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Otis Day
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I am bored, at work and just not feeling it today.

Traveled to South Dakota last month. Rented an apartment thru Vrbo in Hot Springs, SD. Toured Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park, saw Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and went on some really good hikes Custer SP. Needed a few more days there as time just gets away from you.

If anyone goes that way I recommend the Sunday Gulch Trail hike at Lake Sylvan. It took us about 3.5 hrs but was well worth it. We took short breaks to take in the scenery and eat some snacks. Also really liked the Little Devil's Tower hike as well.

Ate at a few good resturants (I will add them later) that I would recommend as well. Nice area. It is a lot slower that Colorado and of course SD is about "hills" and not mountains.

DO NOT GO TO WALL DRUG!!!!!!
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Otis Day wrote:I am bored, at work and just not feeling it today.

Traveled to South Dakota last month. Rented an apartment thru Vrbo in Hot Springs, SD. Toured Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park, saw Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and went on some really good hikes Custer SP. Needed a few more days there as time just gets away from you.

If anyone goes that way I recommend the Sunday Gulch Trail hike at Lake Sylvan. It took us about 3.5 hrs but was well worth it. We took short breaks to take in the scenery and eat some snacks. Also really liked the Little Devil's Tower hike as well.

Ate at a few good resturants (I will add them later) that I would recommend as well. Nice area. It is a lot slower that Colorado and of course SD is about "hills" and not mountains.

DO NOT GO TO WALL DRUG!!!!!!
Wall drug sucks. Tourist fiasco, bad parking, trinket shops and bad food.
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wab
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We just got back from Broken Bow Oklahoma. It was beautiful. Beavers Bend State Park and Broken Bow Lake was a blast. Boating, rafting, zip lines, jet skis... it was pretty great.
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UOK
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My family usually goes to west Michigan for summer vacation, going back to the 60s. In the last couple years they've sadly observed that the beaches are basically all gone, either washed out or dried up. Regardless, they're still up there this summer and my lady and I were going to go, but we both got sick right beforehand.

We'll possibly go up in a few weeks, but that's about it. Otherwise we did downtown Chicago for our anniversary and will go to Tennessee in August.
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wab
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UOK wrote:My family usually goes to west Michigan for summer vacation, going back to the 60s. In the last couple years they've sadly observed that the beaches are basically all gone, either washed out or dried up. Regardless, they're still up there this summer and my lady and I were going to go, but we both got sick right beforehand.

We'll possibly go up in a few weeks, but that's about it. Otherwise we did downtown Chicago for our anniversary and will go to Tennessee in August.
We go to Traverse City every other year (it's a long drive from Texas, and I'm not paying 5k to fly everyone there). Michigan is pretty fun, and the weather is usually great way up there.
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UOK
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wab wrote: We go to Traverse City every other year (it's a long drive from Texas, and I'm not paying 5k to fly everyone there). Michigan is pretty fun, and the weather is usually great way up there.


The weather there is either glorious (cool sleeping at night and pleasantly warm during the day) or shit (rain, endless, endless rain) depending on your luck, but yeah man, it's a quality destination.
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UOK wrote:My family usually goes to west Michigan for summer vacation, going back to the 60s. In the last couple years they've sadly observed that the beaches are basically all gone, either washed out or dried up.
We used to do W Michigan beaches regularly, growing up.

Last time I was there was about 15 yrs ago and I could see some decline.
But maybe some of the severity you're seeing is temporary weather-based? Let's hope.
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Otis Day
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We did W Michigan about 3 yrs ago. We were in Grand Haven and the beaches there were pretty damn big. Water was cold as hell and I didn't enjoy that. The town was awesome and I would definitely go back there.
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Otis Day wrote:We did W Michigan about 3 yrs ago. We were in Grand Haven and the beaches there were pretty damn big. Water was cold as hell and I didn't enjoy that. The town was awesome and I would definitely go back there.
Lake Michigan is much warmer on days where there's more chop. Still lake = cold water. That said, we don't really end up IN the lake unless it's hotter than hell outside, which is rare - part of the awesomeness of vacationing in W. Michigan is the days don't get too hot.
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Otis Day wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:17 am I am bored, at work and just not feeling it today.

Traveled to South Dakota last month. Rented an apartment thru Vrbo in Hot Springs, SD. Toured Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park, saw Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and went on some really good hikes Custer SP. Needed a few more days there as time just gets away from you.

If anyone goes that way I recommend the Sunday Gulch Trail hike at Lake Sylvan. It took us about 3.5 hrs but was well worth it. We took short breaks to take in the scenery and eat some snacks. Also really liked the Little Devil's Tower hike as well.

Ate at a few good resturants (I will add them later) that I would recommend as well. Nice area. It is a lot slower that Colorado and of course SD is about "hills" and not mountains.

DO NOT GO TO WALL DRUG!!!!!!
Went a few months back. Stayed in Custer. Great place to eat there called Black Hills Burger and Bun. Family owned. They make the buns and toppings themselves. Owner cooks the burgers himself, and has, since it opened many years ago. Source their meat, both beef and bison, from local ranchers. Fresh bison sure is better than frozen. Not as good as elk, but theirs is the best I've had,.

Hiked up to Black Elk Peak in honor of that Great Man. Wonderful vista.

Yeah, Wall Drug is an uber-kitchy. overcrowded travesty, but there is one thing worth seeing there: the hallway leading to the rear public bathrooms is chock full with hundreds of vintage Old West photographs. Well worth an hour gawking at with the free bad coffee.
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