Travel Trailer Trek

We're not in Kansas anymore and Miss Ori

We traveled out of Colorado to the great state of Kansas. The welcome center was full of Wizard of Oz merchandise and fun t-shirts. We had our pictures taken with the cutouts of the WofO crew and stayed in Wakeeney. Wakeeney is a small village west of Colorado on route 70. We stayed at a KOA there that served as an overnight place to rest. It had a pool that cooled us down in the 97 degree heat and a Dairy Queen that helped as well. We made quick work of packing up the next morning and drove south to Oklahoma. Of course, one of us had to say "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" (thank you Carolyn). We made our way through Pawhuska, OK where the Pioneer Woman's mercantile is located. It was along route 60, which is a route that meanders all over the small towns in that part of the state. It was packed, so we continued on our route and got settled in Bartlesville, a larger town a few miles away. Once we got settled and set up the camper, we drove back to Pawhuska. There are a lot of abandoned buildings in Pawhuska. It appears as though the Mercantile is a step in renewing the town, as it is built at a site that was once the National Biscuit Company, commonly known as Nabisco.

Pioneer Woman is a television cooking show that Caris and Dan love to watch. They often write down recipes to try them in our kitchen. Caris chose this as her spot to see, so we veered a bit off course to make it. The building has been beautifully renovated and no expense has been spared to make shopping a quality experience. There is merchandise for all including both cowboys and cowgirls, kitchen gadgets, recipe books, clothing, jewelry and a restaurant and snack bar/coffee area as well. We decided the line for dinner was too long and went upstairs to get a snack. We stuffed ourselves with decadent a snickerdoodle cookie, chocolate silk cream pie, a blueberry sconce and lemon muffin, and cowboy coffee which is sarsaparilla infused coffee with frothy cream. After shopping some more, we decided when else will get the chance to eat here, so we got in line for dinner. We thought till we get to eat, we'll be hungry. We waited in the sweltering heat for 53 minutes. The servers brought us water as we met the others in line around us. We met a couple from the area that just came back from Waco, TX to see the silos from the Magnolia farm from Fixer Upper. They told us lots of stories about their adventures around the country traveling. He once rode his motorcycle to every one of the 48 states in 7 days.

We finally got to go inside the air-conditioned restaurant and ordered some of Ree's recipes. Mitch ordered Enchiladas, Caris ordered Big Bad Nachos with Chili, Carolyn ordered Roasted Chicken Quesadillas (chicken tasted like it was roasted on an open pit), and Dan had a wedge salad with bacon and blue cheese. It was all delicious and surprisingly reasonable. We could not finish it all, as the portions were large. Caris said if you go there, don't just come hungry, come starving. We didn't get out until 8:15 p.m., so made it back to Bartlesville around 8:50.

We left for St. Louis at 7:40 to try to avoid traffic and to meet Carolyn's Uncle Ralph for dinner. We made good time and got to St. Louis around 2:30. We are staying at a place along a lake. It is beautiful, but was 99 degrees when we got here. We got set up and called Uncle Ralph. We made our way to his place and visited. It was so good to see him. Mitch last saw him when he was 2 years old and Caris never met him. Dan saw him in 2002 and Carolyn saw him last about 2015. He told us stories about the family and shared some thoughts about how the times have changed. He is 95 years old. We went out to IHOP, one of his favorite places to go, and had dinner together. It was a very nice visit. We took some pictures and made our way back.

It was very hot in the camper because we forgot to close two windows in the roof, so we decided to go out to a mall and walk around. We got to Cabellas and roamed around the store. We went to the mall it was attached to and thought we were in a horror movie. There were about 10 people there and we were four of them. There were many stores closed and some vending machine playing weird music that was something you might hear at a circus. It as so empty and bizarre. We took pictures because we couldn't believe it. Looking it up on-line, we learned that there was so much competition that bit by bit the stores left. It was built for $250 M in 2003 and just sold for $4.5 M. It is the St. Louis Outlet Mall and it is super creepy. If you want to film a scary movie though, this is the place.