Day 4

This morning I woke up and checked my phone.  It said 7:30 so I got up and hit the showers before it became too crowded.  To my amazement they were empty.  Only when I got back to the camper and talked with Michael did I remember the phones are still on New York time and I had gotten up on my own at 6:30.  I’m sure my daily half hour nap in the car is helping keep me well rested.

We packed up the camper (we are getting better at putting up and putting down every day. )  We stopped at Wal-Mart in Mankato.  This was one of the towns that was often talked about in Little House on the Prairie.  We were stuck in construction trying to get out of a gas station.  The guy directing traffic received a phone call and literally just walked away

We then continued on towards Sleepy Eye which was an adorable little town mentioned in the TV show and books as well.  We drove through many little towns though Springfield really caught our eye as a place we could see ourselves living in.  Next was Walnut Grove.  After quick photo opt at the Walnut Grove welcome sign we headed over to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.  The gift shop was cute and while some things were still pricey it was better than the John Wayne museum yesterday.  The museum tour wasn’t too bad, only 6 bucks a person.  They had lots of actual artifacts from the town and actual buildings that had been relocated.  I laughed when Michael pointed out that the house they had that was an example of a bigger house wasn’t as old as Grandma Crane’s house.  There was lots of information about the family.  The depot was filled with the family tree information as well as information about the TV show.  They even had the actual fireplace from the set of the show. 

We drove around town and found the bell that Laura’s father helped buy for the church.  The church was located on Wiggins Street!  We found a house we really like on the street at 350 Wiggins street.  We will be checking to see if it comes up for sale in the near future.  Also, we found the location of school when she was a child. 

We then ate our lunch on the banks of plum creek.  We walked out to where the families original dug out was and the family farm.  The dugout has long since caved in but you could see where it had once stood and it was so much like the description from the book.  We got pretty muddy down where she used to swim (and almost drowned).  I can’t wait to show my students all the pictures.  It will definitely be on my reading list for school this year.

After that we headed towards Mitchell, South Dakota.  We hit one patch of highway (think route 12) that was torn up for 17 miles.  It made me think about how my grandparents drove to Alaska before the roads were paved up there.  Glad it was paved by the time I got there.  As we got off an exit for gas we noticed a sign for Fatima a shrine to Mary.  It was beautiful at the church although we could only view the shrine and outdoor area as there was a wake inside the church.    Our campground was just up the road a little ways.  The couple who own/run it have been doing so for 22 years.  Most of the people here are over 55, which is perfect because it is quiet.  We did some laundry and wanted to play Frisbee but there are tiny black bugs that keep biting us.  Tomorrow the Corn Palace and then Bad Lands here we come!

P.S. 1 week till my birthday J