First ‘chapter books’ I read as a boy were the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My 3rd grade teacher read a chapter aloud from Little House in the Big Woods everyday after lunch. I was hooked. Re-read that book, then the next 8. The family dreamed, struggled & endured. Followed their saga from Wisconsin to Independence Kansas, from Walnut Grove (Minnesota) to De Smet, South Dakota.
The Ingalls lived in the unsettled West – an American West still inhabited by Native Americans, a land teaming with wildlife, a time full of opportunity. Later these books were adapted into my favourite childhood television series. I cheered the Ingalls ‘country girls’, admired Caroline’s quiet inner strength, despised the show’s bully Nellie Olsen, rooted against her mother, Harriet. I loved Miss Beadle, crusty Mr. Edwards and of course – Michael Landon (Pa/Charles Ingalls). Every Monday evening their family was my family.
Fast forward to 2015.
From the time my spot in the Sioux Falls Marathon was booked, my intention was to visit Little House – to go ‘home’.
Friday after work:
- Boulder to Denver (via RTD bus)
- Denver to Omaha (overnight train)
- taxi to Eppley Airfield (Omaha airport), rental car pick-up
- Sioux City, Iowa
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- then an hour half of corn – miles & miles of cornfields
All roads lead to ‘Little House’ in De Smet SD, population 1,089 – where 15% of the population still identify as Native American.
Walking thru Ingalls Homestead was more about recalling MY childhood. I walked the grounds; rode a covered wagon to the school house. Thanks Laura Ingalls Wilder for retelling your childhood & introducing us to your family.
Travelled to the town cemetery where Charles (Pa), Caroline (Ma), Mary & Carrie are all buried. Crazy, yes – but needed to know my Monday night fantasy family existed. In some whacked way, guess I needed closure.
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- built into the side of a hill, ‘Dugout’ protected settlers from winter wind gusting over the Prairie
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- Burvee Shanty – mattress stuffed with corn husk, walls insulated with Newspapers of the day
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- Ma’s Little House
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- Singer sewing machine
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- tens acres: corn, oats & wheat
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- covered wagon from Ingalls Homestead to Johnson Prairie School
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- one-room school house
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- Charles Ingalls’ (Pa) final resting place
miles of cornfield, then this…today I walk ‘Into the Wild’ — FAAANNNTASTIC!
Passed a road sign 15 miles south of De Smet on State Highway 25 – “Into the Wild Was Filmed in This Area”. Kismet.
Have watched this film 20+ times, had a profound effect on my life. Allowed me to dream again…that anything is possible, at any age.
Looped west to Mitchell to view the infamous Corn Palace before [marathon] bib pick-up in Sioux Falls closed. WOW, whatta day!
Early to bed, early to rise – Fall marathon season begins at 630am.
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- “World’s Only Corn Palace”
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- each year the Corn Palace is stripped & redecorated with new corn & grains
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- 275,000 ears of corn are sawed in half lengthwise & nailed to the building
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- getting my South Dakota on before tomorrow’s Sioux Falls Marathon
Johnson #20 Prairie School (1881)
Took an early a.m. flight to KC, in prep for Saturday’s Garmin Marathon in Olathe (oh-LAY-tha, ‘Beautiful’ in Shawnee). I know what you’re thinking – what to do in Kansas? Aside from KC BBQ, all I imagined was open prairie & tornados.
First destination: the Nat’l World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial.
Can tell ya, I previously knew very little about WWI – was only going ’cause it was lauded America’s premier WWI museum. Exhibits retold WWI via film, photos, news clips, memorabilia & cars/planes/tanks of the era. By the end of the Great War: Germany was left bankrupt; Russia erupted into civil revolution/end of czarism. Last of the great wars to actively involve horses & the first to introduce aerial warfare.
Insightful, interesting, super impressed; museum well done.
Next stop, lunch at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. Place came highly recommended by my boss, Jim. Settled on KC’s famous Z-Man sandwich & fries – did not leave disappointed 🙂
With clouds rolling in (yesterday’s Colorado snow arriving as thunder & lightning here on the Plains), wanted to squeeze in a quick visit to Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm. Located on the Santa Fe Trail, folks regularly stopped in Olathe during the 1860’s-1880’s while re-settling West. Migration halted during the [pre-Civil War] Bloody Kansas conflict with neighboring slave state Missouri. [Mahaffie was cousin to John Brown, the Harpers Ferry WV abolitionist.] Sooooo much history here – LOVED it!
Stretched my stay at Mahaffie to closing time. Draft horses, oxen, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens – everything you’d expect to find on a Kansas farm. Auntie Em & Dorothy’s life was no joke.
Gotta say, Kansas – not so bad. Some of the nicest folks I’ve ever met.
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- 4th straight weekend marathoning – state #26 tomorrow a.m.
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- monumental artwork painted in Paris during the First World War — described as the largest painting in the world
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- worth the 45 minute wait
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- KC’s famous Z-Man sandwich & fries – today I killed a cow 🙂
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- draft horses
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- Springtime in Kansas
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- “Little House on the Prairie”
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- big eyes, crazy long tongue & a wet nose
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- Santa Fe Trail Stagecoach Stop
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- watch out Prairie people, K* at the reins
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- well done, Kansas – some of the nicest folks I’ve ever met
Woke Tuesday & thought: BONUS marathon (doesn’t everyone? 🙂 )
Deadline to enter the Des Moines Marathon was Wednesday. Next thought: What to do in Iowa?
Slept on it & woke with a plan. Iowa would be all about the journey – an all-Midwest adventure! I’d travel to Des Moines via bus (to Denver), overnight train (to Omaha, Nebraska), then rental car 2 hours across Western Iowa. Perfect!
2 short runs on Wednesday & Thursday would be the only prep I could fit in – always lose a few days after marathoning (letting muscles & joints heal). Have learned to listen to my body after a full year of 26.2 race days.
Had never been to Denver’s Union Station previously – what a surprise! Unbeknownst to me, a major renovation occurred over the past 2 years – what a beautiful station! Additionally, Denver’s night life was a-happening. Lotta laughter & hand holding as I passed couples walking to some of Denver’s finest restaurants. Super impressed – go Denver!
Train conductors, comfortable seating, polite conversation, leg room, no baggage fees, no security scanners, a dining car. Riding Amtrak is like going back in time – when humans were kinder. LOVE LOVE train travel. Wish the U.S. would greatly expand our railways. I’m telling ya – if you haven’t travelled by train, you’re missing out.
Plugged in my phone (yep, that’s also possible on train) & woke 7 hours later in Lincoln – an hour from my train destination.
Taxi to the airport (to pick up a rental car), breakfast, 5 minutes later…I’m in Iowa.
An hour into the drive, detoured down a rural highway to take in the scenery. Early morning grass was still wet with heavy dew. Cornfields, farmhouses, brightly colored silos – reminiscent of Waller’s Bridges of Madison County. Truly blessed.
Discovering there’s unique beauty in each of my 50 state marathon destinations.
Race packet pick-up at the Iowa Events Center, then spent a couple hours exploring the State Historical Museum & State Capitol Building. Iowans are proud of their John Deere tractors – ‘nuf said ‘bout the museum. The Capitol Dome however was fascinating. Saturday was probably the ideal day to explore – no bureaucrats 🙂
2 hour nap, quick shower, then off to Carlisle Iowa where I had VIP tickets to a local production of Dracula – performed at historic Randleman House, a “found space” production.
A found space is a nontheatrical space — the rotunda of the state capitol, a church, warehouse, courtroom, carpenters shop – which is used for production. Typically the space is chosen because of its context to the play: Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at the capitol, The Passion Play in a church, Inherit the Wind in a courtroom.
2 hour original production (currently unpublished), poetry reading during intermission and dinner – all proceeds supporting Des Moines’ local arts scene. FUN night! Conversed with many – including Carlisle’s mayor, the play’s director, playwright & cast members. Thanks Mary Sue for creating such a special night before my 13th marathon!
What to do in Iowa? Think I found my answer. YIKES – only 6 hours sleep before race time!
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- Iowa weekend adventure – bus, overnight train, then car – and a BONUS marathon!
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- discovering unique beauty in all 50 states
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- IOWA!
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- downtown Des Moines
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- State Historical Museum of Iowa (yep, tractors)
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- State Capitol
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- Iowa’s Il Duomo
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- Capitol dollhouse
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- LOVED this painting – American West, crossing the prairie
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- Soldiers and Sailors Monument
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- historic Randleman House
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- holiday decked in Edgar Allan Poe
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- pre-race drama in Carlisle IA
