Stop at the first rest stop/welcome stop when you get to South Dakota. The people there were FANTASTIC. We were only in the Custer Area for 2.5 days. Go to Mount Rushmore first thing in the morning. The road was almost deserted on the way there. Kept wondering if we were on the right road. Got right in and parked. Really was amazing the difference in the crowd in just an hour. We went to the museum came out and WOW, the crowd probably tripled. ! One idiot woman, she didn't speak English, was at the MAIN entrance trying to get a picture of her DOG with Rushmore in the background. Must have been 50 people walking by while she tried for the perfect picture. Also, go to the South Dakota tourist website and get a tourist guide sent to you ASAP. Really good info. Personally... Don't go to Wall Drug... what a tourist trap! Drive by and see what I mean. We didn't have time for the "black hills, deadwood or other things. There was a neat dinner theater across from out hotel. Wish we had known about it and tried it one night. What we saw: Elkhorn, IA Danish windmill. Danish Museum, Little Mermaid statue. Great Tenderloins. Dignity statue at the Missouri River on I90... you can't miss it. Minuteman Missile Silo education center Again right off I90 Nice educational center and video. If you want you can visit a control center and abandoned silo. Custer state park.. Needles highway and Wildlife tour. I have video of 5 Buffalo walking right in front of our car. Your eyes get pretty big. (There's a park center with a nice video narrated by Kevin Costner before doing the tours. Crazy Horse Night laser show was okay. Our hotel was only 5 miles away they give you a ticket so you can come back in the evening. Mount Rushmore. Hot Springs Manmouth Fossil site. We stayed in Custer. Sure seemed less hectic than Hill City. Never went to Keystone. Make certain your Brakes work. Lots of hills/mountains and curves. Then came home on Highway 20 through the Sandhills of Nebraska. Great Road, Millions of acres of pastures. Really different than the I states. Make certain you watch the gas gauge. Long ways between towns. The other thing we did was meet an online women in Ag Friend in Mitchell, SD. She and her husband took us out for drive around Mitchell. We talked SD agriculture and saw the countryside on the back roads. Plus, we went out to eat at a little bar with great food. We had Never met in person. But, she looked just like her Facebook pictures. It was a GREAT 3 hours! I'm meeting my college friends in LaClaire, IA tomorrow. We have reservations for a Riverboat cruise on Sat. Afternoon. I'll let you know. If you have kids see the Omaha Zoo. Nothing but great reviews. LaClaire, IA is the home to the American Pickers, Moline, IL is John Deere. One thing we like to do if we aren't rushed is read the roadside Historical Plaques. Lots of little tidbits of information about the history. Have Fun! |