Spring Break Pilgrimage is a Success!

To Missouri and back again!
Being in the middle of the country has its advantages, and this spring break we decided to act like Texans and DRIVE.  A bunch.  To someplace we can’t easily get to from Oregon. Thus enters the bucket list and our dream of visiting the Laura and Almanzo Wilder homestead in Mansfield, Missouri.  If this is confusing to you, you probably did not read the entire Little House series with your six year old daughter.

On Saturday we started our 9 day road trip there and back again, just me and Eleanor.  Mike met us in Missouri on the 6th day of the trip.  Along the way we made a few detours to take in other adventures!

Day 1 –
Drive to Dallas in pouring rain.  Take twice as long as expected.  Meh.

Day 2 – Shop
Brew mead with Uncle John and Kristanne.  Taste mead, and watch Eleanor find an adult drink she likes.  Hmm.  Visit the American Girl Doll store, so Eleanor can spend more than a year’s worth of her savings + gifts on her dear doll Kit.  Eat a brownie sundae at the American Girl Doll Store bistro… this was great!  They have seats for the dolls!  Also, swim in hot tub back at John's.  Ahhh…

Day 3- Hope
Wake up at 3 am because Eleanor has an ear infection.  Oversleep.  Get up, go to quick-clinic, get meds, hit road several hours late.  Cross state line into Arkansas!  Realize I left camera in Dallas (oops) and try hard not to let the day’s setbacks get me down.  (Thank you again Kristanne for putting us back together, twice!).  Successfully letterbox at the Arkansas Welcome Center (yeah for letterboxing!).  Spot sign for Hope, Arkansas, and make an unscheduled stop to tour the boyhood home of President Bill Clinton.  Get to Hot Springs, Arkansas, later than planned but happy.  Eat a big steak dinner and get a brownie sundae!  Go to bed happy.  We’ll stay here for two nights so we can see the sights.

Bill Clinton's boyhood home.  This is not my photo... it was a beautiful day for us, but I had camera issues.

Day 4 – Crystals
Eat a good breakfast at the hotel, pack a picnic lunch, put on our grubby clothes and head out to the Wegner Crystal Mine in Mt. Ida, Arkansas.  See how crystals grow, dig in an open pit mine.  Find lots of small goodies (nothing of value, but interesting all the same).  Drive back into Hot Springs and tour the Historic Forsythe Bathhouse just before it closes (the National Park Visitor Center).  Eat a junky dinner, go to hotel and swim in the heated pool.  Go to bed tired.

On the truck, coming back from the mine

A hot spring that was too hot for us!

Day 5 – Caves
Drive from Hot Springs to Branson, Missouri, but on the way stop at the Mystic Caverns .  Wow!!!  Take 2 hours to tour the two caves.  Eleanor plays her violin in one of the caves!  Fantastic stop!  Pull into the Welk Resort in Branson a little later than expected.  Eat BBQ, drive through town and see the tornado damage while looking for an intact grocery store.  Sleep hard.  We'll stay here for three nights.

Eleanor performs in the cave for the tour group.

Day 6 – Laura’s!
This is the day!  We get up early-ish, drive to Springfield to pick up Mike, and drive to Mansfield.  We stop first at the Baker Creek Farm and seed company for a lunch fit for a farm hand and some rare, heirloom seed shopping.  Then we letterbox, tour the museum, tour Laura’s farmhouse, and tour the Rock House Rose built for Laura and Almanzo.  This is GREAT!  We see Pa's fiddle, and Laura's writing box and... so much more!  Lastly, we take a slow, country road back to Branson and see some of the most beautiful farm land I’ve ever laid eyes on.

The house that Laura and Almanzo built, one little room at a time.

Day 7 – Relax
Visit the Titanic Museum in Branson, play in the water park at our resort, drink pina-coladas, mini-golf, and go out for a Branson style show.  All good things.

Can you find Mike and Eleanor?

Day 8 – Visit 4 states in one day
Cross 3 state lines in 4 states today, and this isn’t New England.  Missouri to Arkansas, Arkansas to Oklahoma, Oklahoma to Texas.  Stop near Lake Texoma, and swim in the hotel pool.

Day 9 – Fossils and Home
Head out to Lake Texoma and beach comb for fossils.  Find a few interesting, small pieces of Cretaceous Period remains.  Then, head home to Austin on a drive that was really jammed up with traffic… so 4 hours took more like 6.  Oh well.  We made it there, and back again!