Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Day 3: Walnut Grove and Plum Creek

I was ecstatic to finally reach HWY 14/the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway and jump on it at Mankato. There's nothing to see in Mankato (or Sleepy Eye, for that matter), but I know my siblings will recognize these town names from the TV show, so I note their passage on the historic Highway 14:). Walnut Grove, home of Michael Landon's infamous recreation of the Ingalls family, lies about halfway through Minnesota, and was where we were now headed. 
I have to admit this home site was initially a bit of a letdown. Off season or not, I think the staff was a bit underwhelmed by tourists. A bit too early in the season for that, eh? Now that I've been to De Smet and have had the privilege of meeting the assistant director of that site, as well as receiving our tour from her, I'd have to say the WG site has work to do in its welcome department!  I do tend to build things up in my head too much though, and I expected some enthusiasm for Laura and a sort of tete a tete with the gift shop personnel at least. I didn't get to do that in Pepin and I was slightly worked up as a result; however it didn't stop me from getting the most out of WG. 

The gift shop was like being in Laura heaven!  The usual array of fudgie paraphernalia (Michigan term for tourist) was on display and we just ate it up. Magnets, covered wagon pencil sharpeners, slates with pencils, tin cups/candy sticks Mr. Edward's style, and to my delight, matching bonnet and aprons sets - and yes, I bought one for myself. 

TV Show Memorabilia.  Hysterical!

And this:


As we piled up our gifts on the counter, our Laura hostess quietly punched the cash register while managing to make no eye contact with us. At the end, I timidly inquired if the famed dugout site up the road was open. She looked right up at me and I swear - she lied, saying with a sad tone - "no, too wet."  

A little background folks: when the Ingalls family came here seeking a new life, as depicted in On the Banks of Plum Creek, they stayed that first winter in a sod roofed dugout site literally dug into the side of a hill, and Laura played in the creek at its door, having fond memories of her times there, where she met "Nellie Oleson" (*spoiler alert!* in real life Nellie was a composite character of 3 snotty girls Laura knew, so it was here she actually met Nellie Owens). The land is now owned by a very kind family who allows fans to drive past their house to the site, asking only a $4 donation. I had been told by that thar lady from the gift shop museum two months previous that the site would be accessible if "not too wet."

When we pulled out of the gift shop, I pulled out my Little House Guidebook, which I should have touted to you before, and it gave me directions to the dugout site. 
The Little House "Bible" - don't leave home without it, I was told by THEM, and THEY were right!


had to at least take a photo of the entrance sign. It was closed, just like she said. 

Funny though, the road leading past the house, where it appeared that the owners were not at home, and all the way to the parking lot in front of the site, was completely dry. The creek was completely died down from the spring rush, the evidence clear upon the banks. The spot where the dugout sat has since caved in, but a large sign denoting the spot rests there, the roof of which is now roped off.

Dugout site - very cool and easy to imagine still standing. 
Plum creek flows happily in front, just as Laura described.   

My Laura and Mary, on the banks of Plum Creek. Like fo real

OTBOPC is Lucy's favorite book, so we had a little moment together imagining Laura at play in the creek and on the tableland beyond the dugout. The "wonderful house" Laura described is no longer, but we ruminated on the site where it once stood, and around the creek. You could totally imagine Laura playing in the swimming hole, deep but not too deep or Pa would tan her hide. 

Mollie and Josie not complying with family photo time. We should have tanned their hides. 

After everyone else had traipsed back over the bridge to the van,  Ellie and I read the markers alongside a trail that wound through battered down cornfields and made a loop back to the dugout. I would have liked to spend more time there but was starting to feel guilty for a trespassing of sorts. (Sarah Uthoff, forgive me!) I hope LIW fans can appreciate that we drove all this way and I was not about to skip the main point of Walnut Grove without seeing it!  Besides, the entire site was dry. We made up for it with a generous donation and off we went, my heart satisfied. 
The Walnut Grove home site is right on the side of the road, just off HWY 14, which made it easy to find, giving it a bit of a tourist trap feel.  Anyone who loves the TV show would be in heaven here, as there is LHOTP memorabilia for sale and signed copies of stars' biographies to photos and everything in between. 

The winds were really beginning to pick up now, getting only stronger as we moved westward, or as Joe calls it, "in a westerly direction."  It began to look and feel more prairie-like by the mile, as we eased toward De Smet, where my frenzied imagination was about to be satiated. 
My favorite family pic of the whole trip. 

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Day 2: Pepin, Wisconsin

I can't believe I'm saying this but we made it from Pepin to De Smet in one day! I'm sure others before us have also, but the kids LET us and that is the point. 
Victory! For now, I want to look back on our day in Pepin. 

Just in case you didn't pick up on this yet, Pepin is my first home site I've ever visited!  I said to Joe "pinch me! Am I dreaming?!" He laughed at me and shook his head, and then pinched me. Ouch! But then I knew. I was AT MY FIRST LAURA INGALLS WILDER HOME SITE!  It was not like I imagined but then again, what did I expect? That Ma and Pa would be there to greet me? The museum and gift shop were closed, but a number was listed for someone named Mary who would come open it for me. I sort of wish in retrospect that I had, but I was feeling anti-gimmicky and pretty amped up over the Little House Wayside - the replica cabin of her birth and early childhood - seven miles out of town.   


Winding through the majestic bluffs that surround the Mississippi River, I got a real sense of Pa urging the horses up the hilly (now paved Co. Rd.CC) toward home after a day of trading furs for dry goods. The cabin itself stood alone on a slope of the Ingalls' actual homesite on the side of the road with a few outbuildings. The older kids ran straight to it and then tiptoed in. Josie tried hard to catch up, as became her role every day of the trip, and with her blonde hair and curls, I began to call her Baby Grace. I can feel an old timey reenactment of Grace's two year old tintype becoming a reality when we get home!
The Little House Wayside

I took it all in, wandering slowly throughout.  When we were all in it together, I gave a mock tour of the cabin, filling it in with bits from Little House in the Big Woods. I subsequently did that at each site, and flatter myself I did almost as good a job as our one and only tour guide at the sites (in De Smet) haha. I WISH that my real life job was to spend my whole day talking about Laura!
Me, as tour guide. They even look like they were listening!

Me and four of my babies in the Little House Wayside cabin. 

Hey look! My very own Mary and Laura!

After looking about a bit, we trekked back into town so the kids could play at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Park, which I imagine is full of LIW picnickers in the summer months. There is a neat depot museum there too, not open in March, but the kids played around on the outdoor wagon and trains while Joe took pictures of me with a huge smile plastered all over my face😄

I feel sorry for the kids who built this huge snowman in the park. My kids dismantled it. 

Lake Pepin

We rounded out this trip by visiting the shores of beautiful Lake Pepin, which is essentially a widening of the Mississippi River.  Here, we collected "pebbles" just as little girl Laura did, only we took care not to take too many lest ma scold us for being greedy. 😂

Laura took so many she tore the pocket of her dress. I only let my little "Laura" (Mollie), who is reading LHITBW right now, take a few. 

Sadly, it was then time to go. Although we came in the off season, the trip was well worth it. The natural landscape lends enough fodder to fill your imagination for what it must have been like for little girl Laura, but mostly for Ma and Pa, who are the actual main characters in this book. A lovely morning in Pepin came to a close.

 


Friday, March 27, 2015

Day One: Getting There

We made it out of Michigan! So you know what they say about spring break and going somewhere warm?  They were right! It's awesome! When we left Traverse City this morning (wait...was that this morning? Wuh? Huh? Brain freeze) it was only 7 degrees. But now it's 30 and super sunny! So yea, super warm. 
Not only did we make it out of Michigan, we are an hour from the Wisconsin/Minnesota border and one hour from Laura site #1- Pepin!  Wahoo! 

Joe daddy, our faithful driver, kept us entertained with his quirky shout outs...

We got out to stretch our legs just shy of the Mich/Wis border had lunch along the (ice) water 
And naturally, played volleyball because who wouldn't think of that...
And are safely ensconced in our hotel, where I sit and blog to ya'll while sipping my tea, nursing baby boy, and planning out tomorrow. And Joe is wrangling the kiddos - who much needed an outlet for their excitement! - at the pool. Tomorrow, Pepin! ~ where our next adventure awaits, in the town where this girl was born: 

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Big Van Many Riders

Greetings fellow Laura fans and family!

Well, my dream of visiting the Laura Ingalls Wilder home sites has actually begun! Well, almost. We leave tomorrow morning and are nearly ready, minus some odds and ends, and it seems so surreal. Of all my favorite books on LIW I own, I re-read the most the ones about other Laura nerds who did the home site trips, living vicariously through them. I'm sure when I first get to Pepin, Wisconsin, Laura's birthplace, it will start to sink in. For now, it is last minute jitters, spring break fever, and a hope that My husband Joe and I can get some z's tonight before loading up our 17 million kids in "the wagon" and heading down historic Highway 14 - the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Highway. Thanks for coming along!