0  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

This year marks the 75th publishing anniversary of the very first book in the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  In 1932, she published "Little House in the Big Woods," the first in her wonderful series of stories about growing up in the American West as a pioneer girl and farmer's daughter/wife.

I just adore these books, and I'm very excited that my Texas-Chicago road trip this summer (going to/from a blogging conference) is going to include both the site of the original "Little House" near Independence, Kansas, and the little house on Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri, where Laura and Almanzo Wilder finally settled and where she wrote her books.  Rest assured, I'll put up several posts about my visits (my teenage daughter will be along as well, but she's not quite as big a fan as I am.)

You can also visit Laura's home and a small museum in De Smet, South Dakota, where Ma, Pa, Laura, Mary, Carrie and Grace divided their time between their claim house and their house in town.  The Ingalls family certainly covered some territory in their wanderings, and it wasn't in an air-conditioned minivan, either.

I've never been so excited about seeing Kansas and Missouri!  :)

Technorati tags:  travel, family travel, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House books, Kansas, Missouri