Laura Ingalls Wilder Trip - Sept 2007

My sister Janice and I flew to Minneapolis to spend a week exploring a part of the United States that neither of us had ever visited.

After getting our car we headed for "MALL of AMERICA". Every bit as huge as advertised, full amusement park in the middle, four floors. The lego dinosaurs are about 10-12 feet tall. Later in the week when we returned to the area, I got lost trying to find the mailbox on the 3rd floor, had to call for directions from the "help" kiosk.

We spent the first night near the mall and the airport.

We started on our journey to discover more about Laura Ingalls Wilder and the country where she lived. We headed east from Minneapolis, crossed the Mississippi River and drove south along the river to a look-out area over Lake Pepin. This is a beautiful area, the lake is a widening of the river. Saw loaded barges traveling the length of the lake as they head for the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Laura's birthplace is on top of a small mountain about 7 miles east of the river/lake. The cabin has been reconstucted and is maintained by the museum which is located in the town on Pepin, Wisconsin

Ate lunch at a pleasant bar & grill on the shores of Lake Pepin. We got adventurous and tried fried dill pickles. Greasy, but good!

We left Pepin, Winconsin and crossed the Mississippi River back to Minnesota and headed west on Highway #14--the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Highway. Traveled on this all the way to DeSmet, SD.

Rolling hills (the map is marked with skiing area markers, we decided that it must mean cross-country skiing), until closer to Mankato, MN, where we spent the night.

The land through the central part of Minnesota is relatively flat. Lots of corn, soybeans and windmills. Saw huge windmill farms with giant modern windmills as far as the eye could see in both directions.

We drove from Mankato to Walnut Grove, on Highway #14.

Visited the museum and center in town--there are reconstructed homes and buildings on the site.

Then we drove out to "Plum Creek" and walked around the site of the mudhouse that was dug into the bank of Plum Creek.

Janice is standing on the "big rock" Laura talks about in her book.

After leaving Walnut Creek, we continued following the route the Ingalls followed west. Spent the night in Brookings, SD. That was the end of the railroad when Ma and the girls moved there.

The next day we drove the 20 miles from Brookings, SD to DeSmet to visit the last of our Wilder homes. This is where the family stayed. Pa and Ma Ingalls, along with Mary, Carrie and her family and Grace and her family are all buried here.

Laura met and married Almonzo here and their two children were born here.

These pictures show the surveyors cabin that they lived their first winter there, the property also has the Brewster school (gray building) and the schoolhouse that the girls attended.

The other house is the one that Pa built after Laura was married, she never lived there--but did visit.

We left DeSmet and headed north. The country was more hilly and rocky--just slightly. Crossed into North Dakota and stopped to celebrate. We got a snack later in ND, so that I can say that I have eaten and/or spent the night in all 50 states--except Rhode Island--just drove through.

I have now visited all 50 states.

Saturday afternoon we returned to Minneapolis and took a boat ride on the "Minneapolis Queen" along the Mississippi River.

Saw the Minneapolis skyline, the northernmost terminus of the shipping port of the Mississippi River, one of the old breweries, and the St. Joseph Falls and the locks on each side.

The locks were closed because of the freeway bridge collapse the month before, one side was reopening the next week.

We also saw the old flour mills--Pillsbury and General Mills.

The next day we took a bus tour of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Minnesota state capital building in St. Paul and the St. Paul Cathedral are beautiful.
Fort Snelling is the site of the original army fort from the 1700s.
Minnehaha Falls and the statue of Hiawatha holding Minehaha are in one of the over 50 parks in the two cities.