Iralee93
Florida
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We are traveling to South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Utah from Kentucky in July. We have a Montana 5th Wheel and this is our first trip out west. We will be leaving from Kentucky and our first destination is Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Since South Dakota is about 19 hours from Kentucky, we would like to know what would be interesting stops as we travel through Illinois and Iowa. We would appreciate any tips as well as places to stay.
Ira & Lee
* This post was
edited 04/24/12 02:27pm by Iralee93 *
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7ofus
Georgia
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We enjoyed staying at the Badlands campgound for a few days. Nearby were the missile silos, Wall Drug, and of course the Badlands. Mt. Rushmore was then a short trip after we were rested up. Made it a lot more fun.
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mdock2
Florida
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In addition to the Badlands, Walls Drug, etc., a must see is Custer State Park. As you enter the park, on the booth, you should see a sign that says "WE LIKE COOKIES". And they were not talking about the Rangers. So, when and if you do the drive, besure to have a pack or 2 to pay the toll. Also, check out Deadwood and the surrounding old west towns.
BUT A WORD OF WARNING,THE WIND IS NOTHING LIKE YOU'VE MOST LIKELY EVER EXPERIENCED ON THE INTERSTATE. I lost 2 hats in the same morning at Wall's and 1 awning on the interstate. Going west, it should be at your back.
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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We crossed at St. Louis and when up in Kansas but that was because I-29 was washed out. I can tell you our kids enjoyed the Bad Lands 10X over Rushmore so as others mentioned check it out. It is like ZERO miles out of your way and you can do a drive through in a few minutes or all of the boardwalks in a couple of hours if pushed for time. We first did it at 10 PM under full moon light and that was awesome. We slept next to the info office side door and hit it first thing the next morning for some info and was out of the park before lunch and did Rushmore and Rushmore Cave that afternoon.
We took 89 out of Yellowstone to Great Salt Lake and I-80 through NV to visit family and since we were so close to the Pacific we when to across the Golden Gate Bridge and did a few NP's/Legoland before heading to Grand Canyon on the way back to KY.
We drove 8000 miles in 31 days on our cross country but we were more sight seeing/long field trip vs living in CG's for days at a time. We live in the KY Lake region so we could stayed in our driveway or back in the woods if we were looking for camping spots.
How long do you plan to be out? After two days doing the YS figure 8 loops by tour bus the kids just about to turn 14 were ready to leave the park but those were two long days and covered the park quite well.
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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2X on the wind warning. I had never seen anything like it in my life. Some nights I needed a bed belt to keep from falling out. 
No kids were mentioned so I assume there are none but with a set that turned 14 last fall on our trip I found Bill Boards are very effective at changing planned RV stops.
The bill board about 20 miles before we got to Mt. Rushmore showing a Zip Line ride at Rushmore Cave carried more weight than seeing the carving. They only chilled long enough to do Mt. Rushmore because I added the cave stop AFTER Mt. Rushmore park. I think the cave was only about 20-30 minutes from the NP.
The nice thing after the cave we were near the Custard NP and took two lane roads most of the way to Yellowstone due to doing the cave.
Keep in mind out west traveling two lane roads can be faster than going by interstate because they can be more direct and have about the same speed limits. Without fail we found the main non interstate roads much smoother than the super slabs.
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Dirty Chris
Northern Colorado
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We, too, are planning a Rushmore trip this summer. I don't have any tips for Illinois or Iowa, but I got some great tips for the Rushmore area here...
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25919698/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm
2009 Dodge 2500 Bighorn Edition CTD
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Art Schlangen
INDIANAPOLIS,IN
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Dont forget the Corn Palace Mitchell, South Dakota.
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Iralee93
Florida
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Thank you everyone for your responses. We do have a lot of activities planned near and around Mount Rushmore and we will add your suggestions to them. It looks like the drive from Kentucky to Mt Rushmore through Illinois and Iowa doesn't have many attractions. We will just enjoy the drive and country side.
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Iralee93 wrote:Thank you everyone for your responses. We do have a lot of activities planned near and around Mount Rushmore and we will add your suggestions to them. It looks like the drive from Kentucky to Mt Rushmore through Illinois and Iowa doesn't have many attractions. We will just enjoy the drive and country side.
Iralee93 we drove for 12 hours and spent 6 hours at a WM in NE. We took a "long" short cut the son found and arrived at the Badlands at 10 PM the second day of the trip. We just beat the snow by two days in Yellowstone in mid Sep and was one reason we pushed and got to Cody on the third day.
Slower could have been better perhaps. We are more movers than parkers however. 
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Horsedoc
Dixie --- N. Georgia
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A good place to overnite is the Cabelas parking lot in Mitchell SD. They invite RVers to stop and offer a dedicated parking area and a dump. I believe there is water available also. We have stayed there and around dark there was about a dozen RVs in the parking area.
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