
A Minnesota Story
Day 18 of our virtual road trip takes us northeast from Nebraska to Minnesota. The first time I visited Minnesota was on our road trip vacation in 2007.

My favorite stop of the day was in Walnut Grove, the setting of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s On the Banks of Plum Creek. I think that’s a total of four “Little House” locales I’ve had a chance to visit. (The others include De Smet, South Dakota; Mansfield, Missouri; and Independence, Kansas.)
The Museum and Visitors Center was probably the most interesting of the different ones I’ve been to, but it also had a lot more to do with the television series and not so much about the books. (For that reason I think my favorite, of the ones I’ve been to, is the Wilder home in Missouri.)
I thought this shot was interesting, comparing the covered wagon from “Once upon a time, sixty years ago…” to our modern travel trailer.
(In case you’re not the Little House buff that I am, you may not recognize that as the opening line to Little House in the Big Woods— which was first published in 1932, making “sixty years ago” actually 144 years ago now!)
There was a replica of the dugout the Ingalls family lived in. Can you even imagine?
I liked how they had just let all the wildflowers grow around the buildings of the museum. It helped give it a very authentic feel.
Then we headed on down the road via the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Highway.
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Here’s my journal entry for that day:
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
De Smet, South Dakota to somewhere in Iowa
Today we traveled through another “new” state for us. None of us had ever been in Minnesota.
We stopped in Walnut Grove and toured the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum. After that we had no specific plans for the day other than to be to or beyond Mason City, Iowa by bedtime.
We traveled on a 2-lane highway (bump-bump-bump) most of the day. We stopped at 2 or 3 different playgrounds we passed. The girls and the dog liked that.
Lyle saw billboards advertising Cabela’s so we took a little detour for that. Cabela’s is building a store in Post Falls that is due to open this fall.
It was very muggy and the weather was threatening so we decided to drive till bedtime in the hopes it would cool off some. (It didn’t.) We enjoyed seeing lightning bugs after dark and scattered fireworks that people were setting off early.
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My blog post at the time:
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Have you been to Minnesota or visited one of the homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder? If so, please share a memory in the comments! That will make this series even more fun!
{Linking up with Literacy Musings.}


8 Comments
Rachel Going Creative
Wow! !! That dug out! ! Aren’t we blessed ?
Karla Ezell Cook
I know, right? Even if it was warm and clean and dry (which it probably wasn’t– at least by our standards!), think of how dark it would have been in the winter. *shudder*
Tuned In Parents
What a trip, Karla! Thank you for taking us on a virtual ride. 🙂
Karla Ezell Cook
It was a lot of fun! Thanks for stopping by!
authoraileenstewart
Great photos. I almost felt like I was there!
Karla Ezell Cook
Thank you! There were definitely lots of interesting things to take pictures of on that trip!
Sheila @ Making the Most of Every Day
Although I read all the LIW books to my children, it’s been about 15 years so no, I didn’t recognize the opening line. 144 years really puts it in perspective! That dugout! (Shudder indeed!) And that wagon! Sadly, I’ve not visited ANY Wilder places. I am reading “A Land Remembered” right now and it’s a bit like Strawberry Girl. I’m glad I live in Florida NOW and not 144 years ago!!
Karla Ezell Cook
Lois Lenski is another of my favorite children’s authors. I wish most of her regional books weren’t out of print. I loved reading Strawberry Girl to my kids. I nailed those accents! LOL!