Posted on 08/25/2018 10:11:20 PM PDT by ransomnote
It’s getting closer. We are almost a month away. For some of us, it is less than a month away that we will be leaving to make our way out there.
I realize that things unfortunately are getting a bit “iffy” due to the pipeline and the price of gas increasing. I get the idea from past discussions that some of you have RV’s and old trucks that probably guzzle gas.
Hopefully, most of us can still make it. Realistically, things can change so fast. We do not know what we will be hit with next.
So meeting at a restaurant for a lingering meal seems like the best option.
If the state of the world takes a dramatic turn for the better in the next couple of weeks and someone wants attend to this and make last minute plans, I can tell you that I have at many times in my life made last minute travel plans and used Hotwire, Priceline, Travelocity, etc. to book package deals to places (mostly back East) consisting of airfare, hotel, and rental car. It turns out, the prices were perhaps only a hundred bucks or so higher at times than if I had driven my own car and stayed at a hotel.
I never had a bad experience with the flights, car rental, or hotel. The closest I came to a bad experience was having a car rental place full of incompetents not be able to process me out of the airport for over an hour after the flight landed. But all the other people who rented the car by booking directly on the rental agency’s website had the same problem.
One the other hands, there were a couple times I was given a free upgrade because the car I had booked was not available.
The thing to consider is once you book a deal this way it is a done deal. You can’t undo it. Once you click “Accept,” you have reached the point of no return.
I’m still in. I’m assuming that the gas situation down here is temporary and will be resolved within 2 weeks.
The only sticky point I have right now revolves around my back and sciatica. I have never dealt with sciatica before, so it’s a new, painful experience. But I’m getting PT and things seem to be improving, if slowly. I think it will not be a problem by then, but I wanted to throw that out there in case I had to cancel as the dates get nearer.
Is there a place we can all converse? - here is fine for me, but as we get closer, there may be some messaging and such that people want to do prior to, and during the weekend.
I hope you are able to make the trip.
Back issues and driving do not go well together. The reason why I relented and finally asked someone to join me is because I am afraid my back will act up and I will regret going it alone. At least this way I can take advantage of my nice backseat— if Bring It All McGee doesn’t fill it up with junk.
I am thinking that it will go down to the wire as far as people hanging in there and going through with this trip or not. There are just too many strange things going on and you don’t know what is going to happen next. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Mississippi flooded. And it’s not as if going through Canada is a good option.
The gas situation is scary. I can handle $5 buck a gallon gas. I will just spend less money on drinking on the trip, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
But what I can’t handle is not being able to get gas. I envision filling up every time I am down to half a tank.
As for conversing, I am sure once we are a week away and have a pretty firm idea who is showing up, we can at least move to Freepmail.
I look at it this way - I’ve never seen Mt. Rushmore, and given the state of the country, I may or may not ever get a chance to do so. So if it’s at all possible, I WILL be there. Meeting several of y’all will be great too.
Driving with my back issues hasn’t been a big issue - the truck is very comfortable to ride in actually. And the seat adjusts 6 ways to Sunday so I can change things up.
Gas prices aren’t as much an issue as availability. According to my friends in CLE, there is no problem getting gas there. I think this is a local (very large local) issue involving one pipeline and the areas it feeds.
Freepmail would be good. I’d be willing to share my email, and phone for texting once we’re close.
Sadly DH and I will not be able to make the meet up. I want to read about all the wonderful times everyone has.
Hi CheshireTheCat - I wanted to point this out now as we get closer to the date of the meet-up - I’m dealing with some extreme lower back issues and sciatica, something that I’ve never knowingly experienced before. Anyway, it’s been affecting my sleep to a great extent. Typically, I’m only able to string together 2-3 hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time, and will take naps several times during the day.
Long story short, I’m getting PT for the issues, and there is some progress but it is quite slow. If I don’t have my sleep somewhat sorted out by about Wednesday of this week, I am afraid that I’m going to have to cancel my trip. I don’t really see. myself driving such a distance without getting adequate sleep. I’m already prone to nod off at any time during the day due to sleep deprivation. It would be very risky to be driving 8+ hours a day without getting past that.
I know it’s fairly short notice, and I am really, really interested in this trip, but I don’t want to be a hazard to myself and others on the road, and I don’t want to be a major hindrance to others if I’m dealing with a high level pain day.
I’m going to do a little praying here.
I am sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble with your back. I will say a prayer for you.
I understand your concern about driving. Long driving trips alone get harder as one ages no matter what other issues one has.
I don’t think I would be making this trip myself if it weren’t for the fact that I have someone going with me who is more excited for it than I am and, while older, probably can do 3/5 of the driving without any problem. While she is in good shape, realistically a big trip like this is not one she can count on being in shape to take much longer, so that motivates me to undertake it.
Have you looked into package flight, lodging, rental car deals on Priceline or Hotwire?
If I get my sleep in order, then it’s no problem. But as it stands now, I find myself nodding off for a few seconds several times a day. I almost dropped my iPhone in the Loo Thursday at work due to the sleepy thing.
I hadn’t considered flying, but I’ll take a quick gander at that. At least I don’t have to be awake on the plane (”Excuse me, does anybody know how to fly a plane?” - Stewardess on Airplane!).
Typically, I’ll drive just about anywhere within a 600 mile radius from home in one day. Over that, I’ll split it to 2 days so that I don’t arrive dead-tired at my destination. The nice thing about driving is that I can carry my 45 caliber with me, and if I think I’m going to do some shooting, a rifle as well.
Last night, I was able to sleep 2 hours straight on the bed, got up with some pain and sat up for a couple of hours, then did 4 more hours on the recliner. That’s my best night in about 5 days. If I can get a whole night in one bed, I will consider that as highly do-able.
It looks like Priceline has a 6 night deal at the Holiday Inn in Keystone with flight out of Nashville for about $1650. It wants you to create an account and sign in to see details. There are some cheaper options that appear to have reasonably decent places to stay, such as a Clarion Inn in Rapid City.
The problem is this doesn’t include the car, which would add another grand, if you can find a car.
I can probably pick you up from that airport and take you back, depending on the dates, and take you a couple of places to see some sites, but I am not sure how much of the same things we are going to want to see. Maybe you can find a local rent-a-wreck type place to rent something from. But I guess you have to ask yourself how much you want to spend if you don’t think you will be in a condition to enjoy yourself.
I am not sure that many Freepers are showing up to this to make it worth spending a lot of money on, frankly.
I happen to be in position where I have time off to burn through, points to cash in on room rentals that are going to expire soon anyway, a car I haven’t had to drive much in the last year, and someone to split costs and driving with.
I have the time off, and was planning on driving there next weekend, enjoying the sight-seeing for a few days before the meetup.
If I can get the sleep situation under control, I’m all set - I have my rooms all booked for the drive there, and I’ve got the driving divvied up for 2 fairly long days and 1 half day each direction.
The problem with flying is, as you mentioned, a vehicle, but also the limit to what I can bring with me. My initial plan was to get a room with a small kitchen so I could do breakfast first thing before venturing out. I have a fairly large amount of camera gear that I want to bring, and I don’t really trust the luggage handlers to not bang things around as much as they possibly can.
I’m also not fond at all of flying since 9/11 when they got all strict on us innocent Americans instead of just deporting all the raggedy people and nuking Mecca like they should have done.
I’ve a few more days to make the decision. I will look at that Priceline deal, but it’s not really how I wanted to travel.
Yikes - just looked at car rental for 8 days - $2612 and that’s the cheapest. I think that given the freedom of movement that I desire, driving my truck there is the best way.
I do appreciate the offer for pickup/drop off service though. I’m going to push myself to get rested and get my sleep times in order.
I’m still planning to be there, though I decided to do without a rental car. I love capitalism, but in this case the car rental companies have exceeded my “greedy capitalist” threshold. If you or someone else can help with transportation, I will share my enormous savings towards great food and beverages.
I can get you from the airport on the 11th and take you back on the 14th, although I need to get going early on the 14th to head out back east. I can take you to some sites as well.
I’ve almost convinced myself that I’m going to drive there, come hell or high water. Well, if the drowsiness is an issue, then I have to call it off. But today seemed to be a bit of a turnaround. Finished 12-hour day shifts Thursday so maybe being off will allow me to get back into tune with things.
My plan has me arriving on June 6th, through I’m really thinking of moving all that up 1 day, so I would be there on the 7th instead. regardless, I’ll have a few days to take in the scenery and just enjoy the fresh western air. I would be more than happy to pick up anybody at the airport during the week if they arrive prior to when you get there.
I don’t want to get too optimistic, but I think I might be past the worst part. maybe.
Maybe I’m just yakking now. :)
More yakking! I’m coming to Mt Rushmore!
C the C, do we have a fairly good head count?
Who, if anyone, is coming early in the week?
I’m arriving Monday (formerly planned for Sunday, but I moved everything up a day) 6/7, so I’ll have a few days to do some sight-seeing. Interested primarily in photographing the wildlife and scenery. Could bring an AR-15 if anybody is interested in shooting/plinking. Wouldn’t hurt to put 100 rounds down range. But I can just as well leave tha rifle home in the safe.
I’m willing to meet up with any early stragglers if they’d like, and I can just as easily go solo the first few days. There is so much to see, I don’t think I’ll be able to take it all in. But I can try.
Our official group meetup days are - what - Saturday and Sunday? (6/12 and 6/13)? I’ll be in town before that, of course, so I can meet up with others.
I’m going to message C the C with contact information. I don’t know who’s handling that if anybody. But as freeQs in good standing, I think we can be somewhat trusting.
That’s all for now.
I believe we have at least 1 local involved. If so, I can share info there also.
I am glad that you will be able to make it.
Unfortunately, I think there will only be a handful of us.
No one has Freepmailed me to secretly tell me that they are coming. The reverse is true. People have Freepmailed me to tell me they have to bail for one reason or another.
Unless a number of people have Freepmailed Defconw secretly to say they are coming, the only people we can count on are the people who have recently posted on this thread something sort of specific about their plans.
I had asked people to keep Defconw in the loop, as she is the one who knows about the restaurants in the area. I don’t know who has told her what.
I will be arriving late on Wednesday. I am not traveling alone, so I cannot easily speak for how much I can get together right now.
It was Saturday the 12th that we were primarily going to meet up. I can plan to have that whole day free. On Sunday, I must allow time to take my aunt to church or I will never hear the end of that. Since I will have driven through five other states to get to S.D. and five states to get back, with a stop for a few days in Sioux Falls, I was sort of planning to not do much running around on Sunday because I don’t want to get exhausted.
I would need to first be able to plan for who needs what kind of pick up or drop off to the airport and what the arrival and departure times are for that before making other plans for getting together outside of Saturday.
I suppose it is possible that some people reading this thread may plan late in the game to fly in for the weekend now that we have offered to do pick-ups and drop offs. If you are planning that, please try to book someplace close to where Meyer or I are staying so we don’t have to run around too much.
Yes, C-the-C and I ought to be able to provide some transportation over the meeting weekend. I’m going to plan on going “solo” on Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday, but if you’re flying in and need a ride, or want to meet up early, let us all know.
I will be leaving Saturday and probably won’t be in a position to respond to any postings until Tuesday morning, so if you need a ride, please post about it before Saturday.
I won’t be in S.D. until Wednesday evening.
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