DAY 1, SUNDAY SEPT. 27

7:00 AM – Depart Cedar Rapids Sam’s Club on Blairs Ferry Rd.
Additional pickup locations: Super Target on Edgewood Rd. & Walmart in Coralville
9:00 AM – Rest Stop at Jordan Creek Mall, West Des Moines, IA
9:30 AM – Depart West Des Moines area
12:30 PM – Rest Stop TBD
1:00 PM – Depart Rest Area
3:45 PM – Arrive at Mitchell, SD “Corn Palace”
Tour the World’s Only Corn Palace. Eight years before the turn of the 20th century, in 1892 (when Mitchell, South Dakota was a small, 12-year old city of 3,000 inhabitants) the World’s Only Corn Palace was established on the city’s Main Street. It was built to prove to the world that South Dakota had a healthy agricultural climate. During it’s over 100 years of existence, it has become known worldwide. Some 500,000 tourists come from around the nation each year to see the uniquely designed corn murals.
4:45 PM – Depart Mitchell, SD
7:00 PM – Arrive in Murdo, SD
Dinner is included at the Covered Wagon Café.  Choice upon arrival of Dinner Entree:

• Pot Roast Dinner
• Chicken Dinner
• 1/2 rack of pork ribs

Includes drink, slice of pie, mashed potatoes, vegetable and choice of soup or salad.
8:30 PM – Accommodations are at Range Country Lodging.

DAY 2, MONDAY SEPT. 28

7:00 AM – A Chuck Break Breakfast is included at the hotel.
8:45 AM – Depart hotel. Pick up snack lunches at the Covered Wagon Café. (SET WATCHES TO MOUNTAIN TIME)
9:00 AM – Minuteman Visitor Center. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.  Due to the time change we will depart the hotel and arrive at the Missile Historic Site at about the same time. Even though it’s an hour down the road.
10:00 AM – Depart for “The Badlands”
10:15 AM –  Arrive at Ben Reifel Visitor Center, Orientation to the Badlands.
11:00 AM –  Depart the Visitor Center. We will drive through the Badlands and make a stop at one of the overlooks for photos and eat the box lunch.
1:00 PM – Arrive at the Delta 9 Missile site. We will attempt to have an informant talk to us about the site. It will depend on their scheduling.  For people with cell phones there is a cell phone tour.
2:00 PM – Depart for Wall Drug Store.
4:00 PM – Depart for Deadwood, SD
5:30 PM – Arrive in Deadwood, SD – Iron Horse Inn and Hickok’s Hotel and Gaming (Casino)
Hickok’s will host a Welcome Reception with free pizza, coffee, and soda. A cash bar will be available.
Each guest will receive 3 coupons for a breakfast at the Lee Street Station restaurant, located within the Iron Horse Inn. Three breakfast choices will be available for the group.

10:00 AM DEPART FOR “THE BADLANDS”

10:15 AM Arrive Ben Reifel Visitor Center, Orientation to the Badlands.

11:00 AM depart the visitor Center. We will drive through the Badlands and make a stop at one of the overlooks for photos and eat the box lunch. 

1:00 PM Arrive the Delta 9 Missile site. We will attempt to have an informant talk to us about the site. It will depend on their scheduling.  For people with cell phones there is a cell phone tour.

2:00 PM Depart for Wall Drug Store.

4:00 PM Depart for Deadwood, SD. 

5:30 PM Arrive Deadwood, SD.       Iron Horse Inn and Hickok’s Hotel and Gaming (Casino)

Each guest will receive 3 coupons for a breakfast at the Lee Street Station restaurant, located within the Iron Horse Inn. Three breakfast choices will be available for the group.

DAY 3:  TUESDAY, SEPT. 29
Breakfast is included at the Lee Street Station restaurant, located within the Iron Horse Inn.
9:00 AM – Depart for a morning tour of Deadwood. Lunch on own and afternoon free.
4:30 PM – Depart for Keystone, SD. Dinner included. Location to be determined.
7:30 PM – Arrive for the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore. See the illuminated faces, listen to a speech presentation by a park ranger and watch a video all about Mount Rushmore! At this internationally recognized “Shrine of Democracy.”  . BE SURE TO BRING JACKETS. EVEN IF HOT DURING THE DAY, IT GETS CHILLY AT NIGHT BECAUSE OF THE ELEVATION.
TBD – Depart for Deadwood SD, Hotels for the evening

DAY 4: WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30
Breakfast is included at the Lee Street Station restaurant, located within the Iron Horse Inn.
9:00 AM – Depart Deadwood, SD.
11:00 AM – Arrive at Devil’s Tower National Monument.
Devils Tower rises above the surrounding grassland and Ponderosa pine forests like a rocky sentinel. Northern Plains Tribes have lived and held ceremonies near this remarkable geologic formation for thousands of years. Fur trappers, explorers, and settlers alike were awed by the tower’s majesty. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Devils Tower as our nation’s first national monument.
TBA – On Wednesday, September 30th Iron Horse will host a Farewell Reception with free snacks, coffee, and soda. A cash bar will be available. Dinner on own this evening.

DAY 5: THURSDAY, OCT. 1
Breakfast is included at the Lee Street Station restaurant, located within the Iron Horse Inn.
8:00 AM – Depart the hotel on an all-day tour on vans.
9:00 AM –  Meet the vans in Rapid City and drive to Iron Mt. Road with tunnels that frame Mt Rushmore and Pigtail bridges and continue to Mt. Rushmore. Visit Mt. Rushmore Memorial. Lunch is on your own – (soups, sandwich, salad, ice cream or full entrees available). Visit Crazy Horse Memorial. Drive to Sylvan Lake and Needles Highway with stops at the Cathedral Spires overlook and Needles Eye pull off.
Comfort stop at Game Lodge Area. Drive Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park – hope to see buffalo, deer, antelope, begging burros, prairie dogs
4:00 -4:30 PM –  you will be dropped off at Bluebell Lodge for the Chuck wagon dinner and wagon ride.
Choice of 8 oz. sirloin, burger or black bean veggie burger. Be part of a Blue Bell tradition. This old-fashioned hayride takes you on a 45-minute scenic drive on the park’s beautiful backroad to a mountain meadow canyon for a chuck wagon feast. On the way, you can sing along to classic country and folk music—and maybe catch a sighting of the wildlife! Each guest gets a souvenir cowboy hat and bandanna to help you play the part.
Depart for Mammoth Hot Springs. (Hotel to be determined)

DAY 6: FRIDAY, OCT. 2
Breakfast is included at the hotel.
Depart for the Mammoth Site.
9:00 AM – Arrive at The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota.
The Mammoth Site boasts the largest concentration of Columbian mammoths in the world. Tour this indoor active dig site and view Ice Age fossils. Travel back in time to the late Ice Age with an indoor guided tour. Walk the edges of a sinkhole where Columbian and wooly mammoths, camels, wolves and giant short-faced bear became trapped leaving an ancient treasure trove of fossil remains. This actively working excavation site features the fossils of over 60 mammoths. 10:00 AM Depart for Scottsbluff National Monument.
10:00 AM – Depart for Scotts Bluff National Monument.
Lunch included enroute. Location to be advised.
1:30 PM – Visit Scotts Bluff National Monument.
Towering 800 feet above the North Platte River, Scotts Bluff has served as a landmark for peoples from Native Americans to emigrants on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails to modern travelers. The road to the summit provides some spectacular views.
3:00 PM – Depart Scottsbluff for Bayard, Nebraska.
3:30 PM – Stop at Chimney Rock National Historic Site.
Feel the awe and curiosity the pioneers experienced when they saw the most famous landmark on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails. See museum exhibits, and learn more about the great migration at the Ethel and Christopher J. Abbott Visitor Center
4:00 PM – Depart for North Platte, Nebraska. NOTE: There is a time change between Chimney Rock and North Platte, NE
7:30 PM – Arrive North Platte, Nebraska.
Dinner is included. Location to be advised Lodging: To be advised.

DAY 7: SATURDAY, OCT. 3
Breakfast is included at the hotel.
8:00 AM – Depart for Omaha NE.
10:00 AM – TBD Rest stop
12:30 PM – Arrive Omaha area.  Lunch TBD
1:30 PM – Depart for Cedar Rapids
4:00 PM – TBD Rest Area
7:00 PM – Arrive Cedar Rapids.

PRICING AVAILABLE SHORTLY:
Note: This is a New and Complex tour and may be subject to some minimal unforeseen adjustments. Please check back for updates. Or, email, call for a hard copy.