July 17 On the trail with Laura Ingalls Wilder

Today was a dream filled with travel, laughter, pioneer spirit, and good books.

We left Sioux City at 6:00 AM and headed across the bridge to Nebraska and then just as quickly we were across the way to South Dakota.

We arrived in De Smet. South Dakota at 9:15 AM just in time for the first tour of the day. We began in the Surveyor's House which is the oldest building in De Smet.

Laura's family lived here for 5 months in the spring of 1880. The Surveyor's House  seemed so large to Laura because of its many rooms and second floor. Pa's original  hand made chest of drawers is located in the upstairs loft.

Next was The First School where

Laura and Carrie went to school. The building became a home when the growing town outgrew it, so when they decided to restore it back to a school they found some amazing things. The chalkboards were still behind the wallpaper and some of the walls.

While we were taking pictures inside we met another teacher from Canada and a family from Kansas! We drove to the last home for Ma and Pa and were amazed at the items still intact inside the home.

The Ingalls built this home in 1887 and a member of the family lived here until 1928. The first section was a two room house but soon Pa added on a four room addition. Pa built a cupboard into the kitchen wing at the back and Ma's dishes have a wonderful home in the comfy shelves. Pa died here in 1902 and Ma in 1924. Mary, the last person to live here until her death in 1928.

After our tour we headed downtown to the Loftus Store where Almanzo and Cap Garland sold the wheat in The Long Winter. Our final stop in De Smet was the cemetery where Ma, Pa, Mary, Carrie, and Baby Boy Wilder are all buried.

After a lunch in the car we drove to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Walnut Grove was a different style of museum with not as many original pieces but great history and hands on activities for children. They also have a great connection with the television series.

In July, both De Smet and Walnut Grove have theater productions during the weekends.

The towns are so proud of their connections to the Ingalls family and willing to share facts from the books and television series. Kay had really researched the family travels and we found driving back to Iowa we were on Laura Ingalls Wilder Highway.

Spring Valley, Minnesota

To our surprise we drove through Spring Valley, Minnesota and discovered another piece of Wilder history. This sleepy little town had been the home of Almanzo's parents in 1870 and for a while Almanzo, Laura and Rose lived here with his parents in 1890 before they moved briefly to Florida.

Just a few other observations: Minnesota has

Not sure if this fish was in the correct lane to pass.

a lot of distinct smells! We smelled yeast while passing an Ethanol plant and Kay found out yeast is an additive to the processing. We also smelled skunk, pigs, and cattle. The wide open spaces provided a conduit for all of the smells of agriculture.

Today was a LONG day but so much fun and of course it didn't take nearly as long for us to travel as it did the Ingalls family in a covered wagon. 

Tomorrow..... the fifth and final Little House site on our summer tour in Burr Oak, Iowa!