I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. — Laura Ingalls Wilder
Morning comes early, and South Dakota is empty. Pull off on the side of the road, stand in the middle and take all the pictures you like. No cars to the east and none to the west. Just the sky, luminous and new. But I’m hungry, and the diners are not leaping out at us. Few people means even fewer restaurants and on this crack of dawn Sunday morning they are hiding themselves well.
Thank god for Huron, home of the worlds largest pheasant, behind which Mom clocks a combined bowling alley/VFW hall with a little clump of cars parked out front.
The Plains Dining & Recreation Center, whose breakfast menu includes The Haystack, The Hot One and of course, Klazy Eggs. My diner instincts are good, but Mom’s the master, and sometimes the best cup of coffee is the only one you can find.
A few miles further along we come to De Smet, South Dakota and the home of Laura Ingall’s Wilder. The family’s final home, De Smet is the setting for Little Town on the Praire, The Long Winter, and These Happy Golden Years. The house they rented upon their arrival is getting a new coat of paint this morning.
While a couple streets away the house Pa eventually built stands quietly amidst more contemporary neighbors.
But the land they homesteaded, just outside of town, is breathtaking.
A memorial to the family and their times, it has a quiet dignity and a strong sense of the beauty to be found in everyday things.
And the world they exist in.
The Graveyard is not far, and we stop for a few minutes.
We’re quiet, separating to explore. The wind rustles the leaves, and after a time I follow Mom up the hill where we look beyond the graves to the surrounding farms. And then, remembering the distance before us, we get back on the road, heading across Minnesota and into Wisconsin, where dinner is waiting with family of our own.
…
Playing in the City with Trains 
I am right back there. Wish we could do it over, wonderful company, great new people and BEAUTIFUL LAND AND VIEWS! Wish life could be simple again.