South Dakota Road Trip - Day 1

South Dakota here we come!

When we decided on relatively short notice that we wanted to take a road trip with my mom and my aunt Shirley, we knew that we wanted to go someplace familiar that would be a great getaway.  South Dakota quickly topped the list.

Todd and I had previously driven to South Dakota in 2013, and had had a great trip.  Custer State Park was a standout of that last journey, so this time we knew we wanted to stay in the park.  With that in mind we booked a cabin and set the following itinerary:

Day 1:  Drive from Dallas to Salina, KS - check in to the Holiday Inn Express
Day 2:  Drive to Rapid City, SD - check in to the Hotel Alex Johnson
Day 4:  Check in to the cabin at Sylvan Lake Lodge in Custer State Park
Day 7:  Drive back to Salina and stay at the Holiday Inn
Day 8:  Drive home

When the day came we loaded up the car with luggage, snacks of nuts and dried fruits, and were on our way.  So, with that out of the way, let's be off!

Our chariot awaits!

We'd occasionally trade pictures via AirDrop - I got this one from my aunt Shirley.  Who needs a landscape when you can look at this all day?  ;)

Welcome to Oklahoma...

...now give us money.

Allegedly the largest casino in the world.  I'll have to take their word for it.

Ooh, look!  Just in time for fall:  The Houses of Parliment have pumpkin pie Blizzards!

Stopping at an Oklahoma rest stop for a bio break

Speaking of Wiz's (and terrible segues):
Welcome to Kansas...now give us money.
Shortly after entering Kansas you hit the Kansas Turnpike toll road

Massive wind farms

Stopping for a pee at the Kansas welcome center.  They fully embrace their Wizard of Oz legacy with items in the gift shop and a yellow brick road backdrop you can pose in front of - we didn't.

Panera Bread bread left over from lunch makes for a Todd-snack later down the road

Ah, the Salina, KS Holiday Inn Express.  Always a dependable stay.  Well, almost always.*

Wrapping up the first day on the road with Mom and Shirley at Martinelli's Little Italy.  Looking forward to a good meal...

...which we would continue looking forward to because the food here was awful - akin to Chef Boyardee or Lean Cuisine but not as good.  This was one of the highest-rated restaurant option on Yelp, and I guess the locals like it (it was full of customers), but we were mystified as to why - how do you make an Alfredo sauce seemingly with water instead of butter and cream?  We should have walked away as soon as our appetizer of mozzarella sticks came out and they were the same frozen-then-flash-fried round logs that I used to get from the bowling alley snack shop when I was in my teens.  Not kidding.

Do yourself a favor - skip this place and go to the Cozy Inn instead.

Luckily when we checked in at the Holiday Inn Express they were having their 5-7pm happy hour/evening welcome event with free snacks and drinks, so we had some chips and dip, cookies, and a little booze before we had gone to dinner.  We weren't going to starve.

We headed back to the hotel and turned in to our respective rooms for the night.

*Unluckily, when we got up from the table in the Holiday Inn lounge we found the backs of our arms and legs were marked with maroon stripes - apparently they had stained or touched-up the chairs and table earlier that day and not waited for them to fully dry.  Not a big deal as it washed off, but we warned the front desk to prevent the same from happening to someone else, or possibly ruining their clothes.  We let the lounge attendant know and she was empathetic; the desk clerk on the other hand was not concerned:  she let us know what the cause was, but didn't apologize or thank us for the heads-up.  Like I said, not a big deal in the end, but not up to their normal (usually great) service level.