Vacation Wrap Up: Sioux Falls

Our final stop on our trip to Laura Ingalls's homeland included a visit to "The Falls" at Sioux Fall and a walk around their downtown. It was a hot and steamy day in South Dakota, but that didn't stop us from traversing over the rocks to enjoy the sounds of the roaring water.
 

I realize in relation to Niagara Falls this is a tiny little fall with very little water, but for the middle of the Midwest its a great little scenic view.  The Falls Park is clean, accessible, and a wide open space to wander and explore.

Plus, its entirely free.  Even the observation tower that allows you both a great view of the falls and of the city itself is open to the public.  What a treat.

Downtown Sioux Fall or DSF as they call it had some adorable shops, a fun little cafe we had lunch, and a great used bookstore where we found almost all of the Laura Ingalls books for a fraction of the cost.  Miss A and Miss M now own all but Farmer Boy for the low cost of $19.00.  Miss M has already started on reading every book.  Miss A and I have decided that we'll start from the beginning of the series and read the books aloud this fall.

An enjoyable afternoon in Sioux Falls was the perfect wrap up to our trip to South Dakota, plus it was the capstone of our "water tour" as we saw Gavins Dam on the front end of the trip and the Falls on the back end.

Finally, we got to witness the flooding that the Missouri has caused all the rest of the way home.  Amazing.  Entire farms are underwater and on more than one occasion we were driving on the interstate between sand bags and with rushing water just feet away.  Wow! 

We had a fabulous trip, but were thrilled to get back home and make the most of our final days of summer.

Homestead Experience: Hands on De Smet SD

Our afternoon visit to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead was a complete "hands on" experience.  While our morning was full of Wilder history, our afternoon was an opportunity to try out pioneer life on the prairie and on the same land that Laura's family homesteaded.

But before we headed to the Homestead, we stopped off at one of the "postcard" locations the spot where Pa planted Cottonwood Trees.  Five of Pa's trees still remain. 

The Homestead Site has a replica of the types of homes the Ingalls lived in before building their home on the land.  They had both a sod house built in the side of a hill and dugout.  We decided that we would have wanted both, one for summer heat and the other for winter cold.  The smell in the sod home would have been a little bit too much for me.

At the replica of the Ingalls home, the girls got to try their hand doing Laundry Prairie Style with a wash bucket, plunger and a clothes line.  Miss A said she could have stayed here all day trying to do laundry.  Miss M was in agreement and both girls even came back later in the day to do a few more "loads."  If only I could get them to do the real wash at home.

I'm thinking I might adapt Ma's Weekly Routine at home.  If I can just convince Miss A to do both the ironing and mending, I'll be golden.  Miss M can handle the wash and hanging the shirts on the line.

Next up was our Wagon Ride to the Schoolhouse.  It was a pretty smooth ride thanks to gentle mules and nice wheels.  I think the Ingalls ride into town was a much bumpier one.  The girls got to "drive" the mules on the way home.  They loved holding the reigns and talking to their charges.  What fun.

Our schoolhouse visit, complete with a teacher, was a treat.  Not only did the girls get to dress up in adorable little smocks and bonnets, they sat at desks like Laura and Carrie would have and learned all about the one room schoolhouse and what that meant for a student.  At the end of the "school day," there was even a spelling test which both girls passed.  Miss A had to spell Cat and Miss M spelled Prairie.  She missed the first time due to the prompt that there were a lot of "i's" in the word, just not that many.

After school, it is was time to try our hands at some rope making and corn husk doll creations.  Who knew how much fun it is to make your own rope, poor P even "bleed" a little in the process of making one for Mr. C.  Thankfully, it was already a deep red rope!  Miss A again was fascinated with the machinery and loved shucking the corn cobs. 

Pioneering is fun.  With sundown still a few hours ahead, our fun wasn't over yet.

The Houses that Pa Built: Laura Ingalls Wilder

Pa Ingalls was a hard working man.  As we discovered on our journey to De Smet, he not only made a living as train surveyor and farmer, but he also built his family's homes both at the Homestead that they purchased on the edge of town and a nice big home in town in later years.

At our visit to the "in town" home of the Ingalls, you can really see the workmanship of his hands.  Not only did he build a home near the school that Laura and Carrie attended, it was just around the corner from their church and just blocks from Main Street.

Location. Location. Location.  Isn't that the motto of home ownership? Pa got the point.  He also built a home that allowed them to add on as they had the resources.  We saw the upstairs bedrooms that when Pa and Ma got older and needed income, they rented out to boarders and where when they were young, Carrie and Grace wold have slept.

We also got to try our hand at a few things here at back at the visitor center. Miss M  and Miss A got to play a replica fiddle that use to belong to Pa and Miss M played the organ that all the Ingalls girls had played.  At the Discovery Center, we even got to try our hands at Braille using peas and tried writing our names on a tablet with our eyes closed. Not easy.  P discovered that he could sew.  His mother would be so proud. Miss M decided that she likes wearing a bonnet, it keeps out the sun, and Miss A just enjoyed it all.

It was then time to go back to town, eat some lunch, and shop at the Loftus Store.  Homemade Lemonade and Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches at a cafe that doubles as a craft/general store.  If that doesn't say small town America I'm not sure what does.

What a fun morning.

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Homestead: The Historical Tour

I have way too many pictures of our fantastic trip to De Smet, but since this is my way of journaling and scrapbooking these days, I'm going to go ahead and just inundate you with all of them.  By the time I actually get around to putting them in a scrapbook, I'd hate to have forgotten the details.

The first part of our trip down "Ingalls Lane" was in the town of De Smet at the Laura Ingalls Memorial Society.  Here they have the actual Surveyors House that Laura, Pa, Ma, Mary and Carrie lived in that first winter.  It's been moved from the original site, but inside it's intact and contains artifacts from their home.  Because of the age of the home, no photos were allowed.

Amazingly, they considered this little three room home to be spacious.  In fact, they would often have up to 15 guests sleeping on the floor in the winter for days on end.  There really was only the main room with a stove, a small room off the main that had Pa and Ma's bed and a loft with a bed and dresser (real one that Pa made) for the girls.

On the site, there is also the Brewster School that Laura first taught in.  The school was originally 12 miles north of town (a four hour wagon ride on a good day) and it is small.  The girls loved hearing about how the boys and girls would bring Lard and Bread Sandwiches for lunch and if they were lucky, they would also bring baked potatoes in their pocket to keep their hands warm on the long walk.  The potatoes would then go into the school stove to stay warm until lunch.

Miss M could hardly believe the Laura taught school at age 15 without a high school diploma.  The fact that she did this to help her family pay for Mary's Schooling at the Blind School in Iowa only made her thankful Dad hasn't asked her to get a job to pay for her brother's private schooling this fall.  Just wait M, it could still happen!

The De Smet School where Laura and Carrie attended is in the process of being refurbished.  It's remarkable that under all the layers of wallpaper, they found in tact many pieces of the blackboard including a drawing of a child's face from the 1880s.  Amazing.  Miss M and Miss A could hardly believe that the walls were all covered in blackboard at one time, because that's how they wrote out their math facts, took tests and memorized long essays by writing them down on the blackboard. 

No Smart Boards or Laptops in those days.

It's amazing to think of how challenging it was to go to school on the Prairiey from the long walks to and from, the lack of writing materials, and the fact that boys were often needed to work the fields and missed numerous days.  The school year would only run from Mid October (after harvest) to early March (before planting) and several days to weeks were missed due to blizzards and bad weather.

Yet somehow, I think those children learned more in their daily life than my children do going to school nine months a year!

Miss A and Miss M could hardly believe the you would have to go outside for water.  No indoor plumbing or water fountains here.  Miss A thought it was fun that the doorbell for the school was actually inside the door.  Both girls are also considering adding Chalk Slates to their Back to School list.  I'm just not sure that Target carries them these days!

This is just a start to our trip.  More Laura to come.

Bed & Breakfast Staying in the Prairie: DeSmet South Dakota

When we first decided to journey to the "Little Town on the Prairie" of De Smet South Dakota, it just didn't seem right to stay at a normal hotel so we booked a Bed & Breakfast in the heart of the town. It was perfect.

The Heritage House Bed & Breakfast is the site of the original Bank in De Smet and it's right across the street from the Loftus Store and just blocks from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society's Museum.  For our "big city" girls, it was a special treat to experience small town life and we took full advantage. 

I have to give Kudos to De Smet and the great atmosphere they have created in their town.  They not only pay wonderful homage to Laura Ingalls and her family, they are very welcoming to outsiders.  Both the Society and the Homestead go all out to take you back in time to experience what Laura so brilliantly wrote about in her books.  De Smet is the setting of four of the "Little House" books; By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and These Happy Golden Years. 

Pa Ingalls was the first resident of De Smet South Dakota and he along with Ma would make it their final resting place as well.  It was here that the Ingalls family would claim their homestead, build a big house in town, and where Laura and Carrie would go to school.  Ingalls history abounds.

We loved our accommodations at Heritage House.  Laura's Loft as our little three room suite was called had plenty of character, space, and charm.  P and I had our own bedroom as did the girls.  Their was loft for playing or sleeping and we had a nice little living room to watch TV and relax.  Breakfast was scrumptious and the Innkeeper was warm and friendly.  We purchased a great package that included not only two nights stay at the B&B but a picnic "lunch" and tickets to the area attractions and the community pool. 

Our first night, she gave us the heads up on a great family restaurant about 15 miles down the road.  It was yummy and very reasonable.  We had "cheese balls" in honor of "Laura's" Minnesota roots and  were very impressed with the service and food.  The restaurant is near the junction of two big highways: 14 and 81 and they cleverly use that as their name. 

We'd  also been told to buy the Laura Ingalls Wilder Scavenger Hunt from the Society that leads you to various sights throughout the town and learned more about Laura and her family. At each stop, you picked up a fun postcard and put together a few more pieces in the puzzle of the this Little Town on the Prairie.  P and Miss M found a few postcards our first night in town and Miss A got into the action the next day.

Before bed we had a few rounds of UNO in the formal room downstairs at the B & B.  It was a great way to close out our day.  Our adventure was really just beginning in the Prairie.