Our Bus Trip To South Dakota - #133

Right in the middle of everything going on at home; getting ready to sell the house, preparing to move to Texas, and then being diagnosed with Lyme and Babesiosis again- we had an 11 day bus tour planned to South Dakota. This actually turned out to be the best thing for us - getting away from the stress and craziness of the open house weekend and just having our minds on something else besides this giant task before us. And so here we are, the last day into our tour and really enjoying this special trip. 

We left early on June 19th - a group of about 50 heading west. Our first day was a travel day with many stops ( every 2-2-1/2 hours). It took a bit to make our space on the bus comfortable; I felt it was very tight for a trip where you spent so much time on the bus.  If at 5’2” my knees touched the seat in front of me - that’s not exactly spacious. But, once I adjusted my seat, removed any excess we didn’t need in the seats with us (we had an overhead compartment to keep things too) we felt better.  The total mileage to South Dakota is about 2000 miles; this was broken up over 4 days. Each day after the first, we had a small excursion- a museum or roadside attraction, that helped to break up the 500 mile leg. This was definitely helpful on this long journey but also made for a really long day. We stopped for lunch at various locations- malls, travel stops, etc… I tend to bring a good amount of food with us - peanut butter, crackers, baby bel cheese, fruit - it’s not so much the extra cost as it’s just the amount of food you could consume eating three meals a day at restaurants when doing a lot of sitting. Sometimes if there wasn’t a place to picnic, we would just browse the shops and have lunch back on the bus. Many of us took walks on all our stops to get our bodies moving;  At night, I was exhausted and would just shower and fall into bed. On occasion I would use the fitness rooms at the hotels if I had the energy. Our daily breakfast was provided by the hotel. Usually I had a half cup of coffee, eggs, piece of toast and yogurt ( I have to take care of my gut with the meds I’m taking) I also need to eat before I take my Lyme/Babesiosis medicines. Dinner has been at various venues, some definitely better than others. Our itinerary was jam packed during the 11 days - we saw a lot and for us, it was a trip of a lifetime! 

  

We were in Iowa, of course! 

! Divinity Statue

Good- It was great to have the trip all planned by others, great to have someone else driving. It was reasonably priced and included just about everything.  

The Bad - For someone like myself who doesn’t like to be under pressure - the itinerary was a little daunting at times. Getting up at 6/6:30 in the morning to get dressed, making sure you’re packed, eat breakfast and load onto the bus by 8 or 8:30 am to start the day. Our day was nonstop until 9 or even 10 pm.  This was day after day and exhausting to say the least.  I would have liked a little more personal time. Charlie and I actually stayed back at the hotel mid-tour to rest a day and just met the group for dinner.  I needed it! At one point, we were at a venue that I really had, had enough of and I commented to Charlie - “I feel like a hostage”  because we had to wait to leave.  While having someone else in charge is a wonderful change of pace, you have given up control of your day to someone else and have to just suck it up when you may not want to do it.  

The other issue I had was the seating. There was just not enough room to really be comfortable. Most of our time was on the bus; we really needed those breaks to move around.  It was definitely tighter than flying coach - which isn’t exactly roomy.  However, we had brought neck pillows, blankets and metal water bottles along with snacks so we had everything we needed.  

The Good - We got to see a lot! MT Rushmore and Crazy Horse were the highlights.  The Black Hills, Custer State Park, Badlands National Park were also amazing.  We enjoyed the Corn Palace and Amana Village - places I had never heard of before but nonetheless worth seeing!  And the Divinity Statue is just breathtaking! It was fun visiting Wall Drug and several little western towns including the film set from Dances With Wolves.  As we head home,  we’ll be stopping at a botanical gardens and Studebaker Museum.  

Mt Rushmore 

           Crazy Horse

Custer St Park 

 

          Dances With Wolves Film Set

 

 Badlands

The Bad - I really have no specific negative thoughts on our stops. Some of the choices for hotels or dinner stops could definitely have been better - but we’re usually not too fussy. I would have mixed things up a little more as I start to lose focus if I’m going to 2-3 museums in the same day  - I need different types of stimulation.  But it was fine.  

As we begin our trek home today, I think I’ll look back at this trip with good memories. Would I do a bus trip again? Possibly- never say never - but I think I would definitely look into other ideas ( like a train trip) or another cruise out of Galveston, TX now.