A Ridiculous Road Trip Part 3: WI, MN, SD, and NE

One more of the Mississippi at sunset

One of the things I've loved about this trip is the rivers. We've crossed them, driven by, and walked beside them. I love the variety in their personalities and styles. I love seeing how they change the land. The road across Wisconsin to a little town called Pepin took us along the beautiful Chippewa River. It braids through a glorious valley and I literally pressed my nose against the car window, wishing for more time to spend a day exploring. Already this trip has given me so many other ideas for travel. I have a whole section in my notebook. We live in a beautiful world and I kind of want to see it all.

Heyyy Wisconsin!

But, back to the spreadsheet we go. It's so exciting to see plans come to life, and I was really looking forward to this part of it all. We arrived at our Pepin lodgings, had a hearty dinner right on the banks of the Great River, then both did some work before getting a good rest. Just down the road from our hotel was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, and it didn't open till 10 am. It was wonderful to have a slow morning in a motel. Camping is bomb and I love it, but it does take energy and I like that I planned to alternate between camping and other options. It has been the perfect balance so far.

Now a note about me and Laura Ingalls Wilder: These stories dominated my childhood and early teens. When I was in elementary school, probably around 4th or 5th grade, some friends and I got permission from our teacher to bring costumes and props to school and spent our recess times acting out vignettes from Laura's life. Yes, cosplay in the seventies. Or re-enacting. Whatever you want to call it, I remember it so fondly. These stories ignited in me a fascination with the world--a longing to understand it, to be curious and brave, and many other things. They created an interest in history, as well as in my ancestors who crossed the plains with the Mormon Pioneers.  I read and re-read all of the books. For my 8th or 9th birthday I received the paperbound boxed set along with my first ever piece of real jewelry--a birthstone ring--a peridot set in 10kt gold. The ring is long gone, but not those books--I still have them.

The museum was small but so incredibly affectionate toward Laura and the story of her family. There is real pride in this town with a connection to her. It was filled with artifacts displayed to give a sense of what life was like during the quite interesting part of American history when she lived. There was a pump organ like Laura's sister had. There were a few things that actually belonged to Laura. There was a fun gift shop and a great selection of books. I picked up Prairie Fires, a biography of Laura which I hadn't heard of and which won the Pulitzer Prize.

After the museum, we made a quick stop at the reconstructed cabin that represents the house in "Little House in the Big Woods," the first book in the series. It definitely made me think about what it was really like in "the olden days," and the gumption it took to live on one's own and wrest a life out of the land itself.

Interior of the Little House in the Big Woods

As soon as we were done there, we drove the 4 or so hours to the town of Walnut Grove, MN, where the book "On the Banks of Plum Creek" took place. We visited another museum which had a yard full of restored and reconstructed buildings. It had a whole building devoted to the timeline of their travel. There was a reconstruction of a dugout home like the one where they lived for some months, and which lived large in Laura's memory that she was able to nearly perfectly describe the setting and environs of that house so many years later when she began to write her stories.

I loved that they had morning glories growing by the reconstructed dugout, just like in the story. 

Prairies fill up all of my senses. 

Prairie Sunflowers and other plants that probably were growing when Laura lived here. 

Straight ahead, across the creek, is the site of the dugout house. 

A mile and a half away is the farm where the site of the dugout house is located on the land the Ingalls owned. I love that this farmer makes his land available so that we can see. They are even trying to restore the prairie grasses to their former state, so that it really looks the way it looked to Laura.

And on we went. We drove the two hours to De Smet, SD and the place where Laura's parents eventually settled. We checked into the De Smet Super Deluxe Inn and Suites, ate the rest of the groceries we bought back in Pepin, and got some rest. We'd come just over 300 miles in around 6 hours of driving. Quite a bit different than Laura's experience as a child.

The next day was another jam-packed one (plus it was Eric's birthday), so we left the hotel around 8:45 to spend a bright, chilly morning at the Ingalls Homestead. De Smet has a lot to offer the intrepid LIW fan, but we only had a couple of hours. We could have spent the whole day there so maybe I'll just have to come back. This town is also proud of Laura and calls itself The Little Town on the Prairie (which is also the name of one of the books, and yes, it's set here).

It wasn't Susan's fault she was just a corncob. We got to make this at the Ingalls Homestead. A real corncob doll 

Ingalls Homestead, set on the actual land the Ingalls family proved under the Homestead Act,  includes another reconstructed dugout, this one actually built of sod and dug out of the ground. It was warm inside! There was also a reconstruction of the house Pa built for Ma. It started as a claim shanty and became a house a little at a time. It was exactly as I imagined it (happy sigh). There's a schoolhouse, an old church, and a historic garage that were moved to the site to preserve the buildings. In town, there are multiple buildings that have been restored and opened to the public through tours. As I said, next time.

I loved these two days. There are, of course, more direct ways to get to South Dakota and beyond, but I am so glad we saw the upper midwest off the beaten track. I was totally invested in learning more about LIW's life and seeing some of the things she might have seen, or at least something close to it. We went through small towns and saw such lovely country. It was totally worth it.

We left De Smet to arrive on time for lunch with my long distance employers at XRX. We ate at the home of the founders of the company and it was just really great, with incredibly delicious food being a total bonus. I don't have any photos from this lunch, but it was so meaningful to me to get to see these people I work with in their town and then after lunch, at their office. I now have a context for where people are and what they might be doing when I talk to them or email them. I feel really lucky to have my remote job and for them to allow me to work completely remotely most of the year, but I do like feeling more connected to them.

Sioux Falls

Proof I was actually there.

As we were driving out of town I remembered that I wanted to see the actual Sioux Falls, and bless Eric's heart, he turned around to drive through town so I could see them. They are really beautiful!

Sunset skies over Nebraska

Then we hit the road to Omaha and our overnight accommodations at the home of my friend Jill. We got there in time to go out with Jill, her husband and her son Max to get dinner at HuHot, the fab Mongolian Grill chain that we wish would come to Maryland. (Our little MG place closed down some years ago and we still miss it). Eric had some birthday cheesecake, we all went back to the house and chatted for a while, then spent a peaceful night in a nice guest room.

This tableau awaited us at Jill's.

The next morning we got up early and drove through some serious rain to Lincoln to see Jill's daughter Jessie, who has become a dear friend of mine in her own right. We hung out with her sweet family for an hour and a half or so, then it was time to finish off Nebraska and get to Erie, CO and the home of my younger brother, Aaron.

Kearny, Nebraska. One of these days I'll stop at this arch. 

Heyyyy Colorado!