The Art of Tripping - Part I

Oh.  And absolutely NO firearms.  But I will pack plenty of water.  Things might have turned out differently if Thelma and Louise had stayed hydrated.  

I am in the process of getting ready for a Girls' Road Trip.  Now, now - wipe all visions of Thelma and Louis outta your head. There will be no foul language, hard liquor, or dangerous situations involving a greasy Brad Pitt.  The girls on this particular trip are my mom, aunt, niece, and daughter.  My mini-van will be pointing west, so we can visit the stomping grounds of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Woot Woot!

Pa - getting ready for a day in the field.  No grasshopper infestation today!

First stop is Pepin, Wisconsin where Laura was born.  Second stop is Walnut Grove, Minnesota where On the Banks of Plum Creek take place.  The television show, Little House on the Prairie, was supposedly set in Walnut Grove.  Truth?  The show was filmed in nine different California and Arizona locations.  So, Michael Landon did not strip down and plow up a wheat field in Walnut Grove.  

Notice that nowhere in this post have I called this "trip" a "vacation".  I stopped vacationing 13 years ago, when I had my first child.  I finally figured out the difference between vacations and trips when I had my second child.  (No one has ever accused me of being a fast learner.)

  
Vacations imply lots of unstructured lolly-gagging time, meals eaten in restaurants, and not keeping track of time.  (A question just occurred to me.  Did Ma Ingalls EVER go on vacation?  Or was her entire life milking cows, making Johnnycakes, and bolstering Pa's ego?)  Before I knew the difference, I would go on family "vacations" and still prepare meals, manifest snacks, wash dishes and organize laundry.  Where was the vacation? I would return home disappointed and exhausted with piles of unpacking to deal with.  (Packing and unpacking is drudgery to be plodded through in order to leave your house.  It is worth it.)  When I finally understood that trips were happening and not vacations, my disappointment dissipated and I could deal with it.

But, back to the Girls' Trip.  Being a controlling reading specialist,   I required all the girls to read a minimum of two books - Little House in the Big Woods and On the Banks of Plum Creek. Rereading the books with my daughter has been wonderful.  Laura Ingalls should be added to the list of heroic women who persisted.  Here are a couple reasons why:

•  Laura figured out what to do when the cattle were eating the wheat while Pa and Ma were buying calico in town.  (She screamed and waved her arms for hours.)  
• Laura managed not to slap the nefarious Nellie Olsen.  
• Laura consistently pushed the boundaries of adventure because she was curious and not content to sit in the dugout and sew her boring nine-patch quilt.     

Today I need to vacuum the van, buy snacks at Costco, and book a hotel with a pool.  Oh, and most importantly, finish reading On the Banks of Plum Creek.  

Prairie Eydie