Sabbath morning, we drove across the border into Watertown, SD. We had a wonderful time attending church there, and even found out this was the home church of one of our coworkers at a previous school we used to teach at.
We passed acres and acres of sunflowers on the way to church.
After potluck, we left with every intention to make it to Sioux Falls, and specifically Falls Park. But we never made it.
Albert noticed a sign on the interstate that said “DeSmet, SD, childhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder”. I hadn’t realized we were so close. Well, 43 miles away. Albert, knowing how much I’ love it, insisted we go find out. Well, long story short, we made it to DeSmet (dee-SMEHT), walked around town and saw some historic things, visited with the Visitors’ Center girl, drove out to the Ingall’s Homestead, camped for the night on their land, woke up the next morning, and had an absolutely magical time. Forgive all the pictures. It was just that special.
If you’ve read ON THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE, DeSmet is the setting for the book. Here’s some of the town.
(Click on each picture to see it bigger.)
This is the Loftus General Store that the Ingalls shopped at.
The law of
The Ingalls family also lived in this home.
Out on the Ingalls’ homestead, this is a replica cabin built to the dimensions Pa put down on his claim file.
A copy of the claim, in Pa’s own handwriting!
This is a working farm, using only the machinery and customs the Ingalls family would’ve used. The homestead also has kittens running around, wanting to play and be loved on. They were so precious. It was hard to contain our joy. Spending time with them was priceless. And made it hard to leave…
This little foal was free to run around the barnyard. It was about 4 weeks old.
It took a particular liking to Mel. She didn’t know what to think of it. The foal kept following her around the barnyard.
Dayne and Ean each had a turn driving this little cart. Dayne even got the horse to a trot and loved it! (Mr. Bo, not so much 🙂
A sod home below…
This building is original to the homestead.
We took a covered wagon ride out to the school house, and got to take turns driving the team.
A view of the homestead from up on the tower.
Some more pictures of our time there…
That’s Laura, in her later years, at a book signing. She really was a bridge between two ways of life. She traveled across the prairie in a covered wagon as a child, and flew in an airplane later as an adult. The way of life changed drastically during her years. It’s hard to imagine one person could experience both sides of such a broad spectrum.
Eventually, we made it to Falls Park and thouroughly enjoyed it. Ean LOVED rock hopping and wished we could stay there allllllll day.
Sioux River
We made it to Iowa and stayed in Council Bluffs for the night. That’s just across the river from Omaha, NE.
This was the very unique Visitors’ Center.
There on I-29 is a Lewis & Clark Discovery Center. There are many bronze statues of wildlife depicting what they would’ve seen.
Albert’s favorite
As the nightlife readied to come alive, we headed to WalMart to park it for the night. Little did we know we were in the direct flight path for arriving flights at the Omaha airport. It could be worse…
A Malo Walkabout 