Wednesday, July 22, 1998. It was our last morning in Keystone S.D. After multiple hours of travel to Devils Tower on Tuesday, we decided to take it easy before we started traveling toward home. Besides, we thoroughly enjoyed our three days at the Brookside Motel and would recommend it to anyone looking for an extended stay motel, due to it’s cheap rates, convenience and fabulous accommodations.

After brunch we were in the car traveling east back toward the Rodeway Inn Hotel in Sioux Falls S.D. However, we made two stops along the way, one of them was the famous Walldrug which is located in Wall S.D. and the other, the Badlands. After four days of constantly being on the go, we decided to take our time to enjoy the rest of our family vacation in a casual manner. My dad was really impressed with Walldrug, if I had known how big that place was, I would have squeezed an extra over night in the area. We spent a few hours shopping around, had a bite to eat and then we were back in the car traveling towards the Badlands.

As we arrived closer to Interior S.D. (home of the badlands), I noticed several signs offering a wide variety of lodging. Hotels, Motels and a really unique place called “The Badlands Ranch and Resort”. Dad likes anything associated with cowboys, horses and ranches so we stopped in to check the room rates. This place was very nice! The cabins were spotless as well as the Motel part of the resort. The cabin rates for a three room, and five beds were $140.00 per night, two rooms, three beds $82.00, one room and two beds $78.00 per night. Motel rates are one room w/queen bed, $72.00 per night and one room w/king bed was also $78.00 per night. I knew that if we had the chance to come back, the Badlands Ranch and Resort would be our first choice. Although they are a pet friendly motel, an additional $5.00 per night will be added and your stay and it can’t be for more than two nights. These rates do not include an additional 6.5% tax on top of the regular room rate. The landscaping was beautiful and the location is just minutes away from the Badlands.

And just for rate comparison, we also stopped at the ‘Hitching Post’ which is one of the Motel 6 chains. It was small but charming, clean and also just minutes away from the Badlands. Out of all the Hotels, Motels and lodging facilities, the Motel 6 had the cheapest rates starting at $50.00 per night not including 8% tax rates. They also allow pets, one per room and no additional fee or extended stay limitations. Kids age six and under stay for free and they have an outdoor heated pool. Nice! They say that towards sundown, the local wildlife is most active and visible.

Back in the car traveling east, I don’t know how we did it but we made really good time. We arrived back at our hotel in Sioux Falls S.D. about 6:30 p.m., and we were ready for dinner. Although we were dressed casually, we decided on on a fancy local restaurant favorite called “Georgies”, since we had another very long day and we were in the mood for some fine dining. As we were walking to the restaurant, a busload of travel agents was dropped off at the door of Georgies, just our luck they took their order first. Although it pushed back our dinner about an hour, we were happy & content. We had traveled extensively throughout the entire state and we had a lot to reflect back on over the previous four days of our family vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

tags | extended stay motel | badlands | cheap rates | motel 6 | motels | hotels | roadtrip