O Pioneer!

When I was a little girl, I read the timeless books and the series that accompanied them...books about Anne Shirley, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib, the Babysitters Club (for babysitting advice - ha ha), the Boxcar Children (which I would discuss later with my brother), Ramona Quimby, and Narnia. 

But before that I read about Laura Ingalls Wilder.  This was the very first chapter book I read by myself and when I read the last page, I felt that something very important had happened.  This was evidence of the dramatic side of me coming out in 2nd grade, but I remember announcing it to my family.  It did feel important because I had read it and loved it on my own. 

I love this book.  (Also I got badly sunburned this week when I chose to apply SPF 45 just once and then sit outside on the lake in a floatie all afternoon with my mom.  I can never outwit the sun, and once again have splotchy sunburn to prove this.  Aloe vera is again one of my favorite things.)

Maddie and I went to Pepin, Wisconsin yesterday to investigate Laura's childhood home.  At least what it was when the cornfields used to be the Big Woods and she hadn't traveled yet in a wagon to a new home.  Remember this book?   I always had loyalties to Little House on the Prairie because it was my first exposure to Laura, but of course this is the timeless beginning.  The woman at the store tried to sell me the entire collection.  I said no thanks.

I was with a friend who didn't need a direct agenda.  We just drove and wound our way through western Wisconsin and went where the wind took us.  It was seamlessly adventurous because of this.   We ate beef jerky and saltwater taffy while driving because it's what Laura would have eaten.  Kind of a gross combination?  No.  It was a great tribute to the dork factor that can accompany a trip to the childhood home of your favorite childhood author.  And saltwater taffy is amazing.  Lake Pepin is beautiful.  To be honest, Laura's house, or the rendition of it, is kind of nondescript and lame.  But oh well.  Even with an adult perspective, it's nice to revisit the childhood expectations.   We talked about all of our best memories of these stories and infused this with current things too.  When we were chaperones together in Washington D.C., I realized that I can very quickly become silly and ridiculous and act like we are half our age, and yesterday was no exception. 

This afternoon could best be described in 5 phases.

Phase 1:

Admiring Lake Pepin, discussing the story of Pocahontas and the bravado of John Smith in the Disney film, and discovering that we were taking pictures in an area heavily populated with caterpillars. 

'He praised its natural scenery and declared the area
'ought to be visited in the summer by every poet and painter
in the land."'

Basically we were thinking of the part of the song that starts at 1:45 and goes to the end.  Oh Disney John Smith!  You would not be safe when rock climbing near waterfalls in real life.   (I can assure you in real life he was scarier and not that good looking.)  The vista we saw though was similar to John Smith's view from the bluff.

Phase 2: 

 Book buying at an antique store and a tour of a small Swedish town on old bikes with baskets.  It was one of those moments that people always talk about...in the Low Countries in Europe?  That's what I think of.  Talk about picturesque and fun.

Phase 3:

The awkward Laura Ingalls Wilder cut out photo op, and a random visitor center and museum. At this point we weren't even sure that we were at the right place. Was this her house? Was it the museum that described it all but didn't give voice to her approximate location? It was all very confusing. We tried reading a few brochures so we didn't look like complete idiots in the gift shop, but we didn't find much help. Here's what it said....

'It may not be what you expect, but as Laura said, "Now is now. It can never be a long time ago."' The brochure pretty much said, 'This is it. This is what we can offer. And Laura supports what we've got.' I highly doubt she said that.

How could we not pose?  Teacher eyes are evident here. 

Simulation of 1886. 
Dress not appropriate.

 

This girl has a shockingly similar name and
love for Laura Ingalls Wilder in 1994.
We had to take the picture.

Something gross from history. My grandma told me about this. 
You collect old hair from your brush and put it in this hair receiver so that when you need some extra fluff for your pompadour,
you have what you need. 
Gross. No offense to fashionable women in history, but really.  Gross.

Phase 4: 

Exploring a rendition of her childhood home. We drove out to the location, saw the replica, and walked in to see a house with two rooms, a loft, and a bigger front room. There was a big bulletin board on one wall, and a picnic table next to the hearth.  This picture, though only of a bunch of wooden boards, about shows it.  I'm not usually so cynical about history, even if they can only show a part of it, but this was weird.

Maddie read a letter dramatically out loud, and we felt stunned by Laura's perspective in letter writing. She didn't seem to like writing letters and she said outright that she didn't like teaching.

WHAT? Our hero school teacher and writer didn't like these things? You think about it a second longer and realize that women who taught in the 1880s probably had no support from anyone else concerning curriculum, didn't have their own homes, and had to wing it in front of an entire community with very high expectations out on the prairie. I'd say that's a large recipe for burnout. And you don't have to be a teacher if you don't want to, but this is where the childhood dreams collided with this terse letter to a bunch of students in the 1940s.

 

Whatever, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Phase 5: 

We got over feeling cynical by doing a photo shoot, acting silly, and ignoring the other tourists. Other people there were excited about the house and even eating a picnic lunch there, but it was more fun for us to try to blow bubbles at the same time for pictures and attempt anything artsy. Maddie started to pretend she was a tour guide, and I am convinced she could have done it if a new batch of people had come through. She did a great impersonation and this moment highlights our friendship because it's that funny blend of English and history. What did we talk about all day? Aspects of history in a literary way. 

Awesome, Maddie.  Great.

All in all, this was a great day, even during the cynical Phase 4 part of the day.  Cheers for road trips with kindred spirits that take you down memory lane!