3000 mile trip to Black Hills and Northern States

Attached is a map of our 3000 mile trip from Chester, Illinois to the Black Hills of S. Dakota through N. Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. We left Chester on June 17th. After visiting friends in Concordia, MO, we headed to Mitchell, S.D. to see the Corn Palace. This really is an unusual, yet interesting place. The building is decorated on the outside with murals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. The murals are entirely made of corn. They are beautiful.

Then we drove to Pierre, S.D. to see the Capitol and the Missouri River where it is clear and tranquil! From Pierre we went to Wall, S.D. where we stayed for the night and visited Wall Drug and the Badlands.

Hill City, S.D. in the Black Hills was our major destination. We stayed there at Crooked Creek Resort Campground for 3 nights while we took day trips throughout the Black Hills.

After leaving Hill City, we headed into NE Wyoming and stopped at Devils Tower before driving into North Dakota. Dickinson, ND was our overnight stop. The temperature dipped to 33 degrees during the night, but we were warm and cozy in our TM - the heater works great.

Following a lovely drive across North Dakota we visited family in Kindred, ND and visited Steve's birthplace in Moorhead, MN.

While camping at Ottertail Lake in Minnesota, we visited more relatives. On June 26 & 27 we camped at Royal Oaks Campground in Bemidji, MN. This was a very nice, shady site! (We'd recommend this campground to all of you if you're ever in Bemidji. There's not much there for the kids, but it's a wonderful camp for us older folks.) At Itasca State Park we walked across the Mississippi River at its headwaters.

Then we began our trip home. We stopped for the night at Turtle Lake Campground in Turtle Lake, WI. This campground has lots of things for kids, but it is lacking in ambiance. There are only tiny, little trees. No shade. There is an Indian Casino nearby. Our stop there was profitable! Hooray!

From Turtle Lake we drove to Crystal Lake, Illinois and spent the night with our son and daughter-in-law. Then on Weds., June 30 we drove back home to Chester, Illinois.

The total trip was well over 3000 miles on our truck. The road miles of pulling the TM were more than 2700. The trailer pulled well. We averaged about 12.5 mpg towing with our Ram 1500 truck. Gas prices varied, but they averaged about $1.94.

[B_and_D]

Sounds like a great trip! I really like the map showing your route.

Glad you made it back safely and had a good time.

Rarin' to go here for our vacation....not sure when we're going or where..probably to NE Calif....maybe NW too...would like to visit my aunt in Salem, OR...