Wandering Wahls

We have friends in Colorado Springs who are getting ready to retire in a couple of months. It’s interesting watching from the outside as they go through the house cleaning, garage sales, landlord dealings, planning the retirement ceremony – as well as planning for the new location: schools, house, etc. In a few months, I’ll be interested to watch as they experience post-retirement.

Post-retirement, for us, has been frustratingly interesting.

For one thing, buying the house has brought “joyful” moments dealing with large organizations regarding our loan, particularly with the bank’s 800 numbers. Dialing a bank’s 800 number and waiting on hold reminded me that when I was in Germany, I used to wonder how much of my life was wasted at the Shoppette’s gas pumps waiting for the inside clerk to clear the pump so I could fill my car. I have now found a new and greater source of wasteful moments – phoning our bank regarding our loan.

We weren’t informed when we signed the loan documents that calling the 800 number would result in forty-five minutes of hold time, only to be transferred among three agents and end up back with the original. The only thing worse though is having the 800 number labyrinth bring one to the patronizingly sweet female computer voice responding with replies such as: “ookkaayyy, that was banking, right?” She does not help calm the frustration of an 800 number.

If I could only reach into the phone and shake her – or better yet, talk to the financial institution and ask who approved this? As with all big organizations though, I’ll bet the people who approve these procedures are high enough that they never have to use them.

Dropping off the RV was bittersweet for us – we were leaving our home of 18 months and a pretty significant period of our lives. Many memories passed by as we turned over the keys and drove past the RV for the last time – all the places, new and old friends, relatives, adventures, education and new discoveries of our country’s natural beauty came to us as we shared favorite stories of the trip. The folks at Steinbring Motors made it easier with their Midwest hospitality and friendliness over the 2 nights we stayed there prepping the RV for it’s handover – if you need an RV, go to Steinbring.

Directly after Garfield, MN we headed toward De Smet, SD to the Laura Ingalls’ homestead. My daughter has read all of the “Little House on the Prairie” books and she wanted to see Laura’s home from age 13 through marriage. Plus, having traveled the prairie in our Wahlstar RV, we felt a kinship with her and our own “Little RV on the Prairie” adventures.

Admittedly, the site wasn’t on my top 25 list, but pleasing my daughter was. In the end, this visit ranked up with other stops! The homestead wasn’t a homage to the books and Laura (though you can pick up at the gift shop any title you’re missing), but was a fantastic hands-on educational site about families homesteading in the prairies.

No glass-enclosed displays here – instead the family that runs, and now owns, the old Ingall’s homestead site have set the place up so that people can touch, climb, and experience the realities of everyday life of the late 1800s – from grinding corn, to making dolls and rope, to lessons in the one-room schoolhouse, to riding a pony and carriage.

We even stayed in an authentic shepherd’s covered wagon for the night (comfortable I might add). If you’re still thinking of where to stop this summer for a family trip, I strongly recommend this spot. From here, you could make it down to the Homestead National Park in Nebraska for another great spot about our country’s homesteading past.

Well, it’s back to the car and a cramped road trip home – we need to buy our new, used, smaller RV version soon.