Two opportunities I'm excited about

Two opportunities I'm excited about.

I have two exciting opportunities to share with you.  If you love to read and write like I do, there are two classes that start in September for readers and writers and they are both FREE.  Yes!!

1.  Course Title: Laura Ingalls Wilder: Exploring Her Work & Writing Life

Missouri State University
Sep 22, 2014 to Dec 1, 2014
Cost per enrollment: Free

(This starts tomorrow!!)  You can join anytime.
I'm so excited for this class.  I am a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan.  I have read all of her books and have visited 5 of her houses.  I grew up watching Little House on the Praire and we have a lot in common.  First of all we are both named Laura, she was born in 1867 and I was born in 1967.  We both lived in Minnesota, both of us are teachers, writers, and mothers.  I am excited to be a participant in this class and learn more about Laura and her writing life.

If you want to enroll in the class, please visit this link:  https://www.canvas.net/courses/laura-ingalls-wilder

2.  Course Title:  How Writers Write Fiction
Course Dates: Friday, Sep 26 to Friday, Nov 21

Provided by:
The International Writing Program
Iowa Writers
Instructor(s): Christopher Merrill, R. Clifton Spargo


CLASS SESSIONS
Opening Lines, Opening Doors
Putting Setting to Work
Learning and Building the World
Animating the World
Structures and Storytelling
Constraints and Styles
Revision and Rediscovery

I love to write but never have enough time for it.  It is usually what I push to the side while I am busy doing other things.  Well, I am trying to give my writing a chance and so this will be my 3rd writing class of the year.  I am super excited for this class and can't wait to improve my craft.

If you would like to join me in this course please visit this link:

http://courses.writinguniversity.org/course/how-writers-write-fiction

Let's Learn Together!

A visit to Little House on the Prairie

A visit to Little House on the Prairie.

I am a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and have visited many of the homes she has lived in.  I have been to the Pepin, WI house, where Laura was born.  The Spring Valley, MN church were Laura and Almanzo attended church.  The Burr Oak, Iowa home that operated as a hotel for pioneers on their way westward and where Grace was born.  Last year, my kids and I visited De Smet, South Dakota were most of her books take place and the entire Ingalls family is buried there except Laura, Almanzo and Rose.

 Last week I was finally able to visit her dugout home on Plum Creek in Walnut Grove, Minnesota and attend a play based on her life here. A dream come true!  Every Little House fan knows the TV show was based here in Walnut Grove and the stars from the show visit here every few years.

We arrived in Walnut Grove on a Saturday afternoon.  We were camping nearby at Lake Shetek state park.  The weather was cool and cloudy.  In the city park there was a festival going on with a Laura and Nellie look alike contest.  Girls had to be under 12 and answer questions about the books. There were girls who had traveled from all around Wisconsin and Minnesota but also girls who had traveled from NewYork, Louisiana and Taiwan.  Most of them wore braids and carried books and a lunch pail.

We visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in town.  Georgia and I went in and toured a small town that looked similar to how it looked when Laura was alive.  There was a school house, an outhouse, a church, a jail and more as well as memorabilia from Laura, Rose, the Ingalls family as well as memorabilia from the TV show.

Did you know Rose Wilder, Laura's daughter, was a writer too?  She published in lots of publications like Woman's Day and The Saturday Evening Post.  There are picture of magazine covers with her name on it and actual letters written to Laura about her books.

The school house was my favorite for obvious reasons (I'm a teacher)  Posted within the school house was Rules for Teachers in 1915 and 1872 and if you can read them they are kinda funny and really strict.  Glad I wasn't a teacher back then.  Female teachers were forbidden to marry or even loiter in ice cream shops.  Forbidden to wear bright colors and many
other interesting rules.

My daughter Georgia and I, with our dog Titus, enjoying a photo opportunity outside of the museum.  Life was so different back then.  Driving the roads it was interesting to think about walking or riding in a wagon behind horses as a means of travel.  Travel in Laura's day took a long time.  In On the Banks of Plum Creek, Pa walked to Mankato, some 100 miles away.  WOW.

After the museum we drove to the site of the Ingall's dugout  on the banks of Plum Creek about 2 miles down the road.  It costs 5 dollars to enter the farm where the dugout used to stand.  The Ingalls family lived in the dugout for a year or so and then built a small house on the property.  They lived on this site about four years.  Pa sold it for about 400 dollars after  plagues of grasshoppers destroyed his crop and a praire fire almost destroyed his house.  After Pa sold the property they moved to Burr Oak, Iowa for about a year, then they moved back to Walnut Grove for a year and then they left to settle in De Smet, South Dakota where they remained until their deaths.

Here is Plum Creek and you can see the sign where the dugout used to be.  It has caved in but the big sign stands on the actual site and you can see the beautiful prairie grasses and flowers all along the top of the hill.  My daughter and I took the opportunity to wade in Plum Creek, so we took off our socks and shoes and walked in Laura's footsteps so to speak.  There is my foot in Plum Creek!  So cool. ( I know I am totally geeking out right now).

My daughter, Georgia and I also climbed on top of the "Big Rock" which plays a prominent role in her book.  Nellie gets her dress wet and the big crab lived underneath and bit the people who waded there.

The last picture is a photo of the Minnesota prairie by the dugout.  It is so beautiful.

Walnut Grove puts on a outdoor play of Laura's book On The Banks of Plum Creek in July on the weekends.  We were lucky enough to get to see the last play/pageant of the year, called Fragments of a Dream in the 5th row.  It is held outdoors beginning at sunset and it lasts for about 2 hours.  It was pretty amazing.  The have special effects including the actual building of a church, a prairie fire and more.  There is singing and dancing, covered wagons and lots of fights between Willie and Nellie.  My daughter loved it, even though it was super cold outside for July.  The temperature was around 60 degrees.  We snuggled up in our sleeping bags and blankets.

Below are pictures from the set of the outdoor pageant.  One is of the Olson Mercantile and the other of the dugout.  The set of the play was awesome and the acting was great too.

Have you been to any of the Laura Ingall's Wilder houses??
I have two more houses left to visit.  The Independence, Kansas house and the Mansfield, Missouri house.  I would also like to visit the Wilder farm in Malone, New York.  So five houses down and 3 more to go.  I can't wait.  Maybe next year I will get to Kansas and Missouri?  Road trip anyone?

Ingalls Homestead

Laura Ingalls Homestead in De Smet, South Dakota

Visiting Laura Ingalls Wilder's Homestead in De Smet, South Dakota was a dream come true for me.  I took my kids to the Homestead for the day on July 30th, 2012.  Pa Ingalls built their home and farm on the 160 acres allotted to him by the U.S. Government.  He needed to live there for 5 years and farm the land and then it would be his.  Laura's last 4 books beginning with By the Shores of Silver Lake were written about her life here in De Smet.  Silver Lake is within walking distance of the Homestead.

There is a lot to do here for old and young fans of the Little House book series.  When the Ingalls arrived here, there were no trees and so the cottonwoods on the homestead that stand today were planted by Pa over 100 years ago.  Here your family can enjoy a covered wagon ride, visit a one room school house similar to the one Laura taught at three miles up the road.  You can visit the church they attended next door.  Your children can make rope, a corn cob doll, go on a pony ride and pump water to drink and/or water the crops.  Here you can step inside a replica of their dugout, and shack as well as the house Pa eventually built the family and their barn.  Here is where they spent The Long Winter.

In the town of De Smet is the House that Pa built Ma when they moved to town and a short distance away is the cemetary where the whole family is buried (except Laura, Almonzo and Rose).  Laura's 1st child is buried there with her parents and sisters.  It is a short drive out of town and easy to find.









Laura and I are kindred spirits and have much in common besides our names.  We were both born in 67 (100 years apart), we are both teachers, writers and raised on a farm, lived in Minnesota, and have younger sisters.   When I graduated from college with my teaching degree my mom gave me a doll of Laura Ingalls.  I have visited three of her houses so far.  The one in Pepin, Wisconsin, Burr Oak, Iowa and now De Smet, South Dakota.  De Smet is a place you can stay the whole day and if you want rent a covered wagon and sleep in it for the night.  Who knew Literary places could be so much fun!  I highly recommend you spend the day here in De Smet with your family.

Here I am in a bonnet and dress in the Schoolhouse.  I have no idea how those girls can see in those bonnets.

Hometown Track- MN Author Spotlight #1

 Laura Ingalls Wilder Author Spotlight Wrap-Up:
 
August ends today and so do TWO contests related to the Hometown Track Author Spotlight on Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

Please feel free to enter one or both contests by making a comment here or clicking the contest posted on my sidebar. 

 Several of my posts this month reflected my journey to visit three of Laura's homes in three different states in the Midwest.  One trip led me to her birthplace in Pepin, Wisconsin, another trip led me to Spring Valley, MN where Laura lived for a short time with the Wilder family.  I visited the Methodist church she attended there.  We then visited Burr Oak, Iowa where Laura's family helped run The Master's Hotel and where Grace was born.  All in all it was a wonderful journey with my children and a fulfilled childhood dream.

One review was posted on Laura Ingalls Wilder first published book titled Little House in the Big Woods which I read aloud to my daughter.   I offered two contests related to Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Personally, I am glad I created and participated in this meme.  I am going to continue with my monthly Hometown Track Author Spotlight and I have already lined up two authors to feature for September and October so stay tuned for tomorrow's announcement of who is in the Spotlight and what contest will be offered next month.  I am super excited!

I would love to know your thoughts about the Hometown Track meme and if you liked it or not and if you have any suggestions. I believe each month will be unique due the style of the author. 

Little House in the Big Woods

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder  Illustrated by Garth Williams

I read aloud the full-color collector's edition of Little House in the Big Woods to my daughter Georgia, this summer.  While reading this book, I realized that the Big Woods was close to our house and after a little internet research we decided to embark on a Little House tour this summer.

I read this book when I was a little girl in the 1970's when the TV show became a big hit.  Of course, I didn't remember any of it and had great fun sharing this story with my daughter and discovering the beauty, joy and adventure in this book.  I am totally buying the first season of the TV show to share with my kids this winter.

Laura Ingalls Wilder and I have a lot in common.  First of all we share the same first name, both of us were born in 67 although 100 years apart.  We were both raised in the woods, and on a farm (I spent my summers on my grandpa's farm in Wisconsin).We both grew up and became teachers and writers.  She has a daughter named Rose and I have a aunt named Rose.  Well, I am sure you have figured out that I feel connected to Laura Ingalls Wilder and have since I was a child so it was with great pleasure that I reread this book with my daughter.

Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in the Little House series.  It is a set of stories set in Pepin, Wisconsin and Laura's memories growing up there.  When I read aloud the chapter called Two Big Bears, my family happened to be renting a cabin at Tomahawk Boy Scout camp and a bear had wandered into camp and ate a goat.  There were many bear sightings that week.  Pa was walking home in the dark without his gun and came upon what he thought was a bear and Ma and Laura found a bear in the cow's pen and ran to the house.  My daughter was over-joyed how our day experience mirrored what happened to Laura in the book.

I think my favorite chapter was on The Sugar Snow.  This is the snow that comes late in the Spring and increases the length of time that the maple syrup flows.  She describes how they gathered, cooked and danced all during this time and of course the maple sugar sounded delicious.  There is a story about a black panther waiting for its prey and I didn't realize that black panthers lived this far north.  I guess I am glad they are no longer in my neighborhood.

I love to be outdoors and participate in the wonders of nature and Wilder's book brought back all the youthful innocence, hard work and simplicity of living life as a pioneer.  There are lots of days when I wish TV did not exist and at night we could talk and read by firelight. 

Burr Oak, Iowa - Home of Ingalls family and the Master's Hotel

Burr Oak, Iowa - Home of the Ingalls Family and the Master's Hotel

Burr Oak, Iowa is the third and last stop on our Laura Ingalls Wilder home tour this year.  It is over a three hour drive from Saint Paul, MN and just across the Iowa border.

The Ingalls family lived and worked in this town for about 2 years.  Their daughter, Grace, was born here in a little home about a block from the museum.  There are no published Little House books written about this location.  However, I heard that a unpublished manuscript is located in the Herbert Hoover Library in Iowa and could be published in a little over five years.  In fact, you can go to the library and ask them to make you a copy.  The Museum in Burr Oak has a copy you can view if you are interested.

When you arrive here you must first cross the street and visit the gift store to purchase your entry and tour into the museum.  Your tour guide then takes you to the hotel and shows you around the hotel.  My tour guide was great.  Below is a map of Laura's travels that is hanging outside the house.  Notice how close Pepin, Spring Valley and Burr Oak are.

Burr Oak was a main road for people driving their covered wagons west.  About 200-300 wagons passed through Burr Oak a day in the 1870's.  The Ingalls family boarded and helped run the Master's Hotel.  All of 5 of them crowded and slept in one bedroom and Ma was pregnant with Grace.  It cost about 25 cents a night to sleep in the hotel and most of the guests were men as there was a bar in the hotel.  Also guests slept three to a bed.  The cost included a meal as well.  Ma, Pa and the girls were busy cooking, cleaning, and serving  the guests.  Basically is was a very hard time for the Ingalls family.  They had recently lost their baby son, Ma was pregnant, exhausted,  they were making little money, had little privacy and were working very hard.  The only stayed at the hotel for a short time before renting a small house a block away were Grace was born.  They then made the decision to move west.

They traveled west by covered wagon.  This wagon that I am sitting on is located behind the Master's Hotel and in the Laura Ingalls Wilder Park where Silver Creek runs lazily through it.  My tour guide said that when Laura's family moved a block away, that Laura used to walk her cow to Silver Creek for water.

Well, I hope I have inspired you to take your own literary trip.  This year I still hope to attend the Laura Ingalls Wilder Festival in Pepin, WI on September 11 and 12th.  I am planning to visit Walnut Grove, Minnesota and De Smet, South Dakota in the future (hopefully next summer 2011)

Spring Valley, MN- Home of Almanzo Wilder

On August 9th, my kids and I drove to Spring Valley, MN.  It was about a two hour drive from Saint Paul (about 110 miles) and we wanted to visit the church that Almanzo, Laura and Rose once attended.  This little town was only mentioned once in the Little House books (in Little Town on the Praire).

The church was erected in 1876 and the Wilder family contributed a sum of about 50 dollars which today would be about 1000 dollars to the construction of the church.  It is quite beautiful with many stained glass windows.  You can take a tour of the church for a small fee.  There is also a museum in the basement of the church that details the history of the town of Spring Valley.  Did you know that Richard Sears (one of the guys who created Sears and Roebuck) is also from Spring Valley, MN and that he and Almanzo Wilder were friends. Well, I didn't until I took the tour.  There is also a small book shop in the church. 

The sign above is located in front of the church.
Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote a book called FARMER BOY about Almanzo's experience growing up in New York.  The Wilder family was quite wealthy compared to the Ingalls family.  Inside the church is a photo of the house the Wilder's built in Spring Valley.  It no longer stands, but it was quite large compared to the houses in which Laura and her family lived.

The Wilder barn still stands but is located on private property although people do drive by it, I chose not to.  I did include a picture of it below.  Almanzo's brother Royal is the only Wilder who stayed in Spring Valley until his death.  He owned a store in town, a short walk from the church which is now a bar.  He is buried in the Spring Valley cemetary.

It was a good trip on a very hot, hot Minnesota day.  The church is not air conditioned.  From here we drove to Burr Oak, Iowa to visit another of Laura's homes.

Laura Swag Contest

Laura Ingalls Wilder Swag Contest

One lucky winner will receive two bookmarks, and five individual postcards from three Laura Ingalls Wilder historic sites.  Do you have a child in your life who loves THE LITTLE HOUSE books, or maybe your a fan yourself.  Either way these are nice collector items, fancy bookmarks or an inspiration to journey to various Laura Ingalls Wilder sites throughout the US.  Anyone can enter, it is open internationally. 

Please leave a comment telling me what is your favorite LITTLE HOUSE book,  include your name, e-mail and blog site if you have one.  This contest will end on August 31st at midnight.

Pepin, Wisconsin: Birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder

My kids and I took a trip to Pepin, Wisconsin to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's Birthplace.  It is about and hour and a half drive from Saint Paul.  We traveled on Laura's historic highway and it was a beautiful picturesque drive.  I took tons of pictures but unfortunately my camera is on the verge of breaking and for some reason won't download any of my pictures from Pepin.  So the images you see in this post are taken from google images.  

Laura was born in February of 1867
 in Pepin, Wisconsin.  Her house and the story about her time there takes place in her first book, Little House in the Big Woods.  The house if no longer in the woods but surrounded by farmland.  The house you can visit is a replica and not built to be exact.  It is exciting to be on her property and in the area where she was born.  There is no cost to visit the house, the museum or park in town.  The beach at Lake Pepin is also free.  

 The house is seven miles from downtown Pepin off of County Road 7.  Laura describes her visit to town in Little House in the Big Woods and her view of the seeing the Lake.  Visiting the town and swimming in the lake was a great experience for my kids.  It was extremely hot when we were there and we got an ice cream cone at one of the old storefronts, possibly where the mercantile was.  

I would definitely suggest a visit to this hidden little town, it is quiet, peaceful and not very expensive.  We did not stay overnight here but there are accommodations available.  We also visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in town and the park 4 blocks down that is dedicated to her. 

The museum is really nice with a cute gift shop.  My kids actually walked through it and asked lots of questions.  Next door to the museum is a interactive museum where the kids can play school or jump on a boat.  There are places to take your picture and lots of brochures about the other Laura houses and the area. Every year in September the town holds Laura Ingalls Wilder Days Festival, with a pageant, parade and a play based on the book.  I am definitely going to attend that festival soon, maybe this year.  I would highly recommend a trip to the area if you are a Laura fan or if your kids are reading the books.  I am so glad my kids and I had this experience.

 

Laura Ingalls Wilder Contest

Laura Ingalls Wilder Contest

 Hometown Track-Author Spotlight

I just returned from Pepin, Wisconsin (Laura's Birthplace) and bought this great guidebook to give away to one lucky follower.  Inside the book, it has an official stamp which says "Birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder"  Pepin, Wisconsin 54759.  This book is lovely with beautiful photos of all of Laura's homes and surrounding landscapes.  It is chock full of information and interesting stories.  It is a lovely book for a novice or a collector.

The contest will run until August 31st at midnight. I will choose a winner on September 1st.  This contest is open internationally.

Please leave a comment and share an experience you've had reading any, all or none of her books.  Personally, I grew up watching the TV show and am now rereading the books as I don't remember them at all.  Also leave your E-Mail address and your Blog site if you have one, so I may contact you if you are the winner.  You must be a follower to enter but you do not have to twitter, facebook or advertise this contest unless you choose to.  You are gonna love this book!

Hometown Track- MN Author Spotlight #1

Hometown Track- MN Author Spotlight #1

Drum roll please......
Laura Ingalls Wilder is the MN Author spotlighted for the month of August, 2010.

I chose Laura Ingalls Wilder for several reasons. One, I am reading currently reading Little House in the Big Woods to my daughter, two, I am going to visit two of her houses this month including her birthplace in Pepin, Wisconsin and I am so excited about it (call me nerdy) and three, my name is also Laura so it is only fitting to start my new meme with an author that has the same first name as me.

So watch my blog for more posts, book reviews, a contest and of course pictures of my journey to two of Laura's houses.

Question: Have any of you been to one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's historic homes or sites? Do you have any ideas about what I should give away in the Contest this month?