Daddy-Daughter Trip - Day 7

This morning, we went to a Continental Breakfast. When we got on the road, we switched time zones and drove over to St. Louis. We liked seeing the Arch again - and wanted to stop - but Daddy said we should keep going so we could visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's house. Seven hours after we woke up, we arrived in Mansfield, Missouri. This is the house where Laura wrote all the "Little House" books. We went in a museum next to her house and it had all of her belongings in it. The museum was all about her family and her life. After Laura died, Rose donated the house to the Foundation. We had an amazing time and saw Pa's fiddle! Later, we went on a tour of Laura and Almanzo's house - it was nice. Then we went to see the Stone House that Rose bought for them to retire in. After only a little while, though, they told her they were homesick and returned to their old house. Then we went to the gift shop and got some souvenirs. We also visited their cemetery stones in town. Then we went to Tasty Freeze and had a banana split and butterscotch sundae (the best!!). When we left Mansfield, we drove for a while in the Ozarks. They are pretty mountains. Daddy said he had a surprise and wouldn't tell us what it was! He drove us into Kansas (our first time!!) and we stopped in Independence for the night. We are staying at the Lamplighter Inn. There is a bowling alley next door, but they were closed :-( We did get to walk over to Sonic for dinner, though. What do you think the surprise is?