Thursday, August 14, 2014

On the Banks of Plum Creek with My Girls & A Winner!

I was overwhelmed by your love and support last week when I made my big announcement! That post alone received over a thousand views this week. Thank you for being with me to celebrate. I'm thrilled to announce the winner of the Little Falls gift basket is Laura McClellan! Laura, I'll be contacting you soon.


Next week I will share a sneak peek of my novellas, but for now, I want to share pictures from the recent trip I took with my daughters and mom to see Laura Ingalls Wilder's home site on the banks of Plum Creek.

My daughters turned ten and eight this summer. A perfect age to read through the Little House on the Prairie series and make a pilgrimage to Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

 
Walnut Grove is three hours south of our house, Pepin, Wisconsin (where Little House in the Big Woods is set) is three hours southeast, and DeSmet, South Dakota (where On the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years are set) is four and a half hours southwest. We chose to go to Walnut Grove because of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant, and because it was the 40th Anniversary of the television series, and many of the original cast members would be in Walnut Grove to celebrate.

I'm so happy we did.

We invited my mom to come with and we enjoyed seeing many small towns in Minnesota we've only heard of. We arrived a bit later than planned, because I relied on my car's GPS and it routed the wrong way (adding an extra hour to our drive), but eventually we pulled into town--and it was packed! Record-breaking numbers we were told.

The first stop was the Family Festival in the park where my oldest participated in a Laura Ingalls Wilder look alike contest. She did a wonderful job, but with 51 other contestants, she didn't win.




Throughout the day, we had people ask if they could take her picture, because she looked so much like Laura. We also had many people ask if she had been in the contest, and if she won. They were shocked when she said no. :) This bolstered her spirits a little.

After the contest, we went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. Now, I'm a sucker for a good museum, and I wasn't disappointed. Very well done.








 
Our next stop was to the site of the dugout on the banks of Plum Creek, where Laura lived with her family. This was my favorite part of the whole day. There was something magical about standing where Laura stood, and playing in the creek with my girls.


 

After a quick bite to eat, it was time to go to the Cast Reunion and Pageant.

I was only able to take two pictures, because my batteries died.



The Cast Reunion was another highlight of the day. It was so  much fun listening to them reminisce about their days on the set of Little House on the Prairie. The people who played Almanzo, Nellie, Miss Beadle, Carrie (twins), Grace (twins), Eliza Jane, and John Jr. took the stage.

All too soon the Cast Reunion ended, and the pageant began under the star-studded sky. The weather was perfect, with a soft breeze. There were over 2,300 people at the pageant! It was amazing to see all the Little House on the Prairie fans--and to have two of the biggest fans sitting next to me.


Your Turn: Have you read any of the Little House on the Prairie books or watched the television series? Ever been to one of the towns Laura lived in?

5 comments:

  1. You turn out a really good blog and GREAT pictures.

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    1. Thank you, Delores! It's easy to turn out good pictures when my subjects are so cute. :)

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  2. Oh. My. Goodness. I never imagined I would win. I just love your blog and am so excited about your writing adventures . . .

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    1. I was thrilled when your name was chosen by Rafflecopter, Laura!! I'm so happy you joined the party last week. I'll be contacting you for a postal address later today. Congrats!!!

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  3. I loved the book series as a child. So much that when my mom let me named my little sister I named after Laura from the little house books. I loved watching reruns of the TV show with my grandpa. The only town I've been to that Laura lived in was Mansfield Missouri, where she wrote the little house books.

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