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“So they all went away from the little log house. The shutters were over the windows, so the little house could not see them go. It stayed there inside the log fence, behind the two big oak trees that in the summertime had made green roofs for Mary and Laura to play under. And that was the last of the little house.” 
― Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods

Just to be clear, I don't remember life without Little House. I can remember going into Plaza Books at Coronado Center in Albuquerque and picking out the next installment in the Little House series. I can remember sitting in the very back space of my mom's Volkswagen Beetle reading Little House books.  (Yes- that would be me seated directly over the engine at the very rear of the car. Yes- that would be me seated without any safety restraint system. Yes- that would be childhood in the mid-1970's.) I can remember reading through the series, and finishing The First Four Years, shelving it, and then starting back in The Big Woods once again. I was The Target Audience of the TV series. I could take my bath, wash, rinse and dry, and be back on the couch before the commercial break ended. 

My kids will attest with nodding heads, the lessons and experiences of Little House have stuck with me to this day. Mary and Laura and Carrie didn't have a VCR in their covered wagon across the plains, and we'll be just fine on our cross-country move, too. Could I too be content with an orange and some stick candy and a corn husk doll at Christmas? That one girl who was such a spoiled bully in elementary school- she was such a Nellie Oleson. I can't look at a grasshopper without thinking of the plague that hit Pa's crops on the banks of Plum Creek. When an Omaha winter seemed to last forever, I knew it was nothing in comparison to The Long Winter in Dakota Territory. The thoughts of Ma making and keeping a home as a pioneer on the prairie have long been a comparison point for me- if Ma can do that, well then surely, I can face the challenges of 21st century life well.

I don't remember how my dear hostess Arlene learned of how I adore all things Little House, but when she did, she promised that she would take me to the cabin. Arlene has many many good qualities, but if there were none other than this promise, she would yet be endeared to me! And so, when setting the itinerary for this trip north, a trip to Pepin filled the space for Monday. 

The Big Woods Cabin sits about 7 miles northwest of Pepin,Wisconsin. It is the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Well, to be honest, it is the replica of the cabin. Goodness, when you think about it, what cabin really could survive 150 years? I found two things about the site fascinating. First- the cabin no longer finds itself in the Big Woods. In fact, at this point in history, cornfields surround the little cabin. But second- the cabin is open all day, every day, completely accessible and in wonderful condition. Doesn't that renew a tiny bit of your faith in society? 

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote, "“The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies." Our day-trip along the Wisconsin Scenic Byway was such a delight! To meander with friends and enjoy the views along the way, to savor good food and good company, and even to fulfill a piece of a childhood dream- what more can you ask of a day?