Don’t make an appointment at your optometrist, you read it correctly, this is the story of the little DOG on the prairie. Infact, this is the story of little Emma dog on the prairie. We are celebrating National Walk Your Dog week with our #DogWalkingWeek challenge and giveaway. My aim is to show my readers that walks don’t have to be boring and mundane. There are always fun places to go to and walk around.
These days, Mom is on the hunt for fields where she can practice tracking with Bailie which brought her to the the Dakota County Fairgrounds. On her way through the fairgrounds to the fields, she saw a couple old buildings and thought I might like to do some photos there. We went back on a different day, just Mom and I, and found not just a couple old buildings, but Dakota City – an entire old town! Many of the buildings in this town have been moved from their original locations to Dakota City and are really old!
Mom says we always need to be ready for anything, and it is a good thing as the quick photo shoot turned into over an hour of walking around and taking photos. It was so much fun, and good sniffing too. Most of our walks are real power walks, but sometimes it is fun to just have a leisurely walk with lots of stops. Both types of walking are great because you are outdoors and you are moving. To get into my prairie character role, I started by taking center stage at the town bandstand. Sadly, there was no audience.
We headed over to check out the old one room schoolhouse first. Our rule is always work before play, so I better get my learning done first. This schoolhouse was built in Eureka Township in 1902, replacing an 1892 schoolhouse that was struck by lightening. Kids actually attended this school until 1945!
The Drug Store was rather desolate! We didn’t go inside, but they have items in there that date back to the early 1800’s! Many of the things in the store come from other vintage drug stores that existed around Dakota County.
My little sis Bailie is a dog that enjoys trouble and mischief. I thought it might be a good idea to get used to waiting for her to be released from jail and this bench was the perfect spot. This is the Randolph jail which was built in 1904 for just $560. The “lockup” was built with 13 inch thick bricks, the wooden walls were covered in tin to prevent arson, and it has just two jail cells.
In case I decide to get into politics someday, I stopped at the Village Hall which was built in 1869 and was used as the Village Hall in Trier for 110 years. This is a shot of me getting ready to howl out my GBGV agenda to the citizens of Dakota City.
We took a look around the blacksmith shop. I was looking for some new wheels, but somehow these were just not quite what I had in mind.
Every town on the prairie needs a nice safe bank. I sat out front, guarding the bank from any criminal types. The Vermillion Bank was built in 1917 for $2,500 with an all brick exterior and a pressed tin alloy interior all of which add up to a total weight of 150 tons! The bank opened on August 10, 1918 and actually remained in business until 1975.
The General Store was one of our favorite buildings. This store was built in 1933 and originally located in Lakeville. It is full of tons of fun old stuff as is any general store.
These are just a few of the fun photos we took. There were way too many to share. I had to take a rest on this cart at the train station as it was really warm out and all the posing really tires a dog out! I sure hope this inspires you to get out to an interesting place in your area, walk around, take in the sights, take some photos, and maybe even learn some new things!
Celebrate National Walk Your Dog Week, #DogWalkingWeek with My GBGV Life (that’s me) and Cascadian Nomads.Β For all the furry details click here, or if you already know what you need to know, enter the blog hop below and fill out the widget to enter the giveaway! Just a reminder, you have until the 7th to enter this blog hop, but if you accept the challenge to walk every day, you must enter in the widget as well.Β Happy walking!
What an awesome place to discover!! Love all of your pictures!! The hat really adds a nice touch. xo Chloe and LadyBug
It is not always what you do, it is how you look, says my mom, thus the prairie hat π
What a fun place to walk! Great photos π
Thank you.
Great place for a walk and love your prairie look. Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly
It was fun and there were squirrels there too.
Emma, you are the cutest little prairie girl *ever*!!! I would love to visit Dakota City…how cool!
I won’t tell Laura Ingalls you said that π It is a pretty cool spot.
Love the tour! Do you carry hats with you just in case?
No, usually we know where we are going and bring a hat or whatever I might need with us.
now that is an old town worth visiting – they did a wonderful job of restoring the buildings. What a great adventure you had
It was pretty cool and we can’t believe we never knew it was just a few minutes from out house. Tracking has advantages besides just Bailie tracking I guess.
What a fun day you had! I loved all the pictures, and the mom said it is a good thing the jail has 2 cells…one for Bailie and one for me! That is just not nice! XOXO Sparkle the PBGV
Oh man, that is mean! You and Bailie would manage to have fun even in jail, I think.
Oh you look so cute in your little bonnet!!!
Wonderful photos!
α¦ husky hugz α¦ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Thank you…a true old fashioned prairie dog!
Glad to hear that your mom can take a leisurely walk once in awhile! Love Dolly
She has to a lot with Katie, but sometimes we just take is slow and have fun. Usually Bailie and I are the ones that want to keep moving faster and faster.
That’s really the best part about taking walks – is discovering new things. That looks like a pretty cool place to visit and I love you in your prairie hat Emma.
It is! Even in your own neighborhood you notice when something changes, it keeps it interesting.
That looks like a great place to go. And so lucky they allowed dogs. Still love the bonnet!
We went on a week day and luckily there was no one around. They often times have school field trips and stuff going on which would have made a mess for us, but we were lucky.
What a cool place! I think you should get into politics, Emma. I’ve read about many places where a dog or a cat is the mayor. Emma for mayor!!!
You are right, there is a Pyr that was recently elected mayor in Minnesota. I would be much more popular than the current candidates. I wonder if I could still get my name on the ballot for governor in November?
Great post Emma, it’s good to point out that not all exercise needs to be continuous. Using your brain and your sniffer is good exercise too! And you look pretty cute in that bonnet. π
We are kind of a power family, always fast and furious, but sometimes it is fun to slow it down and smell the wabbit droppings.
You would make an excellent rustic-era pup, but on the other hand they didn’t have ac/heat back then.
I think I will stay in the modern world, but it was fun to go back in time for an hour or so. It would be fun to see the humans have to go outside to use the bathroom in mid winter, though. It would make them more sensitive to us poor dogs and our outdoor business. Sometimes I do think cats have it made but then again, how boring being in the house all the time.
what a great place! and mostly the people there were nice, when they only had two jail cells, right? Is that Mrs. Oleson still in the store?
OMD WE LOVED THIS….What a grand walk down memory lane… and you look MARVELOUS in your BONNET.
Thank you. Mom and I thought it was pretty cool too.
That sure looks like a cool place and you are so darn cute Emma!
It was real interesting and such a surprise to find it rather by accident.
You are just too CUTE in your prairie bonnet! What a cool adventure you had on your walk!!!
Just another little prairie dog.
Hope you didn’t run into any Cowboys or Indians
Lily & Edward
Believe it or not, there was a guy running around with a shot gun shooting at squirrels, but luckily, I look nothing like a squirrel!
What an interesting place, and you really did your homework while you were there too, Emma. Maybe if you had started doing some howling while on that grandstand, you could have attracted a crowd? π
The fairgrounds were really deserted, so I think I would only have attracted squirrels and that would have been a mess because I would have to chase them all down. We like to avoid crowds when we can.
OMD! What an amazing place to visit! I love those old buildings!! I had to laugh out loud at you getting used to waiting for Bailie to be released from jail! ROFL!!!
π This is where Bentley and I should post together with him in his sheriff outfit and me in my bonnet.
How fun. I will ask my Mom is she can take the girls and me to Calico ghost town in our are, Thank you for the great Idea. Love you
Sounds really spooky going to a ghost town. Actually, this could have been a ghost town as no one was around.
You can also make walks more exciting by posing for lots of cool photos, right Emma? That sure looks like a fun, historic town and I do hope you decide to get into politics!
I love posing for photos which is also a way of working on training with me without calling it training! I think I would be great in politics!
Looks like fun! You are so cute as a “little dog on the prairie.” I bet you got to do lots of good sniffing at this place. I’m glad they didn’t have rules against dogs being there.
The signs say dogs are allowed on the fairgrounds leashed unless there is an event. It was dead as a doornail that day, so no problem.
Hahaha! Love it!
Woofs & Wags- Bear and Scooter
Thank you.
What a cool place. I just love walking around old towns like that. Love the pictures.
It was a wonderful surprise since we were expecting about four buildings and it turned out to be a whole town!
Joy/Emma I think this is your cutest blog journey yet. Love Emma’s comments about each facility. She would make a good travel guide! GREAT photos ( as usual)
Thank you. Mom and I just keep going along, sometimes we find a jackpot, sometimes we just have to make do. Life is an adventure and we never know what we might find. I’m sure it would be a more popular place if I was always hanging out there.
Emma, I think I am in love! You look adorable as a little prairie dog. Your doodle friend Dash
Thank you. I’m hoping Hollywood sees this and would like to create a new TV series starring me π
You look beautiful in your bonnet, Emma! What an interesting place you found! I loved all your little descriptions about each building. That’s a great kind of place to go when you feel like changing up your walk routines.
We are still shocked that it is close to where we live but we never knew about it! Silly Mom hasn’t been paying enough attention to what is going on around here, but we found it and that was the main thing.
Looks like a really lovely place to walk!
It was real fun, just like the old times I have seen on TV.
What a great place to visit Emma! Love that bonnet! It looks great on you!
It was a fun time and good Mom and me time too.
Girl, you ought to be punished for putting that bonnet on Emma’s head. I am still smiling and chuckling at that photo – priceless. Harley and I also love walking, and you’re right – if you walk in different places it becomes extra special. Thanks for making my Sat morning. Have a great weekend
I don’t mind wearing hats at all, actually, it is kind of fun!
Wow, what a great day to spend together…Trev and I would love to go there…Love the bonnet!!!! Little House was such a fantastic show and the books even better!!!!
It is a super fun place, especially when it is deserted. We got lucky there were no field trips or anything going on that day.
Cool tour, in costume!! π
Of course, I love a good hat!
Great pics-that looks like such a neat area and a fun outing.
It was a lot of fun, especially since we had no idea it was a whole town until we got there!