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Published: July 27th 2009
We left Mankato, MN a few days ago and drove along the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway to Walnut Grove, MN (On the Banks of Plum Creek). We waded in "Plum Creek," by Laura's real dugout house from the 1800's. It was so much prettier than when I was there in wintertime years ago. The blooming prairie grasses and flowers were exactly as she described in her books.
The whole town was going crazy with hundreds of visitors for the LIW pageant that night. We even spotted a crab under the same big rock where 150 years ago Laura tricked the famed Nellie Oleson, in Plum Creek, with a crab in that creek.
After we ate a big pageant dinner at the little local community center we went to the pageant in our dresses and bonnets with hundreds of folks who came from all over the US. It was really great!
We camped on Plum Creek with about a hundred other people, next to "Lake Laura."
In the morning we ate at Nellie's Cafe and left Walnut Grove for the next LIW site in De Smet, SD where "Little Town on the Prairie," and the "Long Winter,"
took place, and "By The Shores of Silver Lake," and "These Happy Golden Years."
We visited the Surveyor's house, the house that Pa built for Ma in town, The Ingalls Homestead, The Wilder Claim, and we got a special media tour of the "locked and fireproof & closed to the public---archive room" filled with Laura's and her family's actual clothes, dishes, jewelry and belongings.
We stayed the night in Pierre, SD last night and today we drove over hours of prairie after crossing the Missouri River and we spent a few hours in Badlands National Park where I ate a Buffalo Taco. We also stopped in Wall, SD at the famous Wall Drug---you'd have to see it to believe it!
Tonight in Rapid City we went to the Dances with Wolves set and there we enjoyed a chuckwagon dinner and musical show at Ft. Hays.
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Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum
