Rainy Days And Mondays………..
Monday September 24th
Rain at last! I guess it would happen as I cleaned the car this morning. Got talking to a couple of Texans who were taking the mickey out of our Georgia car plates. They soon found out we were from somewhere even stranger. The concept of world travel is alien to most here – maybe it’s just a young thing – after all why would anyone want to travel further than this beautiful country?
Our aim was to make it halfway to Mount Rushmore today but on the road saw a sign for the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder – of Little House On The Prairie fame. It was too good to miss, my sister and I were both bought up on the series as kids as Mum loved it. I have to say it was excellent customer service – the lady behind the desk was so nice and helped the kids make their own rope (which Josh has kept as “we might need it”!) and you are encouraged to touch and climb over everything from the pioneer wagon’s to the old fashioned horse drawn buggy.
There were kittens on the porch and all they wanted to do was sit on us to go to sleep………
The actual house has been recreated from plans filed with the government – it is so small and the beds are really for people less than 3ft tall. We were walking through the meadow (me with that damned theme tune in my head and looking for the hill they all run down) and suddenly in the silence a rally loud siren sounded. Instinct kicked in and I started looking for shelter, so sure was I it was a tornado warning and there we were in the middle of nowhere with a tiny 100 year old shack for protection…………after 60 seconds it stopped – Monday morning alarm test. It had been stormy all morning.
The afternoon found us in Webster at a museum with over 10,000 shoes. Unfortunately they turned out to be more shoe ornaments and all things shoe related but the curator who was 90 if he was a day made the trip worthwhile as he a real character. He didn’t quite catch we were from England – thought we said “Indian” – I have never seen a ginger Native American – which probably explains why he looked so puzzled! The museum had a building donated by a hunter and was filled with his stuffed catches, mooses, giraffes, an Alaskan bear and zebras – the room was really spooky and I am not used to this appreciation of hunting but ever English did not want to seem rude so just nodded politely.
Before I forget I must note some of the odd sites we have seen.
- Grannies on lawnmowers collecting their post
- Old men in pick up trucks with a huge hound (tongue hanging out) sitting next to him
- The lone duck on the lake with wings outstretched in the evening sun for no audience and no apparent reason
- The sign saying “Deadbeat Moms Get Fat On Child Support” – followed by another one saying “Deadbeat Moms – Hell Is Made For You”. Vicki Pollard would do well here.
We have seen loads of wildlife – and the cows here are HUGE – it’s like we breed mini cows in the UK – pheasant, birds of prey(one swooped near the car today – it’s wingspan was as wide as the car), loads of seagulls which you would not expect in Dakota, stunning horses, so many squirrels, little gophers, racoon, possum and skunk. OK so the last few were road kill but still interesting to see – ohh look there’s a racoon, oops actually no that was more like a possum. Not a hedgehog in site……….
Tags: America, Travel
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