Mansfield

Today was all about Mansfield. After a nice breakfast we drove into town first to see the cemetery where Laura, Almanzo and Rose were buried. My heart was touched to think they were really there. Not some fictional characters but real people who lived real lives with all the struggles and joys. I wanted to leave something so we rummaged through the car and settled on one of our citron candles. It wasnt much. It just felt like a good thing to do.

We also stopped briefly at the local library which does have a small display of pictures.

Then we were on to the main event --Rocky Ridge farm. Laura and Almonzo and seven year old Rose came here after disaster in South Dakota, a year of recovery in Spring Valley, a year in Florida which they didn't like and back to South Dakota-- which was too cold for Almanzo. Laura said they were trying to find a happy medium. This must have worked as they stayed over fifty years.

The tour was great. They talk fast trying to get as much information in as possible. The home was custom built by Almanzo. If you didn't know what a hard worker and the good quality he produced you could see it in the workmanship of the house. It was marvelous. The kitchen and dining room, the bedroom and writing area and finally their front room which was beautiful with the music area and library. So many of the things they loved are there. You can see them and their personalities. We loved it.


We spent more time in the museum where I completely missed Pa's fiddle the first time, then we drove to the the Rock house. Rose had built this for $11,000 and they lived here for eight years. But when Rose left they moved back to the other one. You can see why. This one was soulless. Beautiful and modern and utterly lacking personality.

And then our time was done. We ate a picnic lunch overlooking Almanzo's goat shed and then were on to Nauvoo. We managed to get inside the Capitol in Jefferson City but not enough time before closing to see the Laura statue in the hall of fame. We reached Hannibal and Mark Twain's boyhood home at sunset. It seemed like a fun place to explore. And then it was dark as we drove up the beautiful river road south of Nauvoo. All in all though a great day.