Eddie Loves Laura - Location #2

Within a few weeks of meeting Eddie I knew about most of the things he was passionate about. And the list was long:

BBQ
Brian Wilson
Mississippi Delta Blues
Crazy Americana that can only be found on a remote road or in a very small town
Motorcycles (duh)
The Simpsons
Traveling
Motorcycles
South Park
Minneapolis grunge/alternative rock (the kind that was done before Cobain & Seattle tried to rip it off (his words, not mine))
Bob Dylan

Laura Ingalls Wilder

and motorcycles.

Laura Ingalls Wilder?, you ask.


At first I thought this was just another of Eddie's running gags. What could he possibly have in common with Pa, Ma & Half Pint?

And it kind of was a gag. Over the years he had made Laura Ingalls Wilder a part of almost every rally he had ever organized. If she's missing from one, I'm unaware. He knew this woman's history like no one else. He found the most obscure references and then sent rally riders there. Don't believe me? Straight from the bonus listing of Butt Lite 5:

BLIIII NC to IL ROUTE

25) Westville, FL 1,398 points daylight hours GY

In Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls’ cousin Peter Ingalls was wild. He had just returned from the war, and had lots of stories to tell of places he’d been and things he had seen. Grandma finally got the upper hand on him though when she out-jigged him during their impromptu dance contest in the kitchen at a family gathering. It wasn’t widely reported, but Laura lived in Florida for about 18 months later in life. Dr’s had recommended that she and her husband Manly (that’s Almonzo to you) move to a milder climate to relieve Manly’s joint pain, so they moved to Florida and lived with Laura’s cousin Peter. After 18 months of no progress for Manly (and Laura’s detest for the humid southern weather) they moved back north for good.

Take a photo of the grave of Peter Ingalls.

From the intersection of US Hwy 90 and the town’s main street (note: not Main Street—we’re talking about the only north-south road). The street may be called Pine or local road 179A—they’ve had different signs up at various times.

Anyways, go north from US Hwy 90.

Get north of the “town” area and proceed north to the first stop sign.

Turn right and proceed 0.9 miles.

Turn right on the gravel road.

Proceed ¼ mile to the church on the left.

Park and walk into the main cemetery entrance.

Proceed straight through the gates and walk straight back into the cemetery for 10-12 rows.

Ahead of you there will be three large grey tombstones that look like large tree logs.

The Ingalls family plot will be about 15 feet to the left of them.

_______________________________________________

My only exposure to anything "Little House On The Prairie" was the crush one of my high school classmates had on "Pa" - Michael Landon himself. We nicknamed him "Big Chest On The Prairie".

On our travels I got to visit a few of Laura's haunts. She moved around a lot - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc. As we wound our way home from the Cities in June, 2007 we stopped in Burr Oak, Iowa to enjoy a little LIW history.

As we continued on our trip, I asked him what it was that started this odd obsession with Laura. Instead of the funny, rambling story I normally would get, he got really quiet. Then he told me about himself as a lonely and sad kid in the cold, remote house outside of Silver Lake, Minnesota. He would read and reread all of Laura's books and imagine that he was part of the happy Ingalls family. Because the books were written about places he knew, he identified with them. They were his escape from the pain, drama and contention that was his every day life. When he could finally get out and explore on his motorcycle, he tracked down the places that he had read about.

And then he shared them with his friends...

Three years later almost to the day, I stopped there again. Eddie is enjoying the shade of this tree near Laura's wagon.