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We SAW the USA in our Chevrolet (Aveo)! 9.5 day road trip Detroit to CA

We SAW the USA in our Chevrolet (Aveo)! 9.5 day road trip Detroit to CA

Old Sep 11th, 2009, 05:05 AM
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We SAW the USA in our Chevrolet (Aveo)! 9.5 day road trip Detroit to CA

My daughter recently graduated from college and is starting her career with 4 months of training in California. She wanted to have her car there so we drove from Detroit, Michigan to San Jose, California. I could only get one week off work, so it was a quick trip but we had a wonderful time! It was so exciting to see so much of the country that I'd never visited before. We visited 11 states, 7 of which were new to me, and I also added 4 state capitols to my list. Here is a trip report. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Day 1 – On our way
We left downtown Detroit at 3:00. We had reservations at a Hampton Inn north of Chicago but we also had the address of 2 other Hamptons further on in case we decided to drive longer. Traffic wasn’t bad and we weren’t tired so we called from the car and booked a Hampton in Madison, Wisconsin and cancelled the other one. This helped shorten our drive the next day.

Hotel - Hampton Inn, Madison, East Towne Mall area, $122 including taxes, clean comfortable hotel with the friendliest staff I’ve ever encountered.

Day 2 - On to South Dakota
We hit the road just before 8:30. Shortly before leaving Wisconsin we were excited to see a bald eagle flying above us! We were interested to see the large number of windmills along both sides of the road in Minnesota. After seeing the billboards we couldn't resist making an unscheduled stop in Austin, MN at the SPAM Museum. This place was fun. We spent about an hour learning more about SPAM than anyone would ever want to know! There are plenty of hands-on activities for kids and a huge gift shop. After a dinner stop in Sioux Falls, we checked into the Hampton in Mitchell, SD and went to check out the Corn Palace. The murals were interesting. Unfortunately we couldn’t go inside because the Corn Palace Festival was going on and there was a concert going on inside.

Hotel - Hampton Inn, Mitchell, free night with points

Day 3 - Across South Dakota
We were on the road at 7:00 because we had a full day planned. We had the road between Mitchell and De Smet almost to ourselves. We found the early morning sun across the fields very pretty and stopped for a few photos. Our first stop in De Smet was at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in town. Unfortunately they don’t open until 10:00 on Sunday and it was only 9:00. We moved on to the Ingalls Homestead instead. I read the Little House books as a child and then read them to my children, so DD and I were very interested to see De Smet. We spent an enjoyable 2 hours at the homestead (www.ingallshomestead.com) and then we had to move on. I probably could have spent an entire day exploring the town. Next stop was Pierre to see the state capitol. The drive was pleasant, with field after field of sunflowers along the way. The state capitol was open although there are no guided tours on weekends. Next we drove through the Badlands Loop, stopping periodically for photos. Such an odd looking landscape! We also drove about 5 miles down a dirt road to see the prairie dog town. There were quite a few prairie dogs and we also saw bison in the distance. Next stop was Wall Drug. I had heard a lot about this place and I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t very interesting so our stop was brief. After a dinner stop in Rapid City, we programmed the hotel address in Keystone into the GPS. Unfortunately the GPS didn’t know that address so we were on our own. The 30 miles between Rapid City and Keystone was slow driving and when we arrived in Keystone we couldn’t find the hotel in the dark until we called for directions. Finally arrived after 10:00; a really long day!

Hotel - K Bar S Lodge, $149 a night for a room with 2 queen beds and a balcony with a view of Mt. Rushmore, includes free breakfast. We liked this hotel; it was outside the noisy and touristy town and was quiet and relaxing. Families with children would probably prefer to be in town.
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Old Sep 11th, 2009, 06:19 AM
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Day 4 - Mt. Rushmore and Black Hills touring
We started with free breakfast at the hotel which was adequate but nothing special. We enjoyed watching the 4 wild turkeys outside the breakfast room. First stop of the day was at Mt. Rushmore which was fabulous! We heard 2 ranger talks there, the Presidential and the Sculptor’s Studio. Both were excellent. We had lunch in the cafeteria which wasn’t bad. Next stop was the Crazy Horse monument. The movie here was quite good and we also paid extra for the bus tour to get a closer view of the monument. If you have an interest in Native American culture you could probably spend a half day here looking at all of the exhibits. We then spent about 4 hours driving through Custer State Park and along Needles Highway. We saw pronghorns, bison, deer, prairie dogs, and burros. The burros are pretty tame and will stick their noses right in the car if your window is open. Driving the Needles Highway was beautiful. We stopped many times to take photos. Be careful with the one way tunnels! We returned to town and had dinner at the Powder House Lodge. DD had quail and I had sirloin steak and DD sampled Moose Drool Ale. The food and service were very good. After we returned to the hotel we sat on the balcony waiting for the Mt. Rushmore lights to come on.

Day 5 - Deadwood, Lead, Spearfish, Devil’s Tower
Deadwood was a disappointment, basically just a lot of casinos. We went up to the cemetery and that was pretty interesting. If you plan to go be aware that it is very hilly. We considered stopping in Lead for President’s Park but decided to skip it. We drove through Spearfish Canyon when we left the area and that was very beautiful. Then it was off to Devil’s Tower. We took the 1.5 mile walk around the tower. There were climbers on the tower which really gave us a good perspective on how huge it was. Our stop for the night was in Buffalo, Wyoming. We had an excellent meal at the Virginian Restaurant in the hotel.

Hotel: Historic Occidental Hotel, Clear Creek Suite, $159 including taxes. This is a wonderfully restored historic hotel. Walking into the lobby is like stepping into the past. Our room was really cute and the bed was comfy. The claw foot tub was more fun to look at than to shower in, since the shower curtain wanted to cling to you. Each room had a vintage radio and the hotel had a broadcast of old music. Unoccupied rooms were left open so that you could look at them. We had fun staying here.
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Old Sep 11th, 2009, 06:55 AM
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Day 6 - Beartooth Highway and Yellowstone
We drove to Yellowstone via the Beartooth Highway where elevations were more than 10,000 feet. I wondered if it would be scary but it really wasn’t since there were guardrails pretty much everywhere. It was so beautiful and the views were amazing! There is construction along the route so it can be kind of slow and some of the road was gravel while we were there. At one point we had about a 15 minute wait because there was only one lane open and a pilot car was escorting drivers up and down the mountain. Once we entered Yellowstone we saw a coyote and many bison and deer. It was 6:00 before we reached our room. For dinner we looked at the food in the Canyon Cafeteria but it looked pretty bad so we ended up eating at the 50’s diner in the gift shop. The food wasn’t bad.

Hotel: Canyon Lodge Western Cabin, 2 double beds, $168. Room was recently remodeled and was clean and comfortable, no TV or internet. The area was quiet and the room was cool inside despite no AC.

Day 7 - Full day at Yellowstone
We left the room at 6:00 as the sun was just coming up in hopes of seeing more animals. The park was beautiful at this hour with very little traffic and a light fog in areas from the geysers. We drove all the way to the Lake area and saw several groups of elk and some bison. Then we turned back, had breakfast, and checked out of our room. We spent the remainder of the day working our way over to the Old Faithful area. We made various stops to look at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the waterfalls and also the mud pots and the sulphur springs. They were interesting to look at but the smell was nearly overwhelming. We arrived at the Old Faithful area, checked in, and waited to see the geyser erupt. Dinner was at the Old Faithful Lodge Cafeteria and it was pretty awful. The food didn’t even look good, wasn’t hot, and the dining room wasn’t very clean. After dinner we had an ice cream and then spent some time walking around the boardwalks looking at the other geysers.

Hotel - Old Faithful Snow Lodge, lodge room, 2 double beds, $210. Room was clean and comfortable, no TV or internet. This area of the park was much busier and not very quiet during the day but was quiet at night. The room was stuffy when we checked in and didn’t cool off despite the window being left open so we ended up using the provided fan.
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Old Sep 11th, 2009, 09:22 AM
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Day 8 - Salt Lake City, Idaho, and GPS trouble
We had debated whether we should leave Yellowstone via the south entrance through Grand Tetons or the west entrance. We really wanted to see the Grand Tetons but we had heard there was construction and decided we couldn’t spare the time, so we headed west. We turned on the Garmin but it froze on the loading maps screen and wouldn’t work no matter what. We talked to support from the car to no avail. Thankfully we had brought backup Google maps. That night we tried to update the Garmin software but DD’s computer wouldn’t even recognize the device. Very frustrating since we just bought the thing a few months ago and we had already exchanged one defective one which refused to acquire satellites after only a few weeks of use. Anyway, back to the trip. We stopped in Blackfoot, Idaho at the Idaho Potato Museum. The museum was small but fun and they had a little gift shop with some cute items. We arrived in Salt Lake City and toured the State Capitol. It was too late for a guided tour but we were able to walk around on our own. Next we went to Temple Square and took a tour. It was interesting seeing the buildings but the tour guides stop just short of proselytizing so we found it slightly uncomfortable.

Hotel - Little America, courtside room, 2 queen beds, the largest and nicest room we had on the trip and also the cheapest, $79 + tax, good location with the light rail system stopping right in front.

Day 9 - A dull drive across Utah and Nevada
This was our most boring day of driving. After a quick look at the Great Salt Lake on the way out of town, we headed for Carson City, Nevada. The road was through a pretty barren area and many of the freeway exits offered no services. Keep an eye on your gas gauge if you make this drive. In Carson City we headed for the state capitol. Unfortunately it was closed so we had to content ourselves with looking at the outside. The building and grounds are very attractive. We had a good dinner across the street at Firkin and Fox, an Irish pub.

Hotel - Hampton Inn Carson City, 2 queen beds, $109

Day 10 - California at last!
We left Carson City and drove around the south end of Lake Tahoe. The lake with the mountains around it was stunningly beautiful! I’d love to return some day. We stopped in Sacramento to see the last of 4 state capitols on the trip. The California state capitol was much larger than the others and here there was actually security to go through on entry. We had just missed a tour so we walked around on our own. We drove another 2 hours to our final destination near San Jose.
DD was not happy to see how much higher the gas prices are in California.

Final thoughts
I loved making this drive! We had books on CD that made the time go by quickly and we passed through many scenic areas. Someday I'd love to take 4 or more weeks and do a round trip, taking 2 different routes. But unless I win the lottery, it'll probably have to wait until I retire.
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Old Sep 11th, 2009, 11:27 AM
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How lucky for you to travel so many states, cities and see great sights with your daughter. YOu will now have lifetime memories.

Hope she likes the San Jose area. The rents and home prices are so very high there.

We also have a daughter living there and the only thing she complains about is not being able find an affordable, decent home.

Well, enjoy the stay in San Jose. Great restaurants and wonderful farmer's markets in the area.
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Old Sep 11th, 2009, 11:42 AM
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Thanks, Ileen! Luckily my daughter has been provided with corporate housing for her stay there. It did look like a beautiful area.
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Old Sep 11th, 2009, 09:38 PM
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Pat_in_Mich, loved your trip report. We have been to most of the areas you went to and have almost the same opinions as you did. Glad you had such a great trip and a good time with your daughter.
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Old Sep 12th, 2009, 02:16 PM
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Thanks for posting...we just returned from some of the same places and your great report inspired me to finally finish mine!
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Old Sep 12th, 2009, 09:55 PM
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That is so cool that you went to DeSmet. I loved those books and read them many times. Did you happen to see Silver Lake or the surveyor's house?
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Old Sep 13th, 2009, 11:56 AM
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Great trip report. Thanks for sharing!

I have the same comments as 5alive regarding DeSmet! We took a 2-1/2 week driving trip all over the eastern half of the U.S. in the 70's (across to St. Louis, down through Nashville; Memphis; Dallas; Moskogee, Oklahoma; and more), with our three small children. One stop was the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead in Mansfield, MO! This was the home Almanzo had built for them, and it was interesting because it appeared to have started as one structure, with other parts being added on! However, it displayed Pa's fiddle, the famous bread plate, and Mary's organ!

Like you, we had read that whole series of books aloud, in sequence, to our children. My wife and I wept, or at least had lumps in our throats, as we toured that house, gazing at the memorabilia. Those stories are lovely, lovely tales of that period, and I highly recommend them to anyone!

Thanks again!
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Old Sep 14th, 2009, 04:18 AM
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Hi 5alive,
No we didn't get a chance to see those things. They were on the tour sponsored by the museum in town and we just didn't have the time. I'm hoping to return some day.
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Old Sep 19th, 2009, 05:08 PM
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Just something to enjoy the next time you're going through the area.

I would also like to see the Betsy-Tacy houses in Mankato, Minnesota some day too.
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