Fly to Seattle, rent a car and drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Barbara (June through September)
Niagara Falls and New England fall colors watching
A September trip to Montana's Glacier Nat'l Park, then a drop down to Yellowstone and Grand Teton
Florida in late April/early May--visit friends in the Naples area
Using either Page, Arizona or Moab, Utah as a staging point for the Grand Canyon and several National Parks in Utah
Knock off as many State Parks in Minnesota off our bucket list as possible (certainly a summer trip)
Branson (May?)
East Coast, then drop down the Atlantic Seaboard as far as South Carolina (no set time of the year but probably May or September)
Don't assume the order I listed these as being the order we'll do them.
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