Budgeting for a road trip vacation?

[agavegirl1]

OMG, I actually did this trip many years ago. We camped in our mini motorhome as well as had some hotel nights. I researched heavily. I called it my "Midwest Literary Tour" and had dialy schedules. I have and ADHD son who needed clear schedules to actually function. I lived in Northern Wisconsin at the time so schedules were required.

Prior to the trip, we would read aloud all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as well as those about Rose Wilder Lane, Laura's daughter. Because Laura and Almanzo ended up in Mansfield MO, we included their farm. Almanzo built it specifically for Laura who was only about 4' 10" tall As a result, we added Mark Twain books in the area (Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn). We visited all the Laura Ingalls sites including the Burr Oak IA site not mentioned in the books for reasons that will become apparent with a little research.

It is actually a wonderful trip to take but I do recommend the group reading activity prior to the trip. There are few hotels near DeSmet or Walnut Grove or the "Big Woods" which is around Grantsburg WI. The reason we did this trip? We know people named Ingalls from northwest WI who are direct decendents of "Pa's" brother.

So sorry I don't have my trip plan anymore. I wish I did. Depending on where you come from, you can make a circle out of it and if you choose to include MO, you really should include Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn stuff and add a riverboat trip and tour of the caves where supposedly the characters "got lost". They really do exist.