Hastings-on-Vermillion

Another why are we here? location. It’s on the way to Wisconsin Dells by way of another Laura Ingalls Wilder site. It was either that, or see more of the same interstate again. So we got (way) off the beaten path to get here. And it’s not at all bad, either!

It took us almost no time to get over here from Mankato, and it was a beautiful day, so we took the kids to a park with a waterfall.







We had a nice walk, went back to the hotel, and had a lovely swim, followed by a nice dinner in a restaurant close enough to walk to. Next day was our planned day-trip to Pepin, Wisconsin, right across the Mississippi River. (The Vermillion is a tributary.)

So that’s what we did the next day, and it was right along the Mississippi on a secondary road that is also some sort of historic steamboat trail with lots of pullouts and scenery, and weird little artist colonies.





It’s all very pretty, but deceptive. That far north, they only have four months of livable weather. Lots of cute little vacation cottages that you can’t leave for eight frozen months a year. But we were there during that little window, so we enjoyed it.

What I didn’t know was that Joyce was having trouble saying awake. At this point, we’d been on the road over a month, and we were both starting to get worn out. Even with the extra days off built into our schedule, or forced upon us by nature, we were running out of energy. But we still had a good time visiting the official birthplace and getting more books and looking at views of the river. It was a really nice day.