In The Middle Of Oklahoma

We are headed to Denver today. It is our annual trip to see grammie, and cousins. This year we had a new plan to get there. Eddie stays home for this trip to work, (somebody has to pay for the vacation ya know). However, we needed to bring home the food storage that my mom has been getting for us each month at the cannery. So flying was out of the equation. Originally, my mom had planned to fly in, but we couldn't commit to when were we coming to make a plane reservation. So I devised an alternate plan. Eddie would drive me halfway to Salina, Kansas where we would meet my mom and she would drive with us to Denver. Brilliant!

We left about 2pm, after the kids got out of school, with a goal of getting to the hotel before midnight. The kids traveled very well. We stopped in Tulsa, which is halfway for dinner at Chipotle and Chick-fil-a. As we headed out of the Tulsa area one of the major highways was closed for construction. We followed the detour sign, but then never saw another one. The GPS kept re-calculating and wanted us to turn around, but it didn't know the road that we were supposed to take was closed.

We just kept going in the right direction, and knew that eventually the GPS would get us where we needed to be, and it didn't alter our arrival time by more than a couple of minutes. So we drove on the country roads in the middle of Oklahoma. It was fun adventure, and pretty countryside.

As we drove, I figured that we were close to where The Pioneer Woman lives. I knew she lived in northern Oklahoma, and I figured the closest major city was Tulsa. We found out we were in Osage County, and I remember reading that she lived near there. I was so excited, I might see where her ranch is. We started looking at mailboxes and ranch gates for any clues. One gate, had PW on it, perhaps it stood for Pioneer Woman. But she married Marlboro Man and moved to the ranch that had been in the family for generations, so I doubt her name is on the gate. Then I remembered her real name now is Ree Drummond.

As the sun was setting over the rolling hills and the kids were anxious to break out their glow sticks, Eddie spotted this:

Of course I made him stop so I could take a picture. Ree, is this your ranch? I am dying to know.

We made it to the hotel, on schedule just after midnight. No weather issues, no problems, and mostly pleasant kids. I hope day 2 of the journey is as good.