here's what we did

by Pat, in the cloud, Wednesday, August 01, 2018, 16:58 (2778 days ago) @ MattG

This was part of our moving trip from east coast to west coast. We'll pick up the journey at Chicago.

Day 1: Chicago -> Sparta, WI
We drove to check out Madison and then pushed a bit past that. With a car full of stuff and kids, we weren't doing any marathon driving days.

Day2: Sparta -> Mitchell, SD
Corn Palace? You betcha. We stopped first in Sioux Falls to see the rapids/waterfalls which was cool.

Day 3: Mitchell -> Rapid City, SD
Starting to hit the more known tourist areas. A great wide open driving day. Stopped at the Badlands for awhile and did the required stop for ice cream at Wall Drug. I lost in a bid to indulge in an hour-detour to see Winner, SD, birthplace of one Frank Leahy. Also didn't have time to go across the street from the Badlands and tour a former nuclear missile launch site. (https://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm)

Day 4: Rapid City -> Sheridan, WY
Tourist day. Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, Devils Tower. Lots of side trips and one of my favorite days.

Day 5: Sheridan -> Cody, WY
Driving through (up and over, really) Bighorn National Forest was a surprise. Some great views from the top. And we ended the day as you must in Cody, with a night at the rodeo.

Day 6: Cody -> Yellowstone
On in to Yellowstone to see all the amazing sites the park has to offer.

On another road trip, we did fly into a city (Salt Lake), rent an SUV for a one way trip (Glacier National Park), and then fly home from there. It worked out fantastically. Especially because somehow the car rental guy said he'd give us the SUV at the price of a compact.