Saturday, February 28, 2009

Trippin'


I am up to my cyber neck in trip planning. How did this sneak up so quickly? Wow...
I have traveled from one end of South Dakota to the other before and I am amazed at how wonderful the tourism people have made the state look on their tourism website ;)
I especially like the interactive travel planner. I have named the virtual trip planning lady Carole- just cuz.

The trip planning has been made quite simple for us since most things don't open until May 1st (can't go if it's not open)

I believe the itinerary is as follows.
Leave after school Friday and drive to see family outside of Fargo, ND.
Leave early on day 2 with a stop in Pierre, SD to see the state capital.
We will then arrive late and stay at the cute little Foothills Inn only $39 for the night.

Whoa! Scratch that! Good thing I snuck this blog in today. While link all of these places I discovered that the pool at the Foothills Inn is OUTSIDE! The high will maybe be 50 degrees if we are lucky! Obviously the pool is closed.

We will now be staying at the Econo-Lodge, which should be interesting since it has really bad reviews! But we will be there for a very limited number of hours, just a place to lay our head and swim. Day 3 will be spent at Mt. Rushmore and the surrounding area. Monday is day 4. A trip back in time will be in order. I have Mammoth Site of Hot Springs and the Pioneer Historical Museum planned for that day. We will spend the last day around the water park at our hotel before heading back across the plains of South Dakota. We will stop and see family on the way home. If time permits we will visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's homestead in DeSmet.

That is our trip in a nutshell. Now, onto a nap. I am exhausted and I haven't even left my computer chair. I guess it is the idea of herding 4 kittens, oh I mean kids across the plains, through the badlands, and back again. Ear plugs, and portable DVD player will be the first things packed I assure you.
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~ Side Note-
Does anyone have any great solutions for saving money on food while traveling? We are feeding 6 people and can't afford a restaurant for every meal. Our hotels do provide breakfast, so that meal is free. However, we always end up spending more money than I can bear when it comes to food on our vacation. Even a stop at the grocery ends up being $20-25 a stop. Leave me any suggestions you may have, or things that have worked for you. I always love and appreciate your comments.

10 comments:

FoN said...

Hi there - just happened on your blog today, I love it!

I stuggle with the food expense on holidays too. I'm not sure I have the answer tho. Sometimes I load up on snack-type food, and then we can share meals at the restaurant because we're not quite as hungry. I almost never order my own meal, because they kids never finish theirs. The leftovers are always enough that I'm full without having to order my own meal.

Beware - you can expect an eye-roll from the server.

Missy said...

I need a valium just thinking about traveling with my brood!

Fawn said...

I took a nap today too, felt good!!

so, not even hitting up the Corn Palace or Wall Drug?! I spose maybe those are among the places closed for the season-sad!

Alicia @ boylerpf said...

You are right in our back yard! I might add that if you get to any of those destinations and it is 50 degrees...let me know cause it sure isn't that way now!

We always packed a cooler with stuff from home. The kids always liked a picnic and it made for less hungry kids when we finally did sit down to eat. Have fun!

Adan said...

my family is what i like to call, road warriors.

1. pack anything you can eat quickly that is NON perishable into the car.
2. learn to eat peanut butter sandwiches

its awesome!

love the road trips.

i want to come

Maggie May said...

love the tips you are getting! and i love traveling. just love it.

Sarah J. said...

oooh that's a tough one. If you have room in your car, I would pack a bunch of snacks, like whole grain crackers, apples, etc. That way you can snack all day and just eat out ONE time during the day. Works for us! Thanks by the way for your fun potty story! Made me giggle a little even though I'm sure for you it was SO not funny! Happy travels!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fun trip.
PB&J

most hotels (I stay in cheap hotels 75 nights a year) have a microwave in the room so if you pack a cooler you can haul frozen stuff to eat. As well as any kind of sandwich meat.

Indiri Wood said...

Sounds like a fun trip!

I have 3 kids so we usually pack a small cooler with cheese, lunchmeat, peanut butter and jelly. Then we can make sandwiches and only have to buy one meal to eat out. We also buy snacks in large bags (like crackers or chips) and put it in smaller ziplocks for each kid to have their own so they aren't passing a big bag around.

Good luck!

TheChicGeek said...

Sounds like a fantastic trip. I drove across country with my two when they were five and one-year-old...that was an adventure :)
Food is so expensive today, that's a tough one. I gave the kids lots of snacks like fresh fruit and popcorn. We made sandwiches too and that was helpful. Everyone was so excited to see everything out the window that we didn't really feel to hungry all the time. Lots of water in the cooler too!