South Dakota Is REALLY Flat

Not too much to report today. Leah and I took off cross-country, leaving the mall and civilization behind to head to the plains and fields of grain of South Dakota. (I'm not sure the child will survive such a sudden withdrawal. Not a single Starbucks in sight!)

We drove through Sleepy Eye, Minnesota (so named for a droopy eyed native - no kidding) as the town is used in the TV version of Little House on the Prairie. We saw Lake Sleepy Eye, which was cool. Amazingly, out of all the road construction we have run into the main street of this town caused us the most frustration and aggravation as Katana (your Samsung guide) had no clue what she was doing and kept running us around in circles. Finally we followed the old fashion detour signs and got out of Dodge.

The next town we went through (which we will return to tomorrow) was Walnut Grove. May I say it pales compared to the TV version? It is absolutely tiny and has about twenty houses and the museum and that is about it. We will see the sod house also where the Ingalls lived (a reconstruction) and then head to Burr Oak for the next Ingalls' stop. I am hoping to pick up Mankato on the way as it was referenced quite often in the TV show. We'll see if that works out.

Anyhow, we are here in DeSmet, South Dakota, 1000 miles from home. It's amazing, the lovely B&B we are in might be down the street from home for the way it feels. All the folks we have met are nice and have been very helpful and seem to have the same type of hometown Midwestern values we do.

Tomorrow we will see the four buildings left standing that the Ingalls' lived, worked, or went to school in. I'll document that in the evening, so history lovers, take note. <G>