Graduation Travel from Black River Falls: Rental Cars and Vans for the Big Weekend

Late May and early June is graduation season in western Wisconsin. Between Black River Falls High School, Lincoln (Alma Center), Melrose-Mindoro, and the surrounding area schools, plus students coming home from UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, and the technical colleges — there's a wave of families needing extra vehicles for one packed weekend. At Riverside Auto Rental, the independent, family-owned car rental in Black River Falls since 1983, we book up early in May. Here's the short version of what to rent, when to book, and how the weekend tends to go.

The graduation-weekend problem

A graduation weekend usually involves three logistics puzzles at once:

• Airport pickups — family flying into Eau Claire (EAU), La Crosse (LSE), or Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP), often on different days and different flights.
• Ceremony day transport — getting grandparents, parents, siblings, and the graduate to the venue and back, sometimes with limited mobility or seating constraints.
• The party after — group transport to the open house, a restaurant in Eau Claire, or a backyard gathering an hour out of town.

One rental, picked the right size, usually solves all three.

Vehicle picks by family size

This is the question we get most often. Here's how we'd think about it:

Group Size	Best Pick	Why
2–4 people	Intermediate or Full-Size Car	Plenty of room. Easy to park at the school lot. Best on gas.
5–7 people	7-Passenger Minivan	Three rows, sliding doors for grandparents, room for ceremony flowers and gifts.
8–15 people	15-Passenger Van	The whole family in one vehicle. Easier than a 3-car caravan to the open house.

If you're hosting an open house with extended family driving in from out of state, the 15-passenger van also doubles as the "everyone goes to dinner together" vehicle on Sunday. It's the most flexible piece of the weekend.

Airport pickup math

Black River Falls is roughly:

• 50 minutes from Eau Claire (EAU)
• 50 minutes from La Crosse (LSE)
• 2 hours from Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP)

If you're doing more than one airport run, or any MSP run, you're going to push past 100 miles in a day. That means our Unlimited Miles tier is the right pick for cars, not the Local rate. For minivans and 15-passenger vans, our daily rate already includes per-mile pricing, and our weekly rate includes unlimited mileage automatically.

How far ahead to book

Graduation weekends are our busiest non-holiday stretch of the spring. We typically run out of 15-passenger vans 2–3 weeks ahead of the big BRFHS weekend. Minivans go next. Cars are usually available with shorter notice, but Friday-pickup slots get tight.

Our rule of thumb:

• 15-passenger van — book 3+ weeks ahead
• 7-passenger minivan — book 2+ weeks ahead
• Car (intermediate or full-size) — book 1+ week ahead, sooner for Friday pickups

Last-minute requests are worth a call — we sometimes have cancellations — but don't count on it for the van fleet.

Pickup and return logistics

Our hours during graduation season:

• Monday–Friday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
• Saturday: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM (noon)
• Sunday: Closed / by appointment

Most graduation customers pick up Friday morning or Friday afternoon and return Monday morning. If you fly in on a Sunday and need a same-day vehicle, call us during the week to set up a Sunday-appointment pickup — we can usually accommodate.

What to bring when you arrive

Same as any rental, three things:

• Valid U.S. driver's license
• Major credit card or bank-issued debit card linked to a checking account
• Proof of auto insurance (policy number and expiration date)

If a family member from out of state is going to be the primary driver, they'll need the same three items in their name. We can talk through additional drivers when you reserve.

A typical graduation-weekend rental

That's one vehicle, three rows, plenty of trunk space for ceremony flowers and grad gifts, and no caravan logistics. For longer-distance family, the weekly rate often makes more sense.