Day 1: We Are Officially Tourists

We’ll, we have survived day 1 of our Black Hills vacation. For those who are unfamiliar with the significance of the Black Hills within the Davis Family, Jon’s parents make an annual pilgrimage to the Black Hills every fall. Yes, EVERY fall. It’s actually a running joke in our family, but that’s beside the point. This year, we decided to make the Black Hills our first, official family car trip vacation. So far, things are going quite well. Here’s the highlights:

9:23 AM – we pull out of the driveway 23 minutes later than planned. But that’s OK because we aren’t running on a schedule. I’m driving so Jon can do the PB puzzles from the last week. I get carsick anyway so it make sense for me to drive.

10:15 AM – I already have to stop at the bathroom. What can I say? I’ve had two kids.

11:30 AM – We get to Fairmont and decide to stop for lunch. We ask Samantha (actually, our new portable GPS) about local restaurants. We decide on CK’s Family Restaurant. Samantha leads us directly to this family diner. We are immediately pegged as visitors. In fact, the people at the table next to us move to another table after we sit down. Hmmm. . . so much for small town friendliness : ) Food was great and we are back on the road.

2:00 PM (approximately) – We pass over the Minnesota/South Dakota border. Kids found it to be no big deal. I think they may have been expecting more of a hoopla.

2:30 PM – I wonder how the Brady Bunch did a car vacation the Grand Canyon in just a station wagon. We are travelling my mini-van with multiple electronic devices to help pass the time – portable DVD player, MP3 players, iPod touches, Gameboys, DS’s.

3:00 PM – I’ve decided that this part of the country has interesting names for their gas stations. We’ve seen Whoa N’ Go’s and Kum N’ Go’s. What was the true intention of the person who named their gas station Kum N Go?

3:30 PM – We arrive at the Mitchell Corn Palace. Kids think it is awesomely lame. Connor also thinks the sun is way too bright to be taking pictures. This year’s theme is transportation. I agree with the kids: it is awesomely lame.

4:30 PM – We are back on Interstate 90 towards our overnight stop in Chamberlain, SD. Taking the advice of our tour advisors (Mom and Dad Davis), we have booked a night at the Oasis Inn. Samantha, our GPS guide, let’s us down. We take the wrong exit and take an unintentional tour of Chamberlain. It doesn’t help that the main bridge over the Missouri River is out. We finally find our hotel (we should have just followed the signs).

6:15 PM – We decide to venture out for dinner. We have chosen a local place called Charley’s. Once again, Samantha lets us down. She doesn’t know the bridge is out. We change to Karen, who takes on a very backroad route to the restaurant. Charley’s lives up to its reviews: dark, small town supper club feel. Again, we are pegged as visitors but this time, no one moves. There are lots of locals having dinner including an older rancher with a very loud voice and colorful language. Charley’s doesn’t promise a “family” dining experience, I remember. Our server is friendly and the food is good. Jon comments how we have had both our meals today at local places.

7:20 PM – Connor is dying to stop at a park he saw on our journey to find Charley’s. We stop. Both kids sprint out of the car. Connor makes a dead stop and decides he doesn’t want to play on the equipment. Eventually, he does. They had honest-to-goodness teeter-totters at this playground; or as I like to call them – teeter-totters of death. Connor convinces his sister to try it out and much to my surprise, does not jump off while she is at the top.

8:00 PM – We get back to the hotel and decide we are weary travelers. That doesn’t stop the kids from wanting to take a dip in the pool. The adults decide to observe.

Tomorrow, we journey to the Badlands and Wall Drug.