We began our morning by driving west on I-90 to wherever it was that we headed south to go to Platte, South Dakota, the town of my dad's childhood.
All my life (well, ever since I saw a picture of a sunflower field a few years back) I have dreamed of seeing a sunflower field in full bloom. And we saw LOTS! This was our first surprise! We couldn't really stop and take pictures, but I loved them! Check that off the bucket list!!
Looking into downtown Platte
Road where my dad's house was
My dad's house! My grandpa built this house when my dad was about 5 or 6. It was the first split level house in the town and it had a heated driveway!!
Heading east to Corsica
Going into town
The cemetery where my grandma, great-uncles, and great-grandparents are buried. Here is where the drama began...my grandma passed away last November. She was cremated and her remains were sent to this cemetery in Corsica because it was her desire to be buried near her parents. I remember now that she had bought a plot and even already had a headstone. Unfortunately, I did not remember that at the time. My dad gave us instructions on where to find Grandma's grave. He said there was a temporary marker there because the headstone he ordered wasn't there yet.
I did not find a temporary marker. I found this ^^^. I thought, "Huh, I do kinda remember now that grandma said that she had a headstone. I guess this is what dad meant by temporary? Weird, but ok."
I should have thought, "This isn't a temporary marker. This is wrong. Call your father."
But I didn't do that. I just took pictures of my great-grandparents tombstone, and some great-uncles headstones, picked up the broken war memorial, and took pictures of the girls in the area where much of my family is buried.
I then texted those pictures to my dad as we drove out of town. He immediately texted back...and long story short...the funeral/cemetery people had told dad they couldn't find that headstone that my grandma had purchased next to her parents, even though he was quite sure it was there. So he ordered a new headstone and she was buried and a temporary marker was put in that spot. After getting those pictures from me, with that headstone, he called the funeral/cemetery people and emailed them the pictures of the very headstone that they said was not there. Turns out, they buried my grandma next to the WRONG DEBOER FAMILY!!!! So...now that is all fixed. They moved her remains to the correct spot and last I heard, there was going to be a meeting of all the employees and managers involved to see what they were going to do about the headstone my dad ordered only because they had said this one wasn't there. It was a heck of a ride to Mitchell...talking to dad and trying to figure out what to do and wondering where in that ground is grandma? Brother.
My dad said he remembered the Corner Market. I bet the brick is the same, even if the words are probably new.
We had a quick stop in Mitchell to see the famous Corn Palace and to pick up some Pizza Ranch for lunch...
We weren't quite unanimous on our opinions of the Corn Palace...
...but Pizza Ranch definitely got the all-thumbs-up from everyone!
After that came the blessings for the day...a day on the prairie...or a few evening hours, as timing would have it...in De Smet, SD, at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. It was beautiful, peaceful, fun, relaxing, and the people that ran it were kind, encouraging, and helpful.
I can't even describe this visit properly in words. The pictures bring back memories for all of us and we will forever cherish those hours.
We headed to Brookings, SD for our hotel for the night, which had a great waterslide the little girls enjoyed while the big girls ran on the treadmill. Then it was more Olympics in the room while we ate a picnic dinner.
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