In August my (Rachel) sisters and I went on an awesome and kind of nerdy road trip. In addition to wanting to see our friend Katie get married, we also wanted to see some of the houses that Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up in. (Confession: we still read those books on a semi-regular basis!)
Across Nebraska and lots of farmland and little towns...
Into Iowa...
...where we stayed with a really fun family. We played in their hayloft...
...took turns pushing one another on 3-wheeled "turtles"
until we ran out of energy (the kids didn't). :)
Sweet barn kittens.
And super cute kids!
That afternoon, we drove on (with the help of Brian and Icky Socks)...
to Walnut Grove, MN.
And our first Laura Ingalls Wilder stop, On the Banks of Plum Creek!
R to L: "Laura," "Mary," "Ma" and... Pa?
Laura and Mary bored as they travel across the prairies.
Laura(Lizzy)'s bonnet was newly purchased at this stop.
We browsed the gift shop in Walnut Grove, but decided to skip the actual tour and head out to the dugout house.
It wasn't quite the house in the hill anymore, but still fun. As we took this picture, a little girl (6ish?) said to her brother (4ish), "I can't believe I'm really here, Max! I'm really here!" Wow, and we thought we were Laura fans.
It also made us feel a little old to be Laura fans, but after playing On the Banks Plum Creek and hunting around for all of the landmarks in the books, we sat down to a picnic...
and saw a group of ladies in their 50s arrive to see the dugout. And it looked like they were probably sisters. :)
Laura Ingalls Wilder highway!
On across Minnesota through the town of Sleepy Eye (apparently the home of the real Linus)...
To Wisconsin
where we spent the night in a little tent in the Big Woods. Sort of.
We set up our tent in the dark, but the next morning our little tent felt somewhat out of place in the neighborhood.
Before leaving the Big Woods, we explored the shores of Lake Pepin
and looked at the pretty pebbles
and Lizzy took cool pictures. :)
Then we took off to see Katie and Forrest married!
Good friends!
And sisters. <3
The next day, Anna officially entered her 44th state!
And tied me. But all she has to do to pull into the lead is go to Utah, AND she's already been to Alaska, so I think I'm destined to lose the race. Oh well!
After barely nicking the corner of North Dakota, we went to the best Laura site of all...
DeSmet, South Dakota, the Little Town on the Prairie! (Prepare for Laura nerdiness.)
Rocking the desk while Carrie sat nervously by (the actual school building!).
Grinding wheat in the coffee meal during the Long Winter.
Twisting straw into sticks to burn during the Long Winter.
With our straw twisting skills, we definitely would have frozen to death.
Studying hard (?) in the Brewster School, Laura's first teaching position (again, the actual school building).
It was pretty awesome. :) And I will have you know, we were the YOUNGEST people on this tour!
That night we stayed in Omaha with Lich (not pictured) and Suzie and ate delicious stirfry. :)
The last day of the trip, we got a bonus, spur of the moment visit to a sod house, a Pony Express station, and another museum.
And Al met a real, live, barbed-wire buffalo!
They hung out. :)
Icky Socks watched the speedometer on the last stretch.
And I slept! Whew.
I'm SO thankful for this time with my sisters. Thanks, Anna and Lizzy, for a trip to remember forever. :)
