Review my itineray to Badlands, Black Hills, Yellowstone, Tetons?

[ahisma]

Very similiar! You're doing Cody and Red Lodge while we are in ND. And then we are adding the Denver part on. Otherwise, it's pretty similar for sure. I could only get 2 days at Signal Mtn. Lodge, so that lead to us leaving a bit sooner, too.

I didn't know they added the ability to get tickets to Minuteman Missile site ahead of time. Thank you for mentioning that. We will get them as well. I wanted to do it, but was not sure we'd be there early enough for tickets.

Do you have reservations for the Mt. Rushmore area yet? I don't, but plan to have them by the end of the week.

We don't have Mt. Rushmore area reservations yet. The options don't look great, really. I think we're going to wind up at the Rocket Motel in Custer. I don't care about a pool and reviews say it's very clean. They have some good bed options for families too. It's nothing stellar, but is the best that I've found.

We had planned to stay our first Yellowstone night at Mammoth, but the renovations won't be done in time and we got bumped.

I lived in Denver for a few years and thought about adding that on, but figured we should head home since we're travelling in August too.

[ahisma]

Possible VRBO option:https://www.vrbo.com/460069?unitId=1...59114_#reviews

[okinawama]

We don't have Mt. Rushmore area reservations yet. The options don't look great, really. I think we're going to wind up at the Rocket Motel in Custer. I don't care about a pool and reviews say it's very clean.

I'm not sure of your exact dates, and if they'd have availability, but Backroads Inn and Cabins is our favorite place to stay in the blackhills. They are located near Mt. Rushmore and Keystone. If you're in Hill City, be sure to stop at the Alpine Inn restaurant! It's delicious!

http://www.cabinsoftheblackhills.com/

[KrisM]

I also was looking at VRBO and found this one https://www.vrbo.com/274119#photos. I think the Rocket Motel looks great, but small. I think we need a little more space to spread out after 2-3 days in the car.

The Comfort Inn in Hill City looks good too. They have rooms that sleep 8, so we could have some space. A hot breakfast is included, so we could fill up and save on breakfast and lunches those days. It does have a pool, but I'm not sure if we'd use it or not.

[KrisM]

I'm not sure of your exact dates, and if they'd have availability, but Backroads Inn and Cabins is our favorite place to stay in the blackhills. They are located near Mt. Rushmore and Keystone. If you're in Hill City, be sure to stop at the Alpine Inn restaurant! It's delicious!

http://www.cabinsoftheblackhills.com/

Those cabins look nice! I think they are out of our price range on this trip. I hadn't really thought about 2 weeks worth of hotels and how much that costs.

I'm noting the restaurant recommendation!

[SnuggleBuggles]

My friends that most recently did that trip rented an RV. Actually, like 4 people I know have done that in recent years. Is that an option?


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[KrisM]

My friends that most recently did that trip rented an RV. Actually, like 4 people I know have done that in recent years. Is that an option?


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I don't know! I had not thought about that at all. I will mention it to DH and see if he's comfortable with driving it. I'm not sure I am. I'm not a fan of doing the driving on narrow mountain roads as it is, let alone driving an rv and towing a minivan behind

Looking at a few places online, it looks like it would be around $3500 to rent plus mileage for another $1200 or so. Twice as much gas or so as well. I'll poke around some more and get more info though.

[ahisma]

I also was looking at VRBO and found this one https://www.vrbo.com/274119#photos. I think the Rocket Motel looks great, but small. I think we need a little more space to spread out after 2-3 days in the car.

The Comfort Inn in Hill City looks good too. They have rooms that sleep 8, so we could have some space. A hot breakfast is included, so we could fill up and save on breakfast and lunches those days. It does have a pool, but I'm not sure if we'd use it or not.

I hear you on the cost - it adds up. We found lots of amazing yet affordable spots to stay along the Blue Ridge Parkway last summer, this is proving to be more challenging. I'm finding that most of the VRBOs have 3 night minimums and we'll only be there for 2 nights. The Comfort Inn does look nice. We won't have our 18 year old, so have less space concerns - the boys are still small(ish).

There's a Holiday Inn in Custer that looks nice too - they have some suites that look like they'd give you plenty of space. I was leaning towards being based there so we could be closer to the Mammoth site and the wildlife loop. The best bang for your buck looks to be Rapid City, but it's just too much driving.

https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpres....nd.ct&qWch=0#

[KrisM]

I was looking at that Holiday Inn this morning. I also considered Rapid City, but figured if I was there, I'd want to be close to downtown to at least walk to those areas, restaurants, etc, but the price isn't much better then.

When we were in DC last spring, we stayed at an Embassy Suites with a full breakfast. I found we could make do with much smaller lunches out because I made the kids fill up in the mornings. I think it saved us money and time overall. I could bring cold breakfast stuff with us, but they are more likely to eat French toast, eggs, waffles, etc. We also eat a lot of pizza on vacation because we can split 1-2.

[ahisma]

I was looking at that Holiday Inn this morning. I also considered Rapid City, but figured if I was there, I'd want to be close to downtown to at least walk to those areas, restaurants, etc, but the price isn't much better then.

When we were in DC last spring, we stayed at an Embassy Suites with a full breakfast. I found we could make do with much smaller lunches out because I made the kids fill up in the mornings. I think it saved us money and time overall. I could bring cold breakfast stuff with us, but they are more likely to eat French toast, eggs, waffles, etc. We also eat a lot of pizza on vacation because we can split 1-2.

We do a lot of pizza too I do like the full breakfast, I think it saves a ton of money and time. We usually bring a cooler and picnic stuff and just restock as needed. We have a lot of sandwiches and fruit on the go. It works out particularly well because we don't have to stop and leave an area to go track down lunch. I keep a bin of Easy-Mac type stuff in the car too in case we strike out on finding dinner. It's only happened a few times, but is a lifesaver when a kid needs to eat *now*.