Boston to South Dakota

[okieman1200]

Hello, this is my first time posting here and was seeing if anyone could lend some advice. I'm one of the leaders of an Alternative Spring Break trip from Boston University. We have a program with 20 different trips and 300 volunteers and the trip I'm leading is going to Dupree, South Dakota to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.

So, the goal is the destination and the service while we're there, not necessarily the drive, but I don't want it to be boring. We're driving a 15 passenger van in 4 hour shifts, straight thru from 8am Saturday arriving Sunday in the late afternoon. The directions seem pretty straight forward, it's I-90 all the way, but can anyone offer things to stop at along the way? For instance, we'll be in the area of Cleveland for dinner Saturday any suggestions?

Thanks everyone!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Given the speedrun nature of your trip, I won't recommend any sight-seeing places along the way, but I will point you to our hints on the Art of the Speedrun. If it's not noted in those pages, one other strong recommendation I have is that you schedule two people to be awake at all times during the night-time portions of your journey. It really helps the driver to have someone to talk to, to help navigate, to keep an eye on him, etc. As for unique eateries along the way, check out these places as well as these. Best of Luck.

AZBuck

[Preduck]

There are plenty of things to do in western South Dakota. Rushmore, Nationals Parks, Gambling. Plently of things to do just depends on what you want to do. Only thing that I might suggest is going to the Mall of America in the Twin Cities. It's a minor detour, but I think it'd be something that people might enjoy. I'm from the midwest and frequent the SD area, feel free to message me with any questions.

[Mark Sedenquist]

We have a program with 20 different trips and 300 volunteers and the trip I'm leading is going to Dupree, South Dakota to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.

Soiunds like an interesting program. You might enjoy reading Peter Thody's field report about South Dakota here.

Mark

[PNW Judy]

Soiunds like an interesting program. You might enjoy reading Peter Thody's field report about South Dakota here.

Mark

Most excellent field report. Thanks for pointing us to it. Since the "Little House" books were among the first books I read as a child, and I devoured them many times over, I have added DeSmet and Walnut Grove to my "must-see list" for future roadtrips.

Is this the same guy who wanted help about things to do around Boise?

[Mark Sedenquist]

Is this the same guy who wanted help about things to do around Boise?

Yep, same person. Peter has a great "eye" for finding roadtripping discoveries and I look forward to his next field report!

Mark

[Midwest Michael]

Depending upon what time you're driving through, I'd recommend taking a break on State Street in Downtown Madison, WI.

Its a nice pedestrian mall that runs from the state capitol to the UW campus. It has a wide variety of restaurants, shops, and even museums many of which target the thousands of students who don't have cars.

If you're looking for a place to just get off the road for a while, stretch and get some fresh air, I think it would be right up your alley.

[RoadDog]

Midwest Michael is correct about State Street in Madison, Wisconsin. That is a very fun place.

Driving on the beltway to the south of Madison is also interesting because at one point, you will be on four major US highways simultaneously: US 12, US 18, US 151, and US 14. At least that's if my memory serves correctly. I do not know of anywhere else that you'll find four US roads together.

West of Madison, if you have time, get on US 12, which is four lane for much of the way. You'll see some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere in the US.

You'll cross the Wisconsin River at Sauk City and Prairie du Sac. Then proceed to Baraboo and Wisconsin Dells. When you hit the Baraboo Mountains, there is a marker saying that these are some of the oldest natural objects in the world.

The Dells area has to be the single greatest collection of roadside kitsch you'll ever see. There is a huge Trojan Horse and lots of over-sized statues.
You can easily get back on I-90/94 here.

Keep on Down that Two Lane Highway. -- RoadDog

[okieman1200]

Thanks everyone for the info. I had the Mall of America on a possible list of detours too, my roommate is from St. Cloud, MN so he reccommended it. As for the night driving there will always be someone awake in the passenger seat, that's one of our driving rules.

I really wish it wasn't so much of a speed run, but it should be fun nonetheless. I'm bringing with me over 1GB of digital cam memory, I'll probably fill a whole memory card just on the drive!

[Midwest Michael]

Personally, I would not recommend stopping at the Mall of America, considering your goal appears to be getting to S.D. as quickly as possible.

Going to the Minneapolis area will add several hours to your trip as opposed to staying on I-90 all the way into South Dakota. From Minneapolis, the fastest route to Dupree is U.S. 212, which means you would be spending several hundred extra miles on 2 lane roads.

If you do stay on I-90, a couple nice odditys that could be good resting points include Hormel's Spam Museum in Austin, MN or the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. You also could stop at South Dakota's biggest tourist attraction: The Empire Mall in Sioux Falls (It really is just an average mall and isn't anything special, but it does techincally get more visitors than Mt. Rushmore).