Thank you all for your advice. In response to all the great advice and information I have completely changed our itinerary. We will now be leaving the dog home with my mom, we decided against bringing bikes or Kayaks, and we decided to avoid Chicago all together. We will be leaving the night of the 5th instead to get a jump start on our trip. We plan to head south and go the more Southern route of I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska to avoid the motorcycle get together in SD. Now we will enter from the South and stay at the Grand Tetons first before heading on the Yellowstone for 7 nights. We will leave through Cody and stay there a couple of nights before going on to Rapid City for a few nights. We will stop over is Sioux Falls SD and then on to the Wisconsin Dells for 2 nights before going through the UP to get home. We are still unsure if we will stop 1 night at the Straits State Park before we go the remainder of our trip home or if we will just push through so we can have Sunday to recoup at home.
We are trying to decide if we should spend more money and stay at KOAs along the way so the kids will have more things to do or if we will just stop at the basic parking lots with hookups that are significantly cheaper. I am concerned with safety staying at places that have no attendant but I’m a little surprised by how much KOAs cost (more than basic hotels). Any experience? Is it worth it for the kids to have a pool and jumping pillow at the end of a long day on the road?
Thanks!
Vacation Itinerary
Day 1: Aug. 5
Leave time: 5:30pm
Destination: Warren Dunes State Park
Miles: 193
Approx. travel time: 4 hours
Approx. Arrival time: 9:30-10:00pm
Day 2: Aug. 6
Leave time: 7:30am
Destination: Newton IA
Miles: 364
Approx. travel time: 8-10 hours
Approx. Arrival time: 5:30pm
Day 3: Aug. 7
Leave time: 7:30am
Destination: Kearney, NE
Miles: 353
Approx. Travel time: 8-10 hours
Approx. arrival time: 5:30pm
Day 4: Aug. 8
Leave time: 7:30am
Destination: Laramie, WY
Miles: 365
Approx. travel time: 8-10 hours
Approx. arrival time: 5:30pm
Day 5: Aug. 9
Leave time: 7:30am
Destination: Colter Bay Village, WY
Miles: 362
Approx. Travel time: 8-10 hours
Approx. arrival time: 5:30pm
Day 6-7: Aug. 10-11
Stay in Colter Bay Village & tour Grand Tetons
Day 8: Aug 12
Leave time: 10:00am
Destination: Fishing Bridge RV campground Yellowstone
Miles: 65
Approx. travel time: 2.5-3 hours (low speed limits, traffic congestion, & animals in the road)
Approx. arrival time: 12:30-1:00pm
Day 9-15: Aug 13-19
Day 15: Aug 19
Leave time: 9:00am
Destination: Cody, WY
Miles: 78
Approx. travel time: 1.5-2hours
Approx. arrival time: 11am
Day 16: Aug 20
Stay in Cody. WI
Day 17: Aug 21
Leave time: 7:30am
Destination: Rapid City (Going north through Billings around the Bighorns to avoid potential problems with towing)
Miles: 420
Approx. Travel time: 9.5-11.5 hrs.
Approx. arrival time: 6:30pm
Day 18 & 19: Aug 22 & 23
Stay in Rapid city & tour Custer state park & Mount Rushmore
Day 20: Aug 24
Leave time: 7:30am
Destination: Sioux Falls, SD
Miles: 352
Approx. travel time: 8.5-10 hours
Approx. arrival time: 5:30
Day 21: Aug 25
Leave time: 7:30am
Destination: Wisconsin Dells
Miles: 385
Approx. travel time: 9-10.5 hours
Approx. arrival time: 5:30pm
Day 22: Aug 26
Stay at the Dells
Day 23: Aug 27
Leave time: 7:30am
Destination: Straits State Park
Miles: 401
Approx. travel time: 9.5-11 hours
Approx. arrival time: 6:30
Day 24: Aug 28
Leave time: 8:30
Destination: Cadillac
Miles: 147
Approx. travel time: 3-4 hours
Approx. arrival time: 12:00pm
