Land of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Debi says...

I was a very good girl and sat properly at my desk in a one room schoolhouse.



I explored Laura Ingalls Wilder's house- built by Pa, of course,  and the prairie lands where they homesteaded. I felt powerful driving a team of horses that pulled a covered wagon over prairie grass and beside cornfields.

De Smet, the Little Town on the Prairie,  remains a small town (population 1,200) that cherishes the memory of the Ingalls, their most famous family as well as the Wilder's (Laura married Almanzo Wilder).

What a warm and welcoming place to visit...more to come.

Surprising info about Sioux Falls

The falls of Sioux Falls -  what there is of them this year. Photo by Debi Lander.

Debi says: Nary a Drip

Went to Wisconsin last February for a winter getaway and found no snow.  Here in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the falls are barely falling.  Drought has severely curtailed the normal torrents of cascading water back to the drip of a leaky faucet.

No worries.  The Good Girls will fall back and head out to the prairie tomorrow hoping the 7-year locusts don’t descend.

Travel Media Showcase meetings all day today. 

Judy says: Things I didn't know about Sioux Falls, South Dakota, until yesterday:

The balloons for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade are made in Sioux Falls.

To the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota people who were here first:

• Eagle feathers were awarded for good deeds; those were honor bonnets, not war bonnets the elders wore.

• Drums were the heart of the nation; playing them every day made you healthy in the heart (aerobics anyone?).
 
• There were 50 uses for sage.

• It was a matriarchal society; men conferred with the women before any final decisions.

• Native Americans did not receive voting rights in South Dakota until 1950 yet they had and have the highest percentage of veterans per capita in the nation.

Travel with the pros through the Dakota

We are Debi Lander and Judy Wells, professional travel writers who decided it was time for a road trip. Neither of us has ever been to the Dakotas so that's where we're going and we hope you'll come along.

Starting from Sioux Falls, S. D. August 27, we'll head through the Badlands to the Mount Rushmore areas of Cody and Deadwood, up to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, N.D. then back across through Bismark and the Indian lands to Fargo (Gotta see that chipper of Coen brothers fame) before finishing back in Sioux Falls.

That's the plan, but considering our senses of direction and quirky curiosity, no telling where else we'll wander, on purpose or by accident. Kind of like Thelma and Louise without a death wish (all Brad Pitt look-a-likes are welcome to try catching our attention).

Along the way we'll be showing you where we've been, stayed and eaten; telling you about who we meet; collecting anecdotes and sharing the adventures we encounter.

So join our rambles. The gas is on us.