August 26, 2014. Little House on the Prairie-land

CAMPGROUND:  Finstad's Oak Haven Csmpground.  4 stars out of 5.  We had planned to stay at the state park here, but they demanded that we throw out our wood, even if it is in a box, and we don't make a fire.  So, we didn't stay there.  I found this campground on the web.  It is really a large farm field with electrical hook-ups.  It has a large community room attached.  Beautiful bathrooms. No water at site, but option to fill tank.  $22

LOCATION:  New Ulm, MN, in south central Minnesota

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy. Nice. Highs around 70

We drove through the eastern half of South Dakota, passing oceans of sunflowers.

We stopped in DeSmet, home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote the beloved series "Little House on the Prairie".  The town has created a park in her memory, and has restored houses and schools, from that time, about 1870.

We had a sardine and cracker picnic lunch there.

They kindly provided nice outhouses for the tourists.

We came across a winery, and just had to stop.  Wine from South Dakota?  The grounds were very nice.  We tried their driest wines.  Most were sweet.  As an adventure, we tried the beet wine.  Who knew? Not too bad.

We drove eastward, crossing into the corn fields of Minnesota.  We drove through Walnut Grove, along the banks of Plum Creek, another one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's  homes.

After a bit of a search, we found this campground near New Ulm.  The parking lot was full, but the campground empty.  We found out that the locals were playing Bingo in the community hall connected to the campground.  They soon left, and we had lots of privacy.  We realize hat we have been here before.  About 10 years ago the Minnesota Homebrewers' Association had their annual camp out here.  

DINNER:  I used the other chicken thighs we had grilled last night, and made a sort of Thanksgiving dinner.  I sautéed celery and onion and added it to stuffing mix.  I warmed up the thighs and seasoned them with sage.  Pretty tasty.  As a side, we had an heirloom tomato which we had bought from a roadside stand, and dipped slices in a bit of ricotta.  Yummy!