May Road Trip: Part 3-De Smet South Dakota

When I was a young girl, I read all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and loved them. It has been a dream of mine to visit all the sites of Laura Ingalls Wilder. When we found out we were making this trip, Lauren (who feels the same way as I do) and I suggested that we would like to do this. Then we found out just how far away De Smet was from Rapid City. It was a 7-hour drive! James knew how important it was to me and as a Mother's Day gift booked our 2-night stay in an authentic home from the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder. In fact, the 'Prairie House Bed and Breakfast' is the very home that Banker Ruth lived in and is mentioned in the book, 'The Long Winter'. It is a beautiful home and we were so happy to arrive at 11:40 PM. The drive was long and the roads were pitch black. There were pheasants that would run out of nowhere or fly in front of the car. We all had our eyes open, but there was nothing we could do to save them. When we arrived, each room had a jucuzzi--ok, not very authentic, but very much appreciated after the long drive--and we had a good soak before heading to bed.




After a good nights sleep, and wonderful breakfast, we headed out to see the sites. We toured the home that Pa built in 1887, we also toured the surveyors home that the Ingalls family lived in for a while. we went through school houses and visted Loftus's store which is still operating. We also visited the cemetary and saw where a lot of the family are buried. In the evening we drove out to 'The Homestead'. It was all so fascinating! I would like to (someday) visit Pepin, Wisconsin where Laura was born, Walnut creek where she spent some years growing up and I would very much like to visit Mansfield, Missouri where Laura and Almanzo spent their later years and were buried.





The next morning, after another good breakfast, we headed out into the wind and were blown westward to '1880's Town', where, amazingly enough, the wind was still blowing. 1880 Town was truly amazing! It was a replica of a town in 1880 with a bank, saloon, houses, trains, stage coaches, schools, etc. It was interesting to go through and see what a town was really like during that time period.





Of course Aaron found the Post Office! I think it is his second home. Even on vacation Aaron is needing to stop at Post offices to do business--mailing things to customers--he is never far from his cell phone either.






































From there we headed further west stopping at 'The Badlands National Park". I thought they were quite beautiful.


We made a brief stop in Newcastle, Whyoming which was James's first area on his mission. He lived at 'The Antler's Hotel' and it was fun to see that. It is under renovation at this time, but we had dinner at Donna's Cafe which was right next door. He served there such a long time ago, but he was able to remember several places. He remembered the one hundred car trains each with 100 tons of coal that passed close to where he was living (and trying to sleep!) blowing it's horn at the intersections 24 hours a day. As we left town it was raining hard.





We spent the night in Laramie Wyoming and then headed into Utah the next day. After dropping off Aaron and Lauren we headed north towards home, stopping in Bountiful to spend a couple of hours with Mary and have dinner with her. That night we stayed in Boise and arrived back in Troutdale on May 22. It was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed spending time with Aaron and Lauren.