Mount Rushmore!!!
The man responsible for sculpting Mount Rushmore
Miss Lizzy
Miss Mary
As you walk up to the base of Mount Rushmore, all 50 state flags blowing in the wind make a sort of tunnel that you walk through. It made one feel very patriotic and blessed to be an America!
A cool perspective of our first president
Kids keeping themselves entertained with the
National Parks memory game we bought at Mount Rushmore
The following pictures are from our visit to Badlands National Park
on our way to DeSmet, South Dakota
This little one loved the slippery boardwalks throughout the park,
this is what the kids will remember (wink wink!!!!)
Keeping a close eye out for rattlesnakes,
warnings were posted everywhere!
We were all ready to leave Badlands, too deserty for us!
Day 4 We spent all day in De Smet the little town on the prairie where 5 of the Little House Books took place! We intended to spend 1/2 a day here but didn't get back on the road til 6:30pm. The people were wonderful, very friendly and welcoming and the sights were so well done!
The original Surveyors house Laura and her family lived in during
the first winter in South Dakota
We had a very nice visit with Mrs Evie Paulson
this is our good friend Angie's great aunt who has lived in DeSmet all her life
Lizzy with a slate from the school house Laura and Mary attended
the school house
"teacher" Katherine
out on the Ingalls claim property
we each made a piece of rope
The Ingalls Claim with part of the Big Slough behind
Caroline driving the covered wagon out to the school house
Miss Mary
Mary showing the class what is in her lunch pail
the four girls decked out in their bonnets and pinafores
Caroline the youngest of the pupils
Love this quote from Laura
Time to ride off onto the prairie
and get chased by a colt
A corn planter that they used to plant the corn in the
background of the picture
A replica of the claim shanty Pa built
a baby calf in the barn, kids loved, mom didn't
Happy students
Charles and Caroline Ingalls home in the town of DeSmet
where they lived out the rest of their lives
We ended the day with a late night drive to our hotel in St Paul, Minnesota
Day 5 We are in Onalaska, Wisconsin tonight! Once again we are ready to move....so good-bye you all! The Frykmans are moving. Everyone is so nice here, the Mississippi River is beautiful, everything is green and lush, and they have fried cheese curds! What more could you want?
Today we drove from St Paul, Minnesota along the Mississippi River to Lake Pepin, Wisconsin!
What we thought was going to be a short day of driving and sight seeing ended up to be quite a different day. It all started with Mary wanting to put her toes in the water of Lake Pepin. We said no at first and then Eric spied a little grassy park and boat launch area with a dock, so he pulled off the road...fast forward a few minutes we start visiting with a dad and his two boys who were launching their boat. (Everyone seems to notice right away that we are from California!) The dad, Nels was filling us in on all the cool things to do in the little towns along the river and all the kids were starring at each other when he suggests that some of us take a ride in his boat while the rest drive around the lake to the little town of Pepin! Katherine and I enjoyed a beautiful drive while everyone else drove in Nels boat to the other side of the lake. We treated them to lunch and kids played together...Soren and Caroline hit it off! Finding out that Nels was Swedish (his boys were Soren and Sven, dead giveaways!) was just icing on the cake!!!!!
We enjoyed an afternoon treat at Nelson Creamery! Once again all were very welcoming, offering samples of fresh cheese curd (an experience in itself) and other Wisconsin cheeses. After enjoying our ice cream cones on the brick patio we were off to Rainbow Ridge Bed and Breakfast.
At Nelson's we experienced fresh cheese curds and many other amazing local cheeses!
Nelson Creamery
The beautiful dining area of the cheese and wine room
This is a working goat farm...the owners waited for us to arrive to do the evening chores so the kids could help this included milking the goats, feeding the 2 calves, 100 chickens, 8 hogs, ducks, cats, sheep and two llamas! Our evening ended with a walk up the hill above the farm to the "Monkey Tree" where kids and goats climbed together and Eric and Thomas played a game of pirates! We watched the sun set from our little slice of heaven and then the goats made their way down the hill with us. Fabulous!
Yes, Katherine is milking a goat! She and Elizabeth and Mary even were up at 5:30 the next morning to help milk the goats!
Bubs feeding the goats!
The owner had over 100 chickens....
....and hungry hogs, really yuck!
Kids helped give the goat milk to the different farm animals
How they keep everything organized!
Carolina and Mary were quickly put to work and they LOVED it!
Turned around to take a picture of the farm
as we walked up to the Monkey Tree
Goats and girls and a big, big tree!
Little Bean high up in the farms "Monkey Tree"
"Mary and her Little Goat"
Katherine enjoying some quiet contemplation
time during our walk above the farm
The Sunset! Priceless....Goodnight to Rainbow Ridge farm,
we had a great experience!
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