National Park Road Trip: Mt. Rushmore, Mammoth Site & Needles Highway (Part 5)

July 18, 2019InACents Leave a comment

After a spectacular day in the Badlands, our next journey was fortunately not to far at less than an hour and a half to the Mt. Rushmore area.

Our first stop of the day was of course Mt. Rushmore. As eluded in Part 1 of this trip report, our family received a free National Park pass good for one year thanks in part to a program sponsored by the government for 4th graders. It grants everyone in the vehicle admission to each of the National Parks.

However, when visiting Mt. Rushmore, guests still need to pay the parking fee to access the site. At $10 for a car, the great thing is the parking voucher is good for an entire year. So we were able to easily come and go to the site in the morning and evening of our visit.

After an obligatory stop at the observation platform to see the Presidents carved in stone, we made our way down and hike the Presidential Trail, which included a stop at the Sculptor’s Studio. Of course the boys earned their Junior Ranger badges while the adults listened to a Ranger talk about the construction of the monument.

After our hike, we also took the opportunity to get a couple scoops of Thomas Jefferson original recipe vanilla ice cream, which was delicious!

Mammoth Site

One of the places we really wanted to visit but were not sure we would have time was the Mammoth Site approximately an hour south of Mt. Rushmore. Thankfully we made a concerted effort to make our way there and it was well worth the visit.

Dozens of mammoth have been discovered in this active archaeological dig site. It so fascinating to think of the circumstances that caused all the mammoth to fall into this pit, and then the millions of years of sediment to bury the bodies. The evolution of the earth is absolutely astonishing, and you can literally see it being uncovered at the Mammoth Site.

After the Mammoth Site and drive back north, we stopped at The Purple Pie Place, which offered a decent grilled veggie sandwich and everyone else seemed to enjoy their meals too which included their very good chicken pot pie.

Needles Highway

Another really site we anticipated visiting during our visit to the Black Hills region was Needles Highway. This is a State Park; therefore our free National Park pass was not valid. One also realizes how valuable the free National Park Pass is when it costs $20 just to drive into Needles Highway. However, we knew it would be worth the time and investment.

We accessed Needles Highway from the Sylvan Lake entrance given we were coming from the south.

Needles Highway is simply stunning and quite the contrast of scenery. Lots of the rocks within the region also have a beautiful shimmer to them in the sunlight. Of course one of the cool highlights is driving through Needles Eye Tunnel with inches to spare on each side of the vehicle.

We would have possibly liked to spend more time on the Needles Highway and take in some hiking, but it was also a nice and relaxing drive so long as you have no issues with being along the edge of cliffs.

Review Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mt Rushmore/Keystone

After recommendations from family, we opted to stay at a hotel close to Mt. Rushmore so we could visit it both in the morning and at night for the lighting ceremony. Due to peak travel season, we chose the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mt Rushmore/Keystone since we could redeem points at 30,000 points per night, minus a rebate of 10% for being an IHG credit card holder. While this may not have been our normal point redemption, at rates of over $200/night, we deemed it worth the investment to knock some of the cost off the trip.

As a Platinum IHG member, we are accustomed to getting upgrades when staying at their properties. However, unfortunately none were available as this property regularly sells out given its location near a tourist destination.

Also, note, we had to reserve our room 7 months in advance of the trip to secure a room.

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mt Rushmore/Keystone was alright. Nothing really special other than location. Though we did get a free breakfast in the morning and they had a nice indoor pool for us all to enjoy.

Mt. Rushmore Lighting Ceremony

Honestly, Mt. Rushmore was a one and done for me. Besides visiting near 4th of July and feeling a sense of patriotism, in an area of the country with such natural beauty, the monument felt out of place.

Regardless, my wife wanted to see the monument lighting ceremony at night, so we arrived at 8:30 to get our spot. Despite the lighting ceremony being an hour away, we were surprised to see just how crowded the monument was in preparation.

We got lucky and secured a spot on the wall, but were surprised to see they did not open up the seating in the amphitheater for viewing.

Then we waited and struck up a great conversation with an active duty Navy gentleman next to us that our kids absolutely loved hearing about his work on submarines.

Then came the moment for the lighting ceremony, and there it was. Awkward spot lighting, not much fanfare. The entire monument was not even lit up. This was one hour of time I wish we could get back, as the lighting ceremony was a complete flop.

Maybe it is our family’s high expectations when it comes to entertainment given we frequent amusement parks, but it seemed like the ideal application for some projection mapping, thematic music, maybe even some lasers or fireworks. But then again, maybe the subtle lighting made sense to sort of tie in with the whole National Park natural beauty. Still, the lighting application was a complete fail in my eyes.

On the ride back to the hotel, of course with the time change from our normal EST, it was considered late for the family. However, while driving through Keystone, we saw a pizza place open and decided to treat the boys to a late night meal at Boss’ Pizza & Chicken. While the whole experience was reminiscent of late night eats during college, the boys seemed to enjoy the mediocre food.

Off to bed for a long day tomorrow to Devil’s Tower and into Cody, WY.

National Park Road Trip: Cleveland to Minnesota (Part 2)

July 11, 2019InACents Leave a comment

The first leg of our families epic summer road trip to see National Parks started out not at a typical park at all. After a brief overnight stay near Chicago, our family made the trip up to Minnesota to visit Valleyfair amusement park and Mall of America to check out Nickelodeon Universe.

Along the drive, we used our RoadTrippers app to find interesting roadside attractions. For example, the Pink Elephant at a Shell gas station near DeForest, Wisconsin.

Eventually, our family made our way all the way to Mall of America as our first official stop of the trip. Our first order of business was to find a place to eat. After quickly trying to get our lay of the massive complex, and trying to find a place that offered a variety of menu items, we sadly decided on the Rainforest Cafe.

Certainly not my personal choice, but we knew it would appease the kids and also offer something vegan/vegetarian friendly for me.

Mall of America/Nickelodeon Universe

After eating, we did a quick look around the mall, but the highlight we all wanted to experience was the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park. Fortunately, we finished eating right before 5:00 pm, which offers a discounted evening ride wristband to experience the entire park.

What I was reminded of shortly after we arrived was that the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park started out as a Knott’s Berry Farm park, a favorite Cedar Fair park of ours (that we also later visited during this trip). So we were able to see things in the park that were reminiscent of the parks past connection.

Today Nickelodeon Universe is themed to characters from a bunch of their archive of animated figures.

Nickelodeon Universe offered some really great attractions that we were really happy to experience.

For example, the Ghost Blasters ride is the same ride we find today at several Cedar Fair parks, now called Boo-Blasters.

Another really incredible attraction was the PEPSI® ORANGE STREAK roller coaster. While the attraction might not have been the worlds tallest, fastest, or any other world record breaking stats, it made up for in being a terrific family ride.

The most surprising aspect for the Orange Streak was how long the roller coaster lasted, making its way around the entire Nickelodeon Universe. We wish more amusement parks offered great family roller coasters like this.

The one ride we were most excited to ride at Nickelodeon Universe was the log ride. Knott’s Berry Farm invented the classic log ride we know today. Did you know Disney modeled Splash Mountain after aspects of Knott’s log flume?

When Knott’s owned the park inside Mall of America, they also constructed a very similar log ride complete with animatronics!

What we did not know was that on the day of our visit, apparently one of the Stranger Things actors was in the park and they added a special overlay of scenes and music to the attraction. So we got to see the ride with a very special overlay, which was pretty cool.

Valleyfair

On the second day of our adventure in Minnesota, we headed to Valleyfair amusement park. This was a special day for our family, because it marked our families first visit to the park. In addition, after our visit, it meant our family has now gone to 10 of the 11 owned Cedar Fair parks.

Maybe it was the newness to us, but we absolutely LOVED Valleyfair. Great collection of rides, cute park with fantastic landscaping, and really good food (which is important since we run the CPFoodBlog)!

Our absolute favorite roller coaster was Renegade at Valleyfair. This super fast wooden roller coaster hugs the ground and flies through the track, offering an intense experience that is a lot of fun.

I have rode roller coasters and rides all over the place. I have jumped out planes. I have never been scared of a ride until North Star. While the ride has the appearance of your typical rotating swing attraction, North Star takes you up 230 feet. With so little holding you up but some small chains, North Star is absolutely terrifying!

While North Star is totally safe, it was a surreal feeling spinning so high in the air.

One of the coolest things we got to try when visiting Valleyfair was their new signature Colonel Oompahpah Shake. A massive margarita style cup is rimmed with sprinkles and filled with milkshake. Then it is topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and more sprinkles. Then skewers with funnel cake, donuts, cotton candy, and a sucker are inserted into the dessert.

While the Colonel Oompahpah Shake was massive, our three boys devoured the entire thing within a matter of moments.

You can get yours this summer at the Valleyfair Cool & Creamy stand.

Minnesota Accommodations

Our family’s go-to hotel and reward program is through IHG. Therefore, we elected to go with the Crowne Plaza Suites, MSP Airport – Mall of America for two nights.

The hotel adequately met our family’s needs with two queen beds.

The boys also thoroughly enjoyed the indoor pool complex complete with hot tub and sauna (which our kids had never seen before).

A block away from the hotel was also a nice little park that allowed the boys to use their scooters and get out some energy on one of the mornings we were killing some time prior to Valleyfair opening.

We also took advantage of the breakfast buffet at the Crowne Plaza which offered a nice assortment of warm and cold selections that were a step above the typical IHG breakfasts.

The only con of staying at the Crowne Plaza was the attached parking structure was in terrible shape and left a bad impression on the hotel. The first thing you should experience is not a dilapidated parking structure, especially when the facility houses conferences.

Following our adventure in Minnesota, next we were off into the heart of the trip and head towards the Badlands!

Which Disneyland Hotel Should You Stay?

December 2, 2014InACents Leave a comment

Disneyland’s inherent problem in California is that they are landlocked and surrounded by area businesses right up against their front gates. However, for our family, that is one of the great appeals of visiting Disneyland and being able to walk across the street to get into a park.

So there are lots of hotel options to choose from when visiting Disneyland. Yes, one could stay in one of the official Disneyland hotels, but that comes at an expensive price.

On our family’s previous two trips, after price shopping area hotels and amenities, we landed our heads at the Howard Johnson Anaheim. Paired with a discount from Mousesavers, and timing the reservation at their lowest point, we saved a bunch of money on previous trips to Disneyland.

On this trip over Thanksgiving, things were different. We found ourselves going to Disneyland because I made a mistake keeping my United miles active, and justified to myself paying the reinstatement fee by redeeming miles for this trip. Higher airfares over Thanksgiving, paired with having just the right amount of miles for our family to fly domestically meant the trip came together.

We also have been sitting on a large pool of hotel points across various brands, and getting the hotel for free was factored into the decision making process. So we elected to try out the Hotel Indigo Anaheim, part of the IHG program.

Hotel Indigo Review

Upon checking into the Hotel Indigo, we found out Platinum membership in IHG come with the benefit of being upgraded to a Disney fireworks view room on the third floor.

The hotel in general was very contemporary and beautifully appointed. The staff were amazing, and our stay was great!

The room was appointed with modern furnishings and two queen size beds. The walls were appointed with sophisticated patterns of wallpaper. Lastly, the bathroom was gorgeous with vessle bowl sink, Aveda products, and tiles shower. The room was appointed with a flat screen television and Keurig coffee maker, replenished daily with new pods.

There was an outside swimming pool that looked great, especially with weather in the 80s during our visit; however, due to luggage and time constraints, we did not bother packing swimwear for this visit.

The hotel also featured nightly water fountain shows to lights and Christmas music out front.

Also, the only meal we ate at the hotel was on Thanksgiving night, following a long day in the park. The boys were tired and wanted to go back and play with their souvenirs and enjoy a meal at the Hotel Indigo.

We elected to have the corn and lobster chowder, paired with the traditional turkey dinner, and served with a slice of cheesecake, for the respectable price of only $18.99 per person. The food was excellent!

Therefore, our family loudly proclaims we would stay at the Hotel Indigo Anaheim anytime in the future. It was a great hotel, with comfortable beds and nice amenities. Even if we had paid for our stay with cash versus points, it would have provided a good value.

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Source: InACents

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