Day Six



Just a little bit corny!

 We found a fun RV park in Mitchell S.D. last night with an indoor pool and new waterslide :)  I almost turned away because 1)it is at Days Inn and because of two horrific experiences our family has a "no Days Inn" policy and 2) they had shut off the water outside because it was getting down in the teens that night.  Well we needed electricity for such a cold night and the kids had seen the pool so I didn't really have much of a choice.  Of course we ran out of water in the motorhome so our showers were rinsing off after swimming in the poolside shower that had either hot or cold water.  Thank goodness that morning brought us to the Corn Palace.  I can't believe the Corn Palace has been around for over one hundred years.  You just have to see it to appreciate what you can do with corn.  I guess we use corn for everything else these days so decorating a palace shouldn't seem so crazy. 
This was all just a precursor to my favorite part of the day.  We made the trek to De Smet, S.D., the setting for my favorite childhood books.  We took a tour with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historical Society and a driving tour of the area.  I have always loved the Little House books, but this tour gave me a new appreciation for the Ingalls/Wilder women.  Hearing their stories made me realize what independent and resourceful women they were.  And yes, I had Kristen dress up in a prairie dress and run around in the grass.  All of my dreams fulfilled! (Karlyne is soo excited she is far away from here)   Leaving De Smet we drove the Laura Ingalls Wilder historical highway into Minnesota.  I had planned to camp along the way, but the towns kept getting smaller and smaller.  First population 200 then 100.  It is much more difficult to find a place to pull over and camp in a town that small.  When the population hit 61 I was scared to stop for fear they would run out and change the sign in the morning, plus the snow started falling and I decided it was time to head south.  The chance for a trace to 1" predicted in Iowa sounded far better than Minnesota's 5 to 10 inches.

We were the only ones at the Ingalls Homestead and this stray cat decided that she belonged to Andy.  The kids begged me to bring her with us.  That is just what we need- a pet on this adventure.



I am so happy I made it here while one of my children would still dress up and run around.  The other two would have required a major guilt trip or some serious monetary compensation.