Well, for him anyway -
My husband added at least a dozen jewels to his heavenly crown this month. You see, because he wants me like camping he was supernaturally helpful and positive. While I packed up in the house, he packed and unpacked the van and the topper and the platform thing on the trailer hitch. With the record high dew points he was drenched in sweat every time. He pitched the tents, made coffee, grilled meat, hauled anything heavy, did all the driving and let me sleep on the bigger air mattress. He did not complain once, although he did admit at times that conditions were miserable. Saintly, this man who married the likes of me.
As for me, any opportunity to be sanctified by camping was utterly wasted due to my complaining, I am ashamed to admit. I did learn a lot about myself - I learned that heat & humidity do terrible things to my disposition, especially combined with rain, a dirty tent floor, millipedes in the shower, mosquitoes that eat my baby, and crying children in the van. I also learned what my hair really looks like without using a round brush and blow dryer (though this was the least of my worries!)
Did I mention lack of sleep? Falling asleep and waking up on sheets that felt misted,the baby waking at 2am, a trip to the buggy bathroom at 3am, the birds chirping at 5am and the baby again at 6am.
Exhausting. But worth it? Yes. I can say that now that's it's all over. Over for now anyway.
{I hope you are not too scandalized - I did thank and praise my husband (and children) as often as I could muster, which was when I was comfortably riding in an air conditioned van.}
I learned a lot about our children too - that the kids LOVE camping. My eldest girl loved to help pitch the tents, my son became addicted to the fire pit, my middle daughter fashioned a game of mancala on the ground and the four year old learned to play tic-tac-toe in the dirt with a stick.
Hands-on experience with insects provided a fantastic learning experience too. We captured this beautiful katydid and witnessed firsthand how the wings rub when it chirps. Several insect specimens were added to this summer's bug collection.
We also continued to learn about Sunshine's talent with paper and scissors - she created this doggy set for her little sister to play with in the van!
Best of all, we learned to travel on a shoestring budget. Compared with two rooms at a hotel, we stayed five nights for the price of one!
Now do you want to know where we went on our second camping attempt?
First stop - The Little House in the Big Woods. Though no longer surrounded by big woods but by cornfields, it was still endearing to see the replica log cabin along the road into Pepin. There's not much else there besides a small museum in town, but it was a nice place to have a picnic lunch and use the restroom.
Fortunately, there was plenty more to do in the Lake Pepin area -
The National Eagle Center was a worthy stop on a rainy day.
Lark Toys has got to be the most amazing toy store ever. It's like all my favorite kids' catalogs combined into one brick & mortar store. To top it off there is a hand carved wooden carousel could have been designed by Jan Brett - imaginative, detailed and richly colored. My photos do not do justice to the details. I can't believe they actually let kids ride these works of art!
Views of the Mississippi from Buena Vista Park - the drive up the bluff and down a winding farm road that seemed to lead to nowhere was worth the effort.
Here's more scenery of the Mississippi river valley from 500' on top of Brady's Bluff -
Maiden Rock is also in the area - you know that bluff mentioned in Minn of the Mississippi where Princess Winona jumped to her death? We passed it by in a hurry trying to get to our campsite before dark, so no photo.
That was the first leg of the trip.
Part Two:
On the way to Walnut Grove we stopped at the Pickwick Mill c.1850s. They turn the water wheel on for visitors.
Our second campsite was actually 40 minutes away from Walnut Grove at a city park in Redwood Falls, right by a rushing river. Pretty, but humid. We would have hiked all over this park if the dew point had not been near 80.
This also happens to be where my husband proposed thirteen years ago! Last time we were there it was just the two of us!
The dugout site in Walnut Grove has collapsed, but a sign marks the spot.
{Plum Creek was rather deep and muddy for wading.}
The farmers who now own the land graciously let people drive in to see the dug out site and Plum Creek, for a small fee.
The museum in town has a replica of a dugout house as well as a settler's home (like the "wonderful house"), a church, a school, and "Grandma's House". The gift shop and restrooms here deserve an A+.
Everything was refreshingly hands-on, even the pump organ!
Two or three weekends in July they host a family festival in the park complete with food, music, crafts, Civil War demonstrations and the Laura-Nellie Look Alike Contest. And you already know who won that!
{Too bad there was not a Baby Carrie contest too!}
The excitement of our daughter winning made it all worth it - those were longest hottest and MOST HUMID hours I have ever endured, and in Minnesota - go figure.
See that smile? She is still glowing from this special day. She and the Nellie winner were even in the Walnut Grove newspaper.
Three weekends in July the Outdoor Wilder Pageant is presented by dedicated local volunteers, It doesn't start until 9pm and runs two hours. We were going to skip it, but the contest winners are invited to participate for the night and received a gift certificate for the gift shop on the pageant grounds.
(she's on the front bench on the left - she was thrilled)
More fun in the area - the pageant suppers served up by local community groups in a refreshingly cold community center (with clean bathrooms) before the show begins.
East of Walnut Grove the Sod Houses in a farmer's backyard makes an interesting stop -
These are really quite nice on the inside - the larger one had a wooden floor, the smaller one did not.
Wheels Across the Prairie, a railroad and local history museum in Tracy is the home to this giant engine and several old-time buildings furnished with artifacts from the era.
Jeffer's Petroglyphs is a destination that has been on my list of places to see for some time. See the carving of the Thunderbird sideways in the middle?
Their visitor's center was also a fantastic place for travelers seeking cold a/c, clean restrooms, hands-on exhibits and friendly staff.
The Harkin Store - an 1870's general store/post office where much of the original inventory remained on the shelves after closing.
Here we are enjoying a refreshing wade in the creek at Ft. Ridgely State Park's picnic grounds -we could have stayed here forever! This is what we were hoping Plum Creek would be like.
That wraps it up! Many, many thanks to my saintly husband who accommodates the plans I dream up and to the families who loaned us prairie dresses. I think we will be getting our own before we make it out to De Smet. After we returned Joe discovered that his boss's boss specializes in sewing prairie dresses. I sense she is jumping at the chance to make some for us!
{If you ever go, keep in mind that the gift shops have aprons and bonnets for sale, most likely made by local ladies, so you don't have to have them ahead of time.}
I am not sure when we will go to De Smet if it remains too hot to camp and the hotels are full, but I hear it's the best site out of the three. Maybe next summer?
