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Published: July 21st 2009
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When we woke up in Brainerd, Minnesota this morning I just knew it was going to be a scorcher of a day. It was already 60 degrees and it was only 9:00 am., shoot it might make it all the way to 70 today ! LOL ! Now that all the rain is gone, we are really enjoying this cool weather. I could hardly wait to get on the road because I was so excited about going to see Laura Ingalls Wilder’s homestead in DeSmet, South Dakota. I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie and it is my all time favorite show. I just love Ma and Pa and of course Laura and all her sisters. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to see her house and walk in the same fields that she did as a little girl. We hopped on out of bed and began getting ready. Tim enjoyed his trusty old bowl of oatmeal with fresh blueberries as he checked his emails and I completely shot my diet by having a cold piece of leftover pizza for breakfast ! Oh well, I’m sure Matthew, my trainer, will have lots of fun laughing at me while
I’m working my bootie off at the gym when we get back. I took out the trash as Tim pulled the slides in and then we were on our way. Big Bertha took us across Minnesota on Highway 10 for a few hours until we crossed over into North Dakota and stopped in a town called Fargo. The book mentioned Fargo and a big Kiwanis pancake karnival they have there every year so we stopped by to see what all the fuss was about. We missed the carnival but it sounds like it is a neat thing to attend. The Kiwanis and 200 volunteers make over 30,000 pancakes and serve them to over 10,000 people each year at this event and all the proceeds go to the local youth groups. I’m sorry we missed it because we love pancakes and I wouldn’t feel so bad eating them if I knew it was helping the youth of the world ! After that long drive, we needed to fill up so Tim pulled into the Flying J there in Fargo and topped off the gas. We knew we had a long drive ahead so we decided to go next door to the
Country Cookin’ Buffet and get lunch before we got back on the road. Oh My Goodness Ya’ll, we walked in and took one look at the food and we just had to turn around and quietly walk back out. We just started laughing because it reminded us of a buffet we stopped at last year with Kayla and Emily where Kayla said she couldn’t eat there because the food was “unidentifiable”. There were a couple of questionable things on this buffet as well so we decided to catch something a little ways on down the road. We made our way to Interstate 29 South and began our journey to DeSmet, South Dakota. We passed hundreds and hundreds of corn fields on the way and farmers galore. It really is amazing to watch the different processes that go into producing viable crops. Some of the farmers were plowing and some were planting while others were picking. A ton of country music songs came to my mind as we drove by all those tractors, silos, barns and crops. As a matter of fact, Tim found a great country station on the radio and cranked it up. It was 71 degrees outside, we
had the windows open and the music blaring as we drove through the beautiful countryside of the Dakotas. The cool wind was blowing through our hair as we were laid back singing along to our favorite artists on the radio. Unfortunately, our karaoke was disturbed a couple of times as Big Bertha sent two more unsuspecting birds to join their friends in birdie heaven. We continued on South for a few more hours, passing by many lakes, ponds, chicken houses, wind turbines and beautiful fields until we finally reached DeSmet. YAY ! I’m soooooo excited ! Our first stop was a state marker on the side of the road that marked the spot where Laura and Almanzo lived from 1885-1889 and where their only surviving child, Rose Wilder Lane was born. Next, we made our way into town to the surveyors house and gift shop which is where the official Laura Ingalls Wilder tour began. Here I did a little shopping and then we grabbed the map and headed off to follow the highlighted route. We got to see the schoolhouse where Laura began teaching at the age of 15 and that was really cool. We also got to see
one of the houses that Laura and Almanzo lived in during their life together as well as “The House That Pa Built” in town where he and Ma lived until they both died. The map took us over to the DeSmet Cemetery where we were able to see the gravesites of Ma, Pa, Carrie, Mary and the infant son of Laura and Almanzo. The last stop on the tour was the actual Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. This is the 160 acre quarter-section of land that Pa chose in 1880 for his family’s homestead. The land was given to him by Uncle Sam for a mere $16.00 in filing fees. Laura actually grew up here for about eight years of her life and this is where she got a lot of her inspiration for her books. I was able to get out and walk up the hill where their house once stood and look down at the five cottonwood trees that Pa planted for Ma and one for each of his four girls. I know Tim thought I was crazy but it was really neat for me to be there and think back on all those childhood memories. We were able
to drive by a portion of the 160 acres and see exact replicas of their house as well as their neighbors. I thought it was pretty cool that they have covered wagons you can rent for the night and camp in right there on the land. I got to see Silver Lake too even though it is completely drained now and barren. The entire day there was just great for me and I’m very grateful to Tim for taking me and not fussing about it one single time. Of course, how could he really, after all the races and football games I’ve been to over the years, he wouldn’t dare !! It was getting late and the sun was setting so we finished up in DeSmet and started making our way down to Mitchell, South Dakota. We wanted to get to the Corn Palace today but it was looking like it would have to wait until tomorrow. Tim drove on for another hour and a half and we settled in at the Mitchell KOA just outside of town. We caught a glimpse of the Corn Palace on our way through and it looks really neat so I can’t wait to
check it out tomorrow. We parked in space number C-18 and prepared everything for the night. As Tim was outside hooking up the sewer and water, he made himself another friend. You’ll have to ask him about her one day. She was somewhere around 75 years old and she was sitting next door at the picnic table puffing away on her Camel cigarettes. I watched and listened through the window as he tried his best for about 20 minutes to escape with no avail. Eventually he somehow managed to break away and make his way inside. I told him how proud I was of him for talking with her because you could tell she just wanted someone to listen. Bless his heart, first he had to listen all about Laura Ingalls Wilder all day long and then the little old lady next door. He’s such a trooper or it could just be payback for all that Fantasy Football stuff I have to hear about all the time. Either way it’s all over now and it’s time to head off to dreamland. Tomorrow we’ll check out the Corn Palace and then start making our way to Bloomington, Minnesota to The Mall
of America. YAY ! Take Care and Good Night !
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H Brauer
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Love the picture
The pictures are great. Several I've not seen. We're going this summer, I can't wait.