Chad’s fraternity brother Nicholas married his beautiful Hilary in Pepin, Wisconsin this weekend. We never pass up a chance to sway to Piano Man, plus, Pepin is the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder, so I was extra excited for the trip.

We drove up Friday night, and spent Saturday morning with Andrew and Sara, breakfasting, lunching, and enjoying the beautiful weather and beautiful scenery.

Pepin is a tiny town that can only be described as quaint. We stayed at an Amish Inn (complete with running water and electricity, so…not that Amish, actually) with Paul & Christine that was right across the street from the Laura museum.

Chad loves me and took me to see the Little House Wayside memorial to Laura in lieu of taking an afternoon nap. He didn’t even complain when I gave him wrong directions for 7 miles out of the way. Whoops.  Such a good man.

To be totally honest, the Little House Wayside was kind of lame. I come from childhood vacations to Pioneer Village, the Laura pageant in DeSmet and even the prairie house and church and school at Freeman Academy. The small cabin at the Laura site was divided into three rooms plus a loft, and was furnished with a only modern picnic table and a junky bulletin board. Over the fireplace was a small bad photo with a quote on it. The quote was nice enough, but where was Ma’s shepherdess doll? Seriously. Fail.

But at the end of our seven-minute visit, I’m glad I went. It definitely didn’t live up to my expectations, but I would have always wondered if I hadn’t seen it.

Nicholas & Hilary’s wedding was at a new vineyard in Pepin and everything was lovely. It was so much fun to see a bunch of Chad’s SigEp brothers and their wives/girlfriends. They’ve all welcomed me into their close-knit community with welcome arms and I love getting to spend time with them.

It’s so refreshing to be around people who know you and love you well, with whom there’s no pressure to be perfect or put together or anything but real.

“This pleases me,” says Chad.

Road trips with the man I love, including sunshine and pretty scenery and yummy snacks. Doesn’t get much better than this.