A day for Laura

From Saint Louis we changed plans from the original itinerary.  Instead of heading straight across to Kansas City and then on to Denver on the interstate, we turned south on I-44 and then a series of back roads to the Laura Ingalls Wilder homes in the Ozarks and on the Prarie.  Today was a day visiting locations associated with Laura.

Rocky Ridge Farm in the Ozarks is a beautiful spot.  Little wonder Almanzo said that Laura insisted that they buy the property when they arrived as refugees from drought, ill-health, and crop failure in the 1890s.  A few apple trees are planted to represent the acres of trees they had in their orchard, and a small garden reflects the gardens they had planted -- the farm itself is no longer operational.  But the house where Laura lived for much of her time there -- one that began as a two-room farm house and expanded gradually to ten rooms.

My favorite spot was Laura's writing room -- a small space with a desk, seats, lots of light from the windows.  The desk faced away from the windows, toward the living room.  Patricia liked the library alcove off the living room -- a space entered through a doorway defined by the chest-high built-in bookshelves, with shelves built on all of the walls. Miriam didn't like much about the house -- it was BOORING and she was TIRED of being CARRIED and TOLD NOT TO TOUCH, so I explored the grounds with her while the others finished the tour.  We found raspberries, and young apples, and a chicken coop.  The springs that drew the Wilders to Rocky Ridge have gone dry with the declining water table of the region, and they no longer run.

From Rocky Ridge, a beautiful, shaded site in the woods of the Ozarks we drove three hours more-or-less due west to the location of the "Little House of the Prairie" or at least an approximation of its location based upon reconstructions of old census and other records.  A small recreated log cabin built in 1977 is gradually rotting away, and provides habitat for insects and mud dauber wasps.  Two other historical buildings have been moved to the site -- a post office and a school.  The prairie sun was hot, and the wind blew.  Patricia's favorite spot was the school house.  Several of the children seemed to most enjoy petting the residents of the nearby mule and donkey pasture.

Patricia was delighted to find a natural bug repellant mix made locally in Kansas that included all the ingredients she had bee planning to use for her own concoction, and bought a large bottle.  Miriam was delighted to discover some stick candies.  Sarah purchased a bonnet.  After this, it was time to buckle in for a long over-night drive across Kansas and eastern Colorado for sunrise on the outskirts of the Front Range in southern Colorado.