A former country school near Essig along U.S. Highway 14.
TWICE A YEAR, my husband and I head west from our Faribault home to my native southwestern Minnesota for gatherings with my extended family. We travel solely with destination in mind, not deviating to meander through small towns and explore. We get on Interstate 35 in Faribault, exit onto U.S. Highway 14 in Owatonna and then follow the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway all the way to our destination 2.25 hours away in Lamberton. That would be in Redwood County, just 10 miles east of Walnut Grove.
Near Janesville, this billboard sparkles in the morning light.
Everything along this route is familiar to me from the curves in the highway to the billboards to the farm sites and my favorite barns west of Springfield. While sometimes the drive can seem like forever, especially when wind whips snow to create iffy driving conditions, mostly I enjoy the rural route.
At the beginning of our trip, I photographed this farm site west of Owatonna. The farther west we drove, the greyer the skies became.
Enjoy this photo essay along U.S. Highway 14, aiming west toward the prairie into some of our state’s richest farmland as we headed back for the holidays last Saturday.
Red barns splash color into the rural landscape, here near Janesville.
An ethanol plant near Janesville breaks the monotony of farm fields.
Highway 14 takes us through New Ulm. I spotted this catchy and festive billboard on the west end of town.
You know you’re in the heart of farmland when you see a cash corn price posted on a sign, this one at Christensen Farms near Sleepy Eye.
This reindeer statue stands along the east edge of Sleepy Eye. It’s there year-round.
Weathered by wind and weather, this barn sits west of Sleepy Eye.
A row of vintage trucks are parked atop a hill on the east edge of Springfield.
One of my favorite barns on a farm site west of Springfield.
We reach our destination in Lamberton where grain elevators mark this rural community.
© Copyright 2017 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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