Check This Off my Bucket List!

We got back early Tuesday morning from our trip to Utah. We drove a car out for our daughter to use, and we flew back. We took four days to get there, and I got to go to one of my dream destinations: Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in Mansfield Missouri, the "Little House in the Ozarks."

I was a major Little House fan as a kid; that was before the television show, of which I was not a fan, because it varied so much from the books. When we drove to Minnesota in 1972 or '74, we stopped in DeSmet, South Dakota so I could see the Little Town on the Prairie. There was not much there. The caretaker of the home Laura and her family wintered over during their first year there was not too keen on leaving his dinner table to let me into the house, so I had to content myself with peering into the windows. The town was still little, though; probably much as it had been when Laura left.

The Mansfield home was where Laura lived as an adult and wrote her books. Almanzo, her husband, built the house, which is small and very modest by today's standards. Their daughter, Rose, built another state-of-the-art home on the property, and presented it to her parents for Christmas in 1928. They did not like living there and moved back into the original farmhouse in 1936.

It was interesting to see Laura's belongings. This woman never threw anything away, evidently. She even saved the handwritten invitation to her first party in DeSmet! Her clothes looked like they would fit me. Come to find out, she was only 4' 11" and Almanzo was my height: 5' 4".

This was a fascinating place and I am glad I went, but there was not as much to see as I had hoped. The little museum needs serious revamping of its exhibits. But Laura was an unassuming woman. I got the impression that she was thrifty, careful, and didn't want to boast her success in her home town.

We drove on through Denver and into Wyoming, reaching Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 8th. It was fun to spend several days with family and friends, though I spent far more than I care to think about on cleaning supplies for my kids. I stripped floors in my son's house and replaced rotting sponges and burned-out bulbs in my daughter's apartment.

As far as my diet goes, I have not lost any weight during this entire month so far. I have fallen off the wagon again--but I must say that I have cut back a lot on fatty foods. I am still having trouble eating fewer carbs and sweets, but vacations do that to me. While I did better than usual this vacation, I still ate too many carbs and sweets. Back on the wagon again.

So, three pounds down and fifteen to go. I am going to put off my doctor's visit until after I see the oncologist in July. Let's see what I can do in one month more!