South Dakota Itinerary

Greetings Friends and Visitors!
Our road trip to South Dakota is about to begin! Here is our itinerary, so you can follow along on our journey:

Friday, Sept. 4. We will travel to La Crosse, WI and stay the night. We wanted to get a jump on the long ride to Mitchell the next day.
Saturday, Sept. 5. This will be our long traveling day, driving from La Crosse to Mitchell, SD. We are figuring about 10 hours of driving time, with meal, gas, and bathroom breaks built in. We hope to be in Mitchell by dinnertime.
Sunday, Sept. 6. We plan to take a look at the Corn Palace in Mitchell before we head out again toward Rapid City. Time permitting, we might also stop at the Pioneer Auto Museum complex at Murdo. We hope to arrive in Rapid City by early evening. Rapid City will be our base for the next four days. We hope to have some extra time to visit the downtown area and see the President statues on display. We also are planning to take in a dinner show at the Flying T Chuckwagon one evening.
Monday, Sept..7. We are planning to spend this day exploring the natural beauty of the Black Hills. We will drive the Needles Highway, see Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, and tour Wind Cave National Park.
Tuesday, Sept. 8. We will head to the northern part of the Black Hills this day to Deadwood and Lead, tour a gold mine, travel on to Sturgis and Belle Fourche.
Wednesday, Sept. 9. We will be visiting the Wall area on this day, including, of course, Wall Drug, but also taking in Prairie Homestead, Badlands National Park, and touring the Minuteman Missile Silo on Ellsworth AFB.
Thursday, Sept. 10. We will be in the heart of the Black Hills this day, and will take a ride on the 1880 Steam Train that runs between Keystone and Hill City.
Friday, Sept. 11. After an early morning tour of the Black Hills Gold factory, we will say good-bye to the Black Hills and head east toward our next destination, Sioux Falls. Time permitting, we might stop again in Mitchell, to visit the Dakota Discovery Museum. We hope to arrive in Sioux Falls at dinnertime.
Saturday, Sept. 12. We plan to spend all day in the downtown area of Sioux Falls. We will visit Falls Park and tour the downtown area. We are particularly interested in SculptureWalk, a collection of sculptures on display by local artists. The Sidewalk Arts Festival is also taking place this weekend.
Sunday, Sept. 13. This will be our long traveling day back to Wisconsin. Our arrival date at home is open-ended, since we haven’t yet decided to stay out one more night, or push on for home. Only time (and our level of fatigue) will tell on this one.

These, of course, are the things we hope to do and see. We are planning to follow the plan as close as possible, rain or shine. We might, of course, find something else to see and do along the way, too. And, as always, we will be on the lookout for the “odd and unusual”. We will be posting every night, along a sampling of photos from the day. We hope you will join us on our journey.