On The Road to a Socially Distanced Vacation
/We took our first driving vacation eight years ago, and ironically Yellowstone was part of that trip. We flew into Rapid City South Dakota, rented a car, visited Mt. Rushmore, drove to Yellowstone for a few days and finished the trip at Jackson Hole, Wyoming flying home from there. At the time, I’d wished we’d spent more time at Yellowstone. Now, in the age of Covid, we’d have that chance, but with a spin!
I had an overseas trip planned in September, which obviously got canceled due to the pandemic. A couple months back I started thinking about how we could take a “safe” vacation - it was about that time that I started hearing about a surge in RV trips. Bingo! We could drive to Yellowstone, rent a trailer as our “hotel,” and have a safe, socially distanced trip!
We first had to figure out how to rent a trailer! A little research took me to the RVshare website (kind of like an Airbnb for RVs and campers!) We ended up renting a 30 ft. Jayco Jay Flight from Brian Vlcek, a Palos Firefighter! Not only did Brian drive the trailer to our home, he spent nearly 2 hours showing showing us how to set everything up.
Because of the limited time, we chose to drive the 4500+ miles to Yellowstone with no sightseeing along the way, since we’d already visited a lot of those sites. We decided to stay at KOA campsites at two stops along the way to eat dinner and sleep. Our first, was Rochester Minnesota.
Crossing the Mississippi River from Wisconsin to Minnesota.
I have to say, Glenn did a stellar job setting up the trailer - he got everything hooked up and working in just over 30 minutes - pretty good for a first-timer! A good night’s sleep, fresh coffee and breakfast and on the road by 8:30 am.
Souvenirs from Minnesota!
The best part of sharing our travels on social media is the fun feedback! The drive from Rochester Minnesota to Rapid City South Dakota, our next stop, was 576 miles, a long driving day to be sure - but there were so manny suggestions for us to stop at Wall Drug (and it’s right off of I-90) I gave in, and we veered off course just a tad!
Crossing the Missouri River in South Dakota.
What we found at Wall Drug was both fascinating and discouraging. Yes, this place is the king of kitsch - and we did find some useful and funny souvenir treasures!
But we had to shop quickly and get out of there because too many people were not wearing masks, and NOBODY was social distancing by the cafe. As a result, no fudge, no sweet rolls and no free ice water! Plus, we wanted to beat the rain!
We made it to the Rapid City KOA in time to get the trailer hooked up, dinner made and some relaxing before the storm hit.
Sara was able to capture the lightning show before the downpour!
Courtesy Sara Janz
We’ll be up early again tomorrow, as we head to our final destination - Yellowstone! Expect a change in both the scenery and the weather. I suspect I’ll be getting more souvenirs as well!