Vacation out West from northeastern Wisconsin

Our nine-day trip from Oshkosh, Wis. to Wyoming and back

To celebrate five years of marriage and 8 and a half years of dating, we decided to take a camping trip out West. We left on a Friday afternoon and returned around 7 p.m. one week and one day later. Take a look at our stops along the way...

Stop No. 1: Perrot State Park, Trempealeau, Wis.

The Great River State Trail runs through Perrot State Park and offers and nice walking/hiking/running trail for park visitors.

We only traveled three hours before spending the first night of our trip camping in Perrot State Park in Trempealeau, Wis. 

This is a BEAUTIFUL campground located in Wisconsin along the Mississippi River. It has spacious camp sites (we camped in a tent throughout the whole trip), nice trails with great views and a quiet campground with each site set within trees.

Perrot State Parks offers AMAZING views of the Mississippi River. Take a look at the river by walking along it (as seen in photo above), or take a hike up one of the bluffs for a better view.

Stop No. 2: The Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD

The Corn Palace—it was free and it was a great opportunity to stretch our legs.

We traveled 5.5 hours from Perrot State Park in Trempealeau, Wis. to The Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. The exterior is re-decorated each year using locally produced corn and other grains and grasses. 

Inside The Corn Palace are murals with information from each decade on South Dakota and U.S. history, as well as a display showing the impact of corn, from toothpaste to food, it takes 25 corn plants per person per day to maintain the American way of life, according to one of the displays at The Corn Palace. 

You can also purchase—you guessed it—corn on the cob and popcorn at the Palace's concessions stand, as well as other corn and South Dakota souvenirs.

Stop No. 3: Tractor Museum in Kimball, SD

My husband LOVES old tractors and saw a sign for a tractor museum in Kimball, SD, so we made a stop to this free museum (donations welcome).

Set-up in several pole buildings are nearly 100 tractors, as well as other antiques, such as cement mixers, cars and household items.

This old-school cement mixer and the tools that line the wall are just two examples of the treasures at the Tractor Museum in Kimball, SD. The museum also features an old school house.

Stop No. 4: Al's Oasis in Chamberlain, SD

Across the road from Al's Oasis are a few bison statues. I saw a photo opp and just had to take it.

Al's Oasis offers a restaurant, gift shop, grocery store and even a hotel! 

We both tried their bison burger, but the restaurant also offers a buffet and home made desserts.

I also stopped for a selfie with a bison (statue), because everyone warned me about taking selfies with wild animals...

---

Stop No. 5: The Badlands, Interior, SD

We arrived in the Badlands just before sunset and got to watch a thunderstorm roll through. It was beautiful to watch and we didn't end up getting rained on, which was a plus.

We spent the second night of our trip in the Badlands at Cedar Pass Campground.

While this was the worst night of sleep we got throughout the whole trip (the wind whipped through our tent the whole night), it was also totally worth it.

We arrived near sunset when a thunderstorm was rolling in and watched the lightning roll across the Badlands. Waking up to a beautiful pink sunrise didn't hurt either.

The campground was wide-open and provided each campsite with a picnic table. The campground also had quarter-operated showers (but there were showers!).

Waking up to this sunrise in the Badlands made camping in what seemed like a wind-tunnel worth it.

Stop No. 6: Bear Country U.S.A., Rapid City, SD

From a brochure we picked up at Al's Oasis we found our way to Bear Country U.S.A. in Rapid City, SD.

Bear Country U.S.A. is a drive-thru wildlife park featuring bighorn sheep, black bears, grizzly bears, elk, reindeer and more. At the end of the driving tour of the park, we stopped at baby land, where we were able to get out of the car and see all of the baby bears (so cute!), as well as one adult, waving bear.

Stop No. 7: Mount Rushmore, Keystone, SD

Next we went to Mount Rushmore in Keystone, SD.

This was a fairly quick stop with a short walk on the trails near the monument, as well as a lunch break at monument's cafeteria. We enjoyed their buffalo burger and buffalo hot dog.

Stop No. 8: Devil's Tower, Hulett, WY

After visiting Mount Rushmore, we drove to Devil's Tower in Hulett, WY.

We took the short 1.3 mile hike around the Tower (definitely worth it), and enjoyed the views of the surrounding area, as well as the tower, along the way.

Be sure to stop at the Prairie Dog Village on your way out of the Devil's Tower National Monument. There are TONS of Prairie Dogs with dens close to the roadside viewing sites.

Stop No. 9: Sitting Bull Campground, Ten Sleep, WY

The view from our campsite at Sitting Bull Campground. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.

We spent our third night of our camping trip in Sitting Bull Campground in Ten Sleep, WY. 

Sitting Bull Campground is located in Bighorn National Forest and has a BEAUTIFUL meadow view from campsites tucked beneath the pine trees.

Stop No. 10: Cody, WY

Cody, WY is a nice tourist town just outside of Yellowstone National Park.

We stopped at two museums: The Cody Dug Up Gun Museum and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

The Cody Dug Up Gun Museum is a small one-room museum filled with firearms that were literally dug up and donated to or purchased by the museum. It's a quick stop, but definitely cool.

You could easily spend the whole day (and we almost did) at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, WY. 

This museum features five wings, one of which is dedicated entirely to two floors of firearms (my husband's favorite part). I really enjoyed the Draper Natural History Museum in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Stop No. 11: Wapiti Campground, Cody, WY

We took a short hike across the Elk Horn Creek and along a washed out road. The views were amazing.

At the Wapiti Campground in the Shoshone National Forest, we had bison droppings just outside our tent! Crazy!

We fell asleep to the sound of water running through the Elk Fork Creek and it was definitely a cool experience. 

Stop No. 12: Yellowstone National Park, East entrance

Hands-down my favorite part of our visit to Yellowstone National Park happened just before entering the park! 

We had left Shoshone National Forest and were heading to Yellowstone when we encountered a small bull bison taking a leisurely stroll along (not crossing the road, he was seriously out for his morning walk) the highway.

Once inside the park, we visited a few geysers, drove through Hayden Valley and saw bison grazing and then stopped at Old Faithful before heading off to our campsite in the Grand Tetons.

We walked on a few of the boardwalks in Yellowstone and explored the many geysers and hot springs.

I was driving when we came upon this bison in the road, so photo credit on this one goes out to Caleb Kempen.

Stop No. 13: Colter Bay Village Campground

Back from our vacation to celebrate 5 years of marriage. We went to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Cody, WY and the Black Hills. (photo from Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton National Park) #latergram #findyourpark #grandteton

A photo posted by Kayde Kempen (@kaydekempen) on Aug 23, 2015 at 6:52am PDT

We spent the night at the Colter Bay Village campground. This campground truly was a village! It included a restaurant, visitor center, laundry and shower building, grocery store and gift shop in addition to RV and tent camping.

We enjoyed a nice walk along the lake near sunset and even saw a beaver! 

We saw a beaver eating a birch tree. The beaver also cut down two small willow trees to take with him/her into the lake.

Stop No. 14: Jenny Lake

It's tough to see, but the moose calf is just to the right of the water. It was really cool to see both the momma moose and her calf.

We ended up camping in Jenny Lake campground, as well as hiking near Jenny Lake.

We took the shuttle boat across the lake and hiked the Cascade Canyon and Inspiration Point trails for a total of about 7.5–8 miles. 

We saw a momma moose and her calf along the way and enjoyed the magnificent views.

Did I mention the views from the Cascade Canyon trail are well worth the hike?

Stop No. 15: Elk Preserve

A momma pronghorn deer and her fawn cross the road in the Elk Preserve just outside of Grand Teton National Park. We drove in the Preserve near Jackson Hole, WY.

We drove through the Elk Preserve just outside of Jackson Hole, WY hoping to see some Elk. No such luck. We did see lots of pronghorn deer (some people also call them antelope, though they are not).

After driving through the Elk Preserve we also drove through a backcountry campground. WHOA. There were one-lane dirt roads that took you through winds and turns along a steep hill. One wrong turn and I could have accidentally driven off the side of a cliff. (I didn't though. :) )

On our drive back to Grand Teton National Park we saw a bunch cars pulled over and then Caleb saw three bull moose! We stopped and took photos of these three beasts.

Stop No. 16: Wall Drug in Wall, SD

After camping overnight at Jenny Lake Campground in Grand Teton National Park, we started our journey back home. 

We followed the signs and made a pit-stop at Wall Drug in Wall, SD. It's definitely a tourist trap (think Wisconsin Dells shops in downtown Wisconsin Dells), but still cool.

Stop No. 17: KOA campground in Deadwood, SD

We stayed overnight in the Blackhills in Deadwood, SD at a KOA campground.

It was a very nice campground for an overnight stay, but not somewhere we would stay again (pretty pricey and lacked nature/hiking trails).

A photo of our tent at the Deadwood KOA campground during our camping trip out West.

Stop No. 18: Broken Boot Gold Mine in Lead, SD

These drills were donated to the mine a few years ago. The miners that worked in the Broken Boot Gold Mine used a hammer and a chisel and then filled the holes made by the chisel with dynamite.

Just down the road from our campsite, the Broken Boot Gold Mine, an old gold mine, offered a short tour of a former gold mine. We got to experience what it was like to be a miner for a few seconds when they turned out the lights and we experienced the lighting the miners did (one candle for every two miners!)

Stop No. 19: A hotel in Sioux Falls

For the final night of our trip back home we stayed in a hotel in Sioux Falls, as well as went out to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant for our anniversary.

Stop No. 20: HOME!

While we were happy to be home, we also REALLY enjoyed our time on vacation. We saw TONS of wildlife, took in beautiful scenery and enjoyed our time together. We also returned home very well rested, which we hear is not common for people on vacation (the saying goes they need a vacation from their vacation).

We picked up our puppies from "doggy camp" and they have slept ALL DAY!

Steve and Sam spent nine days at NEWPawsibilities dog rescue, where they also offer dog day and overnight boarding as well as grooming services.