National Park Road Trip: The Badlands (Part 4)

July 17, 2019InACents Leave a comment

For our family’s first full day in the Badlands National Park, we got an early start and headed out to start exploring via the Badlands Loop Road.

Almost immediately we found a small pull-off, and started exploring the large formations and crevices. What was surprising was one would expect the formations to be made out of rock, but upon closer inspections, they were compacted dirt and stones. Therefore, exploring outside of designated trails was cumbersome with loose falling debris and subject to eroding away the structures. So we packed it in after some photos ops and stuck to designated trails further down the route.

An additional aspect that was quite surprising was that amidst so much barren outcrops was also lush green foliage that displayed yellow flowers. This same western wheatgrass is brown most of the years, but due in part to the very wet spring and early summer, the grass was thriving and beautiful to see throughout the region.

One of the cooler hikes we opted to take the boys was the Saddle Pass Trail. The short 1/4 mile climb was quite high and provided for some spectacular views of the Badlands. For safety of the kids, we stopped about 3/4 of the way up, but then safely transcended back down to the vehicle.

While the Badlands might not be one of the most popular National Parks, we found it highly enjoyable and beautiful. For peak summer months, crowds were relatively low and we never had any issues with parking, etc.

While in the Badlands, we encountered various fields of bison and many locations with prairie dogs.

Besides just the aspect of being in the National Parks, one idea all of our kids really embraced throughout the trip was completing the Junior Ranger programs in each of the parks. Each visitor center offered a book for the kids to complete with tasks that varied per age. Once complete, they were sworn in and received a park specific Junior Ranger badge. It was a really cool program and fun to see the kids learn about each of the parks while receiving a cool souvenir.

Wall Drug

Another roadside attraction everyone said we had to visit was Wall Drug north of the Badlands.

While Wall Drug is an interesting stop to see, it was little more than a glorified shopping center. Yes there were some interesting themed elements like an animatronic dinosaur and outdoor splash pad, but honestly nothing we must see again.

We opted to eat at the Wall Drug restaurant, which was decent and offered a veggie burger that was nice of them to offer given I had low expectations of being able to eat vegetarian/vegan at many places out west.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Under most circumstances, visiting anything military related is not at the top of our family’s to-do list, especially on this trip which focused on parks. However, we happen to be driving by the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and decided to learn what it was about.

Do yourself a favor and factor into your travels at least stopping at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site visitors center. This was one of the most fascinating, and scary, parts of the trip. While we did not make advanced reservations to visit the actual missile site or command center, the visitor center provided a terrific background on the system and history.

Call me naive to knowing much details about our military powers, but I had no idea what type of resources we still have active and ready to fire at a moments notice. I found it interesting that we used to have over 1,000 missile sites available but today only have around 400 after the START treaty was signed. I was also baffled how we signed a treaty to disarm an entire fleet of missile sites yet we still have hundreds of more powerful sites active.

After watching the visitor center video, it was also quite alarming to see how many false alerts have almost caused us to fire said missiles at fake reports of an attack on both the Russian and U.S. side. Thankfully, no missiles were fired, but it is quite scary to know how close we could be to a nuclear attack with only moments notice. For that we are thankful that our military is keeping an eye to the skies 24/7 to keep us safe.

Prairie Homestead

One of the things our kids really wanted to do on this trip, and particularly in the Badlands, was feed the prairie dogs. So we elected to stop at the Prairie Homestead on the outskirts of the National Park, for what we believe is the only location guests are actually allowed to feed the wild animals.

After purchasing our $1 bags of peanuts, we headed out to the field to feed the scavengers. We happen to be visiting in the late afternoon, so many of the animals had probably already gotten most of their fill earlier in the day. However, there still were some prairie dogs interested in coming over for a bite to eat. Some of the animals had no issues taking the entire peanut and peeling open the shell, while we found some others much prefer the peanuts outside the shell.

The Prairie Homestead was a fun little stop to experience.

Afterwards, we headed back to our cabin at the KOA for dinner and relax before heading back into the Badlands for an evening tour.

Badlands at Sunset

It is hard to describe just how beautiful the Badlands is and pictures do not do it justice. After seeing it in the morning, we made an effort to go back out near sunset to explore some new areas and see the sunset over the formations. Worth. Every. Penny!

As the sun set and the temperatures started to drop, we began to feel the sadness of having to leave the next morning. The Badlands are simple yet stunning, and we would not hesitate at coming back again.

In the early morning, we head towards Mt. Rushmore and surrounding area.

National Park Road Trip: Traveling to The Badlands (Part 3)

July 17, 2019InACents Leave a comment

After a couple days of amusement parks on our first leg of our cross country national park tour, it was time to get into the root of the trip and start connecting with nature. Our first park on the trip was the Badlands in South Dakota, which meant a long day of driving from Minnesota.

On our drive out of Bloomington, we randomly came upon Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store. Under normal circumstances, we normally might not have stopped given we live near Sweeties in Cleveland, which is a huge candy complex. However, we decided to make the stop, and we were glad we did.

Once inside Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store, we were impressed with the level of themes inside the facility with everything from superheros to an animatronic candy band. As a result of being thoroughly entertained, the bill for candy at the end hurt given three boys with eyes wide open. Fortunately we gave them each a cap on expenditures, though note they only take cash or check, which was a surprise to see given almost all places accept credit cards today.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

During the planning stage of our trip, we used the RoadTrippers program to recommend a stop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Located in the middle of the town is a gorgeous set of waterfalls where the Big Sioux River tumbles over a series of rock outcrops. The trip was worthy of some photo ops and stopping for a quick lunch.

While in Sioux Falls, we also decided to stop and eat at Phillips Avenue Diner, which offered some decent food before getting back on the road.

Corn Palace

Having never traveled out west before this trip, we made plans to see several iconic roadside attractions. One of those was the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.

The outside of the theater venue is covered in corn, depicting a different theme each year.

Was it something different? Sure. While slightly interesting, I also saw it as a waste of crops. We were in and out of the facility within a short period of time, and then back on the road.

Dignity: of Earth & Sky

Before our final destination of the Badlands on this portion of our journey, we elected to make a pitstop at the Dignity: of Earth & Sky memorial. The 50-foot high stainless steel statue by South Dakota artist laureate Dale Lamphere depicts an Indigenous woman in Plains-style dress receiving a star quilt.

Not only was the statue impressive, but the views of the valley and Missouri River were also beautiful.

Sadly, the visitor center was closed for the day on our visit, but it was still well worth the stop.

The Badlands

The overall drive from Minnesota to The Badlands was a little over 7 hours, not including our scheduled stops listed above. By no means was this necessarily considered a long day of traveling for our family (wait until you see what we traveled in one day later in the trip), as our kids have become quite accustomed to being in the car for long periods of time. However, as you travel through vast prairie lands in the middle of the country, it does feel like it takes forever to get anywhere.

That being said, when we finally arrived at the Badlands, it was quite a surprise and contrast to the fields we had been viewing for the majority of the day.

As we pulled into the Badlands National Park and got our picture with the first park of our adventure, we were greeted with a gorgeous rainbow and contrasting skylines as one looked from the storm front to the sunny skies.

We will dive more into the Badlands on the next part of our journey, as we needed to make our way to our campground to set up shop in our cabin for the night.

Badlands KOA

With the idea of “trying” to save some money on this multi-week trip, our idea was to try and rough it where needed and really connect with our environment. Unfortunately, the more we researched traveling to National Parks, particularly out west, we learned tent camping or soft sided trailers was not really feasible given the threat of bears. So we new if we were going to be staying at campgrounds, it was the cabin life for us.

We opted for the Badlands / White River KOA just on the outskirts of the park and booked the 1 Room Camping Cabin (w/o Bathroom) for two nights. At a rate of roughly $80/night and to be so close to the Badlands, this KOA was a gem!

Now keep in mind, the cabin includes minimal accommodations as the only thing inside was the beds and a small table. Fortunately, the cabin did also include air conditioning. Guests had to provide their own bedding (or one could rent them from the campground).

Restrooms facilities, including showers, were provided close by at the main registration and camp store.

The campground also provided a decent size pool for the kids to take a dip, and small adjacent playground.

Since we were cabin camping and without food or cooking facilities, we opted for several meals to try the food prepared at the Cook Shack. The owners of the KOA can often be found at the Cook Shack and provide great conversation on all kinds of topics. More importantly, the food they cook was all really terrific. We highly recommend the Indian tacos, which are made on a thicker fry bread.

Tomorrow we dive deep into the beauty of the Badlands National Park.

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!

InACents.com

Save Money, Travel More!

Menu

Widgets

Search

Trip Report