Dear fans:
This evening I am writing from Springfield, Ill., my beloved home state.
We did Missouri today. We went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder home, where she lived with her husband, Almanzo, for sixty years. It was here, at Rocky Ridge Farm, where Laura started writing "Little House on the Prairie". She was then sixty-five years old.
When they first moved to Mansfield, MO., they bought 40 acres of land. A large apple orchard had been planted by the previous owners. It was their first cash crop. They eventually were selling and shipping, by rail, barrels of apples. Rocky Ridge Farm eventually grew into 200 acres. Almanzo first built a two room home for the family and as the farm grew and prospered, he slowly added more rooms, even a bed room in the loft for their daughter, Rose.
Missouri is such a beautiful state. Rich in lush green forests, very mountaineous, but the land is very rocky and I would assume difficult to cultivate. We were off the beaten path and I truely loved all the wild flowers that grew along the winding roads. We saw green pastures with cows and baby cows (calfs), herds of grazing horses. The countryside is such a vibrant contrast to what I am accustomed to seeing in the Southwest. I did not see one feed lot full of cows whose only shade was another cow. These cows had lots of pastures and trees. It was wonderful.
On our trek back to the freeway, from Laura's home, we drove through some great thunder storms. Lots of rain. It was great. It rained all the way into St Louis. We saw the silver arch, lots of traffic, but our GPS guide did her job and we made it across the river into Illinois (silent s ) Ha... Then suddenly over the great Mississippi (which we didn't see) the landscape was so level and flat. Corn fields grew in such strait rows far over the horizon. I love the crispy neat farms.
Okay, I am signing out now. Time for some TV to put pictures to the news stories we heard about. Lindsey Lohan the spoiled brat. Put her crying, baby ___ in jail for the total 90 days and then put her into a drug dry-out program for even longer. How can someone have it all and then throw it away and wine about how difficult it is for her to follow the judges rules because she has to work. (and make a few millon dollars) -Carly
Carly, you write a good blog...very expressive. I really enjoyed reading it. Have a great continuation of your travels tomorrow. I guess you will end up at Quinn's (her son) house tomorrow evening. Tell everyone "Hi" from me. PS Max ate his dinner and is asleep on the back porch, everything is going fine here, so just relax and have a good time.
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