Katie and I got to daydreaming about future trips and the idea came up that we should take the train for our trip to the Dakotas.  I should probably be writing up our latest adventure to Crater Lake, Lassen, and the Redwoods (pictures are almost ready to be posted!) instead of planning a trip that is 8 years from now but I can’t help but check on the feasibility and outline the big picture!

Traveling by train is generally hard to justify but I think this trip hits the sweet spot.  We’d catch the train in Everett, WA (relatively close to home) and ride it without any transfers to Williston, ND in about 24 hrs time.  Amtrak tickets for kids under 13 are half those for adults so the roundtrip cost would be roughly $1200.  (We won’t have a room though – those were just waaaaay too expensive!)

Flying to Bismarck or Rapid City would be at least twice that and even though it’d be faster and wouldn’t involve sleeping in chairs, it’d still essentially take up a day on each end of the trip.  So flying doesn’t seem worth it.

Driving was tempting but would take 17 hours on the road each way.  That’s being strapped in a chair all day for two days on each end of the trip.  The tempting part is that it would only cost about $300 in gas roundtrip.  However if we use the IRS mileage rate of 54 cents/mile to account for the cost of gas and the wear and tear that 2200 miles puts on a vehicle, we’re looking at $1200 again.  Looking at it that way, the only additional cost of traveling by train over driving would be the $450 for renting a van for a week.  That’s worth it in my book to save two days of travel and get the relaxation and novelty of the train.

So without further geeking out on the number crunching, our itinerary by train is looking like so:

Friday:  Catch the train in Everett, WA around 4 in the afternoon and sleep in the coach seats overnight.

Saturday:  Enjoy the freedom to roam/relax/watch the countryside go by and arrive in Williston, ND around 4 in the afternoon.  Rent a car and spend the night in a hotel.

Sunday:  Drive about 2 hrs to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and spend the day there (hiking?).  That night will be in a hotel in nearby Dickinson, ND which seems to have the most choices.

Monday:  Drive about 3.5 hrs south to Rapid City, SD.  Fill the remaining hours with miscellaneous fun TBD.  Stay in a rental home for the next four nights.

Tuesday:  Wind Cave National Park (1 hr away)

Wednesday:  Badlands National Park (1 hr away)

Thursday:  Mount Rushmore (30 min. away) plus something else perhaps

Friday:  Deadwood (45 min. away) and drive back to Williston, ND.  Back in a hotel for the night.

Saturday:  Catch the 11 am train and sleep in the coach seats again.

Sunday:  Arrive in Everett, WA around 9 am and drive home!