Summer Pageants

The last time we were at Walnut Grove MN Ellis had to work late
then we drove across HWY 14  at a great speed to get to the pageant
in time. 

The pageant was told from Ma's viewpoint at that time. 
They have since changed it to be told from Laura's perspective. 
After the pageant we drove to a campsite and kept the car running
so we had lights to set up a tent. 

It was a diesel car and very loud at 11:00 P.M.
Our neighbors were very kind and didn't come over and ask us,
"What in the world do you think you're doing at this hour of the night?"

The next morning we were going to make breakfast over a campfire
but we had forgotten our cast iron frying pans.  We have since perfected
the art of getting food and equipment all together in one place
(the trunk of the car and transported to the campsite)
- unpacked and arranged on a picnic table -
then created into a delicious breakfast/brunch on a campfire.

The menu doesn't change much:
Onions, Peppers and Mushrooms sautéed in butter
Scrambled eggs with cheese
Bacon or Sausage
Spam (we are from Austin MN - the Spam capital of the world)
 -- Slice the Spam and fry it.  It's the only way it is edible. =)
Pancakes

Krysta found a T shirt that describes our experiences.
              Camping Is In Tents

A little play on words. 

There is a lot of character building going on when mosquitos whine
around your head, and there is no light of any kind,
not even the moon.  It is so much better if you get to the spot
in the day light.

This year after the pageant I followed Trenda to a bed and breakfast
down the road about 20 miles.  The doors were open for us.  The beds
were comfortable.  The next morning we admired the beautiful old house,
drank cups of coffee and had a scrumptious breakfast.

Hwy 14 is perpetually under road construction so we took a detour south
and then continued west then north again to DeSmet.

We arrived at Lake Thompson and set up the tent at our campsite.
Like I said, much better in the day time!
Trenda and Brooke didn't like the green algae in the lake.
They have better lakes up north.

Four of Laura's books took place here.
On the Shores of Silver Lake
The Long Winter
Little Town on the Prairie
These Happy Golden Years

Technically, five books because The First Four Years happened here, too.

We signed up for the tour that took us through the Surveyor's house,
two school houses and the house Pa built in town.  After seeing the
bedroom in the surveyor's house I will never again say our bedroom
at home is small.  (Our bedroom wouldn't be so small if we would move
some books out!)

After that we drove out to the homestead and got a wagon ride
out to the edge of Pa's homestead where a school stands.  It isn't the
Perry school because that one burned down, but one like it.
When we pulled up to the hitching post a teacher came out of the school
and rang a bell.  We had just enough time to go inside and find a seat. 

There were straw hats for the little boys, if they wanted to wear them,
and sun bonnets for all the little girls. 
The teacher spoke of some history of that area.  She called up
three classes and they gave some impromptu recitations . . .
nursery rhymes from the little ones,
reading a poem from an old reader for the next group. 
Two boys and a girl went up for the last class so the teacher pretended
they were Cap Garland, Almanzo Wilder and Laura Ingalls
and told interesting stories about them.

Back at the homestead there was a lot of hands on stuff to do. 
We could wash dish towels, put them through the ringer then hang
them on a clothes line. We made a corn cob doll like Susan
in Little House in the Big Woods. 
We saw how they twisted hay into sticks and ground wheat into flour. 
Brooke rode a pony.

By this time we needed to drive down a trail to the pageant grounds. 
We got our supper at the concession stand and found our spots
smack in the middle
and close to the front.

This summer they put on These Happy Golden Years. 
After the winter we endured 2013- 2014 we were grateful it wasn't
the year for them to perform The Long Winter.

There was a roll call for all the countries and states represented. 
People from Sweden, Australia, Japan, Canada and many states,
including Alaska, were there.

I was intrigued by the dates of Pa and Ma's birthdays
and the year they got married. 
Pa was born in 1836 and Ma in 1839.  They got married in 1860. 
My parents were born in 1939 and they were married in 1960. 
One hundred years apart. 
Charles and Caroline had four girls and one boy. 
My parents have four girls and one boy.

After we returned home I started reading
Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder
written by Donald Zochert.  
He wrote that - Gasp! - it was Mary who pulled Laura's hair (not Nellie)
and insisted she stay inside at recess and not go out and play ball with
the boys.  Laura didn't listen and played anyway.  But then Mary told Ma.
Ma talked to Laura and after that Laura and her friends stayed inside and
watched the game through the window.

So Laura was very kind and wrote historical fiction and didn't tell what a
naughty girl Mary really was.    The oldest girls in a family are often the
bossiest people imaginable.  I know this from personal experience
since I'm the oldest in my family. 
I was called "bossy"  many times
and - sadly - deserved it.