Post 34:
“The Campout”
From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal —
December 14, 1982 – GOOD
“The Ingalls & Olesons go on a camp out for collecting leaves. Laura & Nellie fall in the river & float down stream. They get out & Nellie blames Laura. Mary leads Willie to poison ivy & all the Olesons get it. Ha Ha.”
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From Tracy —
“There are no freakin’ mountains in Minnesota!!” I kept telling myself throughout this episode. I tried to let it go. “How could they not film the beauty of California?” I reminded myself. And “just enjoy the freakin’ show!” I chided.
But it turns out I was wrong. Hoisted on my own petard! Little House may not be the most historically exacting show but there is a mountain in Minnesota. It’s called Eagle Mountain. And it looks like this:
Okay, so not the most impressive mountain in the world, but at 2,301 feet it counts folks.
Speaking of being hoisted on your own petard,that seems to be the case with everyone on this episode with the exception of Laura who becomes a total badass superhero.
So many surprises! Like Mrs. Oleson really trying her best to be a good sport. I was a Harriet myself during the Crater Lake Trip I took with Anne that got this blog started. Especially when she falls to the ground in a heap and gasps about how great the outdoors is. It’s really a hilarious bit of dialogue. Of course in the end her true nature is revealed.
Next up on their petard? Pa being a brat after preaching to his kids about being kind to neighbors! “I refuse to go on this trip with that woman!” he angrily mutters. Delicious to watch Mr. Perfect Pants throw a fit in his own barn.
Finally there’s this créme de la créme. Mary isn’t her usual annoying goody two-shoes self and keeps valuable information under wraps. Avoidance is her policy on this trip. She even stops Laura from spilling their secret. Scandalous!
I have to say the river scene was way scarier than I remembered. I thought they just fell into the river, getting really wet and then Nellie blames Laura. I forgot all about the fast moving river and the rapids. Laura was more than a little spectacular in her Nellie rescue. Not a tear shed by our heroine as she pulls out a hysterical Nellie who still finds the energy to be bratty. But would we have Nellie any other way?
Note to self: Camping ain’t for sissies.
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From Anne —
Agreed – it seems everyone’s out of character in this outdoorsy romp! One question I had to ask myself: if I were breaking my back eeking out a living on the hardscrabble prairie everyday, would I really want to haul my stuff like a mule, sleep on the ground, and let the elements have their way? Was there such a thing as getting away from it all back in 1870s Minnesota? If camping ain’t for sissies, neither is homesteading.
Tracy, by the way, is not giving herself enough credit re: our Crater Lake camping trip a couple years ago. She was an excellent sport, surviving a mountaintop hike on a bum leg and subsequently requiring only one cocktail from the fancy lodge restaurant.)
The river scene was notable for its foreboding shots of imminent rapids – it almost seems like they rented a helicopter! I feel like Laura and Nellie could have easily extracted themselves multiple times but Nellie was self-sabotaging a lot, it seems. Her occasional operatic screams during the river scene pierced like a fish hook.
Although her naughty, strategic withholding of information is indeed refreshing, Mary doesn’t exactly “lead Willie to poison ivy” as my journal entry states, does she?
Oh my, I’ve been hoisted on my own petard …
PS: From Tracy – My idea of a vacation if I were living back then would be going to town and staying in a hotel!
Also, the reason I only had one cocktail was because they were like $12 a piece in that lodge. So it was frugality that stopped me from tying one one.
Lastly, Mary didn’t lead Willie to the poison ivy. He pushes past her in his greed and starts grabbing it up Willie Style.
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