Pepin

Finally a fairly easy day. We drove into LaCrosse trying still to decide which river trip to take. The biggest factor ended up being when each left. The paddle wheeler left later so we took the Explorer. It was nice being out on the river. We saw a few eagles and turtles and they pulled up water for us to see the little stuff too like nymphs and worms. The middle of the day on a hot hot day is not the best time to see much else.

Then we drove up the great river road admiring the views of that fantastic river to Pepin, Laura's birthplace. The final push was on. We were finally to the heart of the trip. I was glad though that we had seen the little house in Kansas and where they ended up in Mansfield early in the trip. There was a special magic there that we were missing after such a long time on the road and the heat and humidity taking its toll on us.

Pepin is a small town. We drove right through it before we realized we'd missed it. There was a small museum where we first met the three girls and their grandmother. We met them over and over the next week. After a short visit to the museum which had a few new things, but many rehashed from the other two museums we had seen, we took the seven mile drive to the actual birthplace. It is beautiful country absolutely green rolling hills with woods still covering many hilltops. The home has been reconstructed which is appreciated. Louisa wanted to know which trees Mary and Laura had played under. There were several that could have worked. We read about the mad dog and we read about the time Ma slapped a bear, saw again the girls dressed in their prairie dresses and bonnets and their grandmother. We went to Lake Pepin and had a late picnic. It was too hot to really enjoy. And then our Pepin stop was complete.

We stopped at Nelson's creamery for cheese curds. Drove along the river for one last time then struck out across Minnesota for the Root river valley and south to our campsite on the upper Iowa river. It was hot and sticky. I worried about sleeping. I was finally so tired of the heat. I bought a newspaper for the headline, "no relief for the Midwest". Hottest temps on record every where we went. It really was unrelenting.

But then the fireflies came out. One flew right around me so I could see it and then it blinked it's light. Suddenly I didn't mind camping. I took a walk to the river where I saw a frog and was thankful again for the amazing opportunity we had and the beautiful country we had been able to see.