Barge Toting, Bale Lifting

We hied ourselves over to Mansker's Station today to tour the fort/inn and the Bowen Mansion. It was awesome. The volunteers are amazing; they each had extensive knowledge of the time period and they were able to communicate it to the kids. The two don't often go hand in hand.

The kids were introduced to frontier life by carrying two buckets of water on a yoke. Don't ask me; Laura always drew water from the well on Little House. Anyhow, the kids loved it; the parents loved it. Then, the parents had to carry the water. The kids loved it; the parents-not so much. I actually heard someone complain of a bad back. Seriously. I had to content myself with being second in line:

That's me in the brown coat (to the right of the mittened finger) carrying two buckets of water. Two unbelievably heavy buckets of water :)...

Then, we went into the fort and toured the settlment.

Gun port in the "tavern": for your safety.



Sleep tight on a rope bed:

Accommodations: don't roll off the bed.

Liquid refreshment: don't fall in.

There was also a nice park just a few hundred feet from the fort and mansion and on a warmer day we would have spent more time exploring it. Some hardy souls are spending the night in the fort and DD wanted us to join them. Fat chance. I enjoy learning about the past-not living it.