Sioux Falls Is Nice and All, but Rapid City Kicks Our Butt When It Comes to Weather

The family and I drove to Spearfish this weekend to do some snowmobiling. Little did we know we would need the air conditioning in the car - it's February after all.  As we were driving through Rapid City on Friday, the temperature gauge in the car read 75 degrees.

Seventy five degrees in February - WOW!  I now know why people often times refer to that area as the 'banana belt.'  People were walking around in shorts, there were motorcycles everywhere - and Spring fever had its sights set directly on you-know-who.

I think I would've been happy just staying there in Rapid the entire weekend, but given the fact we had family waiting for us in Spearfish, we continued westward.

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So right about now you're probably asking, "So how bad were the snowmobiling conditions?"  They were fantastic, probably the best we've ever had!

I will admit though, when we left the hotel in Spearfish Saturday morning to drive up to Trailshead, the temps were in the 50's and I was beginning to wonder what we were in for, but by the time we reached our destination, it was absolutely perfect - temps in the low 30's with lots of sunshine.

Plus, a couple of days earlier the area received a coating of fresh snow AND they had groomed all the trails just the night before we arrived - SWEET!.  We had a total of 13 sleds in our group and ended up putting on just over 90 miles.

All in all, we had the perfect weekend - great snowmobiling and got to spend time with the family before heading back home Sunday afternoon (running into freezing rain around the Mitchell area I might add).

Yes, living in Sioux Falls is great and all, but I have to tell you, the Rapid City area takes a back seat to no one when it comes to the weather this time of the year - Spring like temps down on the prairie, but yet cold enough up in the Hills for wintertime fun.

If you ever have the chance to snowmobile in the Black Hills, do it!  With over 350 miles of groomed trails, there's plenty to see and do; not to mention skiing, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and then of course there's Deadwood.  For more information on your next mid-winter vacation visit their website.

I did have to snicker to myself when we were driving through Rapid City on Friday and I got thinking about all our friends who spent thousands of dollars flying off to these exotic locals to get a dose of sunshine - a lot cheaper to drive a few hours West gang!!!