National Parks: Cross-country Drive (3/3)

Mount Rushmore was normally out of the way for many of our travel plans. But I decided to visit this National Memorial since I was quite close to South Dakota after visiting St. Paul, Minnesota.

We ran into two thunderstorms. I had to drive through one head-on on I-90 for about 20 minutes on our way to Rapid City, SD. Michael drove through another one in Custer State Park near Hot Springs, SD. We actually pulled over for 10 minutes to wait out the pea-sized hail storm. These were some driving experiences.

The visit to South Dakota's Custer State Park was quite worth it. There were so many animals that you could see from the side of the road, including deers, elks, bisons, prairie dogs, wild turkeys and even a donkey herd.
















The visit to Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD was quite accidental. Our motel was in Hot Springs and it was a 5-minute drive. I liked pre-historical things and this was a real pleasure to see.
It was an ancient karst sinkhole and turned out to be a deathtrap for large animals as they could not climb out on the slippery slope. There were many unearthed Columbian mammoths and there were some Woolly mammoths as well. The excavation is still underway, and everyone can participate. It is my fancy to do a little of that in the future. South Dakota has no income tax. It is a bit too cold in winter though.


I visited Yellowstone National Park almost thirty years ago. This time I saw a whole lot more animals in the wild. I think the re-introduction of bisons to the park is a success story.

It was 47 degrees Fahrenheit midday Thursday in Yellowstone National Park, and with the wind-chill factor, it was freezing. We stopped by the Old Faithful Inn for a couple of coffee after watching the geyser do its magic.
The same beautiful 5-story high lobby is still there.

The geological wonders and the volcanic activities distinguish Yellowstone National Park from others like Yosemite National Park in California.

On the way back to California, we literally passed through the Grand Teton National Park. We wished that we had more time for these two National Parks.

Flaggs Ranch Resort is located outside of the South Gate of Yellowstone National Park. It has a nice but expensive restaurant. There are no other places to eat :-(
There was no cell phone coverage in Flaggs Ranch Resort (between south gate of YNP and Grand Teton NP).
No WiFi obviously. That evening was the only exception for the entire trip, i.e., no cell phone coverage and no WiFi.











The GPS took us to the northern route through Idaho when we specified our destination in Nevada directly from Moran, WY (south gate of Yellowstone National Park). Originally I thought we would pass through Salt Lake City.

Lodging:
Americas Best Value Inn at Hot Springs, SD @ $76.46 per night
Americas Best Value Inn at Cody, WY @ $125.38
Brandin Iron Inn at West Yellowstone, MT @ $153.90
Flagg Ranch Resort at Moran, WY @ $193.32
Motel 6 at Winnemucca, NV @ $73.91
Grandma's home at Davis, CA
Home sweet home at Campbell, CA

Where we went and miles driven:
MN, SD, WY, MT, ID, NV, CA

Sunday, June 19, 4:30 pm @46258 - Sunday, June 12 10:00 am @43642 = 2616 miles
Total miles driven from Avon, Connecticut @41326 is 4932 miles. It was almost 5000 miles.

Changes in America for the Worse:

These are disappointing observations in this trip. I had higher expectations for the Americans that I remembered.
1) Free refills for dine-in customers only at McDonald's. Isn't that obvious?
2) Some people fill their ice chest with Motel 6's ice machine?
3) The vending machines need to be protected in cages (in one of Idaho's rest areas). In this case, it is very likely that the cage is used to fend off wild animals, not to prevent human vandalism.






























Finally,
we were happy to arrive at Davis, California, Saturday to see grandma (my mom) after a 3-week absence. She was weak physically, but she was happy to see us. She was always in our thoughts when we were on the road. The night without cell phone coverage made me a little worried. Officially the trip ended on Sunday when Michael drove the last leg from Davis to Campbell in less than two hours.















A few links we used to search or call for lodging:

Travelocity http://www.travelocity.com/
CheapHotels http://www.cheaphotels.com/
Motel 6 http://www.motel6.com/ - It is absolutely no-frills, $2.99 for WiFi. Overall it is a value proposition. It is interesting to note that "Americas Best Value Inn" is becoming a good alternate for a good value proposition. They have free simple breakfast and free WiFi.
Hotwire http://www.hotwire.com/index.jsp - It is a hit-n-miss sometimes as you won't know what you'll get exactly until you commit to it. Overall, we have no bad experiences.
Yellowstone agent http://www.usparklodging.com/yellowstonenationalparklodging.php (10 percent surcharge) - Looks like that in a busy travel season, you have to pay to solve the complicated lodging requirements. There are many agents to choose from. The park is "big" and you should plan your direction of travel, and make reservations accordingly at different locations in the park. In our case, we stayed at Cody, WY, and went in at the East Gate. We drove through the park west/north bound and the next night stayed near the West Gate. We then drove south/east bound and stayed the last night near the South Gate.