How To Spend A Week In South Dakota

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By Emma P.

Arriving in Sioux Falls

We started at the beginning, where it took us 4 hours to arrive to Sioux Falls. First, we went to Falls Park. There, we saw a beautiful waterfall. Then we saw some cool rock formations. We took some pictures with us sitting on them. We took a beautiful scenic route and took a path leading to the very top! It was fun looking down from such a high place. 

We were looking for a hotel, so we stopped over at the Phillips Hotel. They gave us a brochure and asked us which room we wanted. There was the Peacock Room and the Red Lounge room, so we stopped in at The Woodgrain Brewery where I had a really good Orange Cream Soda. We started to talk about which room we wanted to stay in. We decided that we wanted to stay in the Peacock Room. Then, we stopped in a store called Mint Basil and I got a sparkly Butterfly Necklace.

We also went to this really cool Pho Thai restaurant. I had some fried rice and shared it with my mom. I tried my first bubble tea and I wasn’t very sure that I liked it. After that, we came back to the hotel and went into The Treasury. My parents and I got some drinks. We realized that it was National Peacock Day and the St. Peter’s Peacocks won the basketball game. Haha! Then, we went back to the hotel room. We got settled in and then we went to sleep…

The Next Day…

The next day, we started traveling to Wall, that’s where Wall Drug is. We started driving and it was a long, long, and even longer drive than I thought. But, when we got there, wow was it worth the long drive! Wall Drug had so many cool things.

First, we stopped in a rock store. I got a beautiful gem necklace. Next, we stopped in another store where we got a sticker, a magnet, and a few postcards. After that, we stopped inside the doughnut and coffee shop. We really didn’t get anything there but it was fun to take a pose with the ice water. Then, we went out of Wall drug and crossed the street to some of the other shops. We never got anything in them, but it was fun.

Oops!

We started driving back to Rapid City. Again, it was long, but when we got there, it was so amazing. We drove about half of a mile more to get to our AirBnb house. However, when we got there, turns out that we were at the wrong house. It was so embarrassing and funny. We found out that the real AirBnb house was next door. We walked in and started hauling in our luggage. After hauling, we sat down and started watching a movie.

The next day, we started walking around Rapid City and stopping in some of their shops. In their shops, I got 2 hair barrettes and one necklace. It was really fun. Next, we went to an ice cream store called Armadillos. I got a vanilla chocolate swirl cone. It was amazing. After that, we went to a brewery and I got a good cream soda, it was from New York! Finally, we came to Best Buy and bought a cord for our iPad.

Mount Rushmore

On our next day, we got up early and went to Mount Rushmore. We took so many pictures and it was fun looking through View Finders. We came back to the gift shop I got a lot of things, to name a few, I got a T-shirt and a key chain. Next, we went to the ice cream shop and I got a vanilla ice cream cone.

Then, we drove to Custer Park. There we saw many amazing colorful hills and rock formations. We went through many tunnels and it was fun to look down and see how high you were. My Mom didn’t because she has Virgo. After that, we came home and I started Facetiming with my friends, Nora and Camilla. It was fun seeing and hearing about what their trip was like. After our Facetime, it was about 9:30, we went to bed.

The next day, we went to the mammoth cave. We watched a video and learned about how mammoths were extinct. Then, we went into the big room where all the mammoth bones and fossils were and it wasn’t really my Mom’s thing, but she was happy I liked it. On the way back, we stayed at one of the hotels in Minnesota called American Inn.

It had been an amazing trip and I was sad that it was ending but as a wise person said, “All good things must come to an end.” On the way home, we stopped at A&W gas station, there I got an order of chicken tenders and a root beer float. It was the most fun thing I had ever experienced and I will never forget it.