Everyone has seen or at least heard of The Pioneer Woman!I
If, you don’t think that you have seen or heard of her, I would guess that you have probably had tasted or made one of her recipes! You have to plan a day trip to The Pioneer Woman!
She is a cooking icon! And we are lucky enough to have her live in our home state, Oklahoma! She has been so kind to bless her hometown of Pawhuska by putting it on the map! A destination that we all can experience and feel apart of her life!
I have a group of widows, that I call, Gals That Gather, from my church that I like to take on day trips. This was one of the destinations they wanted to experience! I was so excited to get to go, so I started making plans! 
When I’m getting ready to take our Gal’s That Gather on a trip, I always send them a newsletter, a week or so in advance. It lets them know when we will be going and what our destination will be. I try to get the newsletter out to them early enough that they can make arrangements if they need to with family or for their animals. This was going to be a long drive for us taking 2 or 3 hours to drive. So if they can’t leave their dogs for that long they have to get sitters or if the weather allows they can leave them outside.
The newsletter gives a recap of our last trip and then tells the date of when we will be going and what time we will be meeting at the church to get on the bus. I always give a brief description of where we will be going. I knew they all knew the Pioneer Woman but I did give them a small teaser paragraphed saying, “The Pioneer Woman Mercantile is a destination restaurant, bakery and store in Pawhuska, Oklahoma! “The Merc” has gorgeous goods, comfort foods, fresh-made pastries, delicious coffee, and plenty of fun to dish out. Meet at the church at 9! Lots of eating on this trip & fun shopping!” So they know exactly what to expect! If, you would like me to send you the link to the newsletter click here.
If you haven’t looked up on Google Maps where Pawhuska is on the map. Let me just tell ya, it’s a long way from everywhere! So for us it was going to take us two and half hours to get there and that was if we didn’t stop to use the potty! Which potty breaks are very important to a group of women! So we were figuring 3 hours to get there.
Leaving from the church parking lot we loaded up on the bus. It has been record-breaking summer temperatures here this summer so I have been bringing an ice chest full of water for them. I bring a roll of paper towels so I can wipe off the bottle of water for them and give them a little drink napkin to hold the water bottle with. Yes, I could just hand them a wet water bottle dripping with ice and water because they wouldn’t complain. But it’s just the extra touch of wiping it down and giving them a napkin to have a barrier between them and the cold water!
Bathroom breaks!
It should probably have it’s on post but, no thanks! But the reason it should have it’s own post is because it’s so important when traveling! A good bathroom is everything to me!! I don’t require much either! Just clean, well lighted and safe feeling bathroom! Is that too much to ask? haha!
I always like to have some sort of entertainment on the bus for them. I love to hear them talking among themselves! But as we get going down the road, I will have them a little something to do. Either answer questions or trivia, a story, or a game. After about 30 minutes in the van and everyone has settled in, I will introduce the 1st form of entertainment to them.
This trip I had researched Ree Drummond and made questions for them to answer. It was kinda like trivia and seeing who was in the “know” about her! I can send you a link if you want a copy of the questions. But I was just asking where she went to high school and who her debut show with. The ladies loved it and knew more answers than I thought they would know!
After our break and about 50 minutes from our destination we had been riding long enough, it was time for some more entertainment! So I had listed off The Pioneer Woman’s Top 10 recipes for 2020! I started with number 10 and went down from there. If someone had said that they had fixed that recipe, I would ask them about it. Like how did it taste and how easy was it to make! They loved telling me what they had made and how it turned out! Then they wanted copies of some of those recipes. I’ll include them with the next newsletter!
We arrived at The Mercantile and put our names on the waiting list to eat. I think if you go you should already mentally prepare that it will take at least an hour wait or more. Just having that expectation will not frustrate you, going already prepared willing to wait for lunch or dinner will make the day more enjoyable!
I had researched and knew that The Lodge was open and they were letting people tour it. It is where she does her cooking show. So after I put our name on the list for lunch, we received a ticket to go out to The Lodge. The ticket gave directions of how to get there and some landmarks to look for as we drove out.
The Lodge is located at least 20 miles out from The Mercantile but is so worth the drive! It is a cute Lodge that is set up on a hill that overlooks several acres of their ranch! It was a beautiful setting! Rolling hills with cattle and horses grazing was exactly how you imagine The Drummond Ranch looking like! So pretty!
The Lodge is a self guided tour. You see the exact kitchen she uses on the show, you can open the drawers and look in the cabinets. You see all of her products that she has branded on the kitchen shelves and on the counter tops! It was pretty neat to be there!
They have 4 rooms that can be rented I assume or she has guests stay at. They all have rooms with sliding glass doors where the guests can sit out on their balcony and look out over the ranch! Very peaceful and relaxing! The Lodge had pictures of her kids and her dogs, it was like you were in her home. A highlight of the trip was getting to go and experience The Lodge!
We headed back to town towards The Mercantile. As we were approaching town, I got a notification our table was ready! I couldn’t of asked for better timing! We unloaded the ladies and went straight to our table. The largest table they have is for 12, which fit us perfectly! If, you have a larger group, you will have to split apart!
The presentation of the food is beautiful! Large portions and is very good! The appetizers are generous enough to be shared by all! Everything they were bringing out of the kitchen looked delicious and would be worth trying! The service was very attentive as well! All the staff are pleasant and seem truly glad that you have come to visit!
After lunch, we headed upstairs to the bakery! It’s a large expanded upstairs flat with seating and large windows that you can see the downtown. Get a sweet treat or a coffee from the counter and sit and enjoy! I did see where they had a place you could get a small glass of water for free! I bellied up to the counter and got a Spicy Cowboy Coffee! It was so good! Just the right amount of sweet and the spice hit just right!
As we finished up by walking around The Mercantile and seeing all the pretty kitchen gadgets, cloths that you would see Ree wearing or dog accessories, it was a great way to end our trip! I bought her latest book, “Frontier Follies” for one of the ladies on our trip that really likes Ree. I told her when she was done, she could pass it around to the other ladies! So I hope I get it passed to me at some point!
