Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead

So our vacation began...

Working a full week and getting off a little early on Thursday afternoon, we packed up the camper, hitched it to my truck, and headed west. After spending over a year without a vacation, I was ready for some adventure. We considered Disney World however knowing how well tempered our youngest was, it was best to wait another year or two before we tackled the talking mouse and his league of comical friends.

Our decision was South Dakota, land of Wild Bill, Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Sturgis, and the badlands. I have always wanted to go and see Rushmore. Even before the movie National Treasure 2 made it's debut. I always enjoyed seeing pictures of it, even more so after a bike trip made by my Dad and his motorcycle riding friends.

So, we were planning our trip and looking for fun things such as the world's largest ball of twine. We discovered that Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of all those 'Little House on the Prairie' books had her home in De Smet, South Dakota. It was a two hour trip off of our normal route, but they offered four RV spots. We called, and they had one opening.

The homestead is about 160 acres. It has passed from the Ingalls, to farmers, to families who wanted to give back to the world, a picture of what homesteading was like for families in the late 1800's. It truly is a living museum and very family friendly. Learning is hands on. The kids learned about living in the rugged prairie, and what it took to scratch out a living.

They got to see replicas of what the homes looked like at different periods of the homesteading process. From creating a dug out home, cold room, and about making do with what was available. One thing that impressed me was the ingenuity of 'Pa' when they experienced a rather cold winter while wood was scarce for heating. 'Pa' took the prairie grass and twisted it in such a fashion to make burnable logs to keep the family warm.

My minions had a blast. From reliving events from the 'Little House on the Prairie' books, while learning about one of their favorite authors. There were horse rides, tours, and a general openness to explore the area which included a church, an old school room, barns, two homes, and a workshop.

In the workshop, the kids learned to make rope, husk corn, and grind wheat. It is amazing to see the ingenuity that went into the early tools and machines they used that made their lives simpler. You often take for granted how easy it is for us to buy these things at our local stores oblivious to the effort it may have taken to produce it.

The only down side of the experience was the RV was a primitive hookup. We had water which was enough. Everything else we ran on battery. What we didn't expect was the weather. It gets pretty cold in East South Dakota in late September. It was cold enough to freeze our water lines. I was worried that we might have busted a water line in the camper after waking up to use the facilities only to find that no water was running. After careful inspection, I found that we were safe and only the water line itself had frozen up. Running the furnace in the camper overnight provided enough warmth for us, and the pipes underneath.

So, we had breakfast, explored the grounds all morning and headed out around noon to visit our next stop... Mitchell's corn palace.

Stay tuned for more...