Spring Break 2018 The End

One of the best parts of our Spring break road trip for me was a stop off in Pawhuska, OK. Home of the Pioneer Woman.  I have been following Ree for years, when she first started her blog, I found her through a homeschooling forum. She started out online to have more connection at the start of her homeschooling journey. Her site and now brand has really evolved!!!

 We didn't see Ree, but we saw her husband. He actually came and got us from the line waiting for food at the restaurant. He apologized about the long wait and asked if we wanted a private-early tour of the hotel rooms they were remodeling (now open) The Boarding house. It was fun to see them. I was asked not to take any pictures as they were not public (internet) at that time.

We ended up not eating at her restaurant. Sometimes things are not worth the wait when you have kids in tow! We shopped at the Mercantile (Em and I shopped) and Robert and Dallas went to the upstairs of the Merc and grabbed me an iced-coffee and some treats. They had bakery type pastries and a full coffee bar. We happened to be visiting one of the days that they also had the Lodge open so we grabbed directions and our treats and drove out to the ranch. The lodge is on Drummond Ranch and is a real place! The Pioneer Woman films her cooking show for the Food Network, I was delighted to see that it was not a set, but a real working kitchen. She also has several rooms that the crew and guests can stay in.  The back of the Lodge has an industrial kitchen which I gather the prep/behind the scenes magic happens.

 Noelle sitting at a farm table at the Lodge

The back deck on the Lodge overlooking the ranch. 

 The long line to eat. Pawhuska is a small town. I can imagine her popularity it doing wonders for its economy.

 Robert in the back kitchen of the Lodge

Walter, one of their Basset Hounds was at the Lodge hanging on the couch. 

We ended the trip on a sour note. Dallas figured out he had lost "puppy" his stuffed dog (favorite) at our hotel in Wichita. He had likely had gone missing earlier, although we did have him the previous night. He usually rides along in Dallas backpack and goes into the hotel with us for the nights. We opened the van door 10-20 times that day at various stops so we could have lost him anywhere. It was very tragic. Puppy had been with Dallas since the beginning, so many tears. Their are moments in parenthood where you will do anything to "fix" and this was one of them. I called all hotels, left our information, description of the dog ect. Then I started figuring out how I could replace him. I knew he was from Cabella's so we hit up the Kansas City store on our way home and got the new version. It's not the same, and Dallas still cries occasionally about puppy and if someone found him. But Puppy 2.0 is fitting into the family well.  I did write my phone number on his tag!