Of course, I’m jumping ahead, but I’m so excited to tell y’all this part, it’ll wait.
We, my daughter, Leigh, and Mel, daughter’s best friend, took off Really early Friday morning for Tulsa for the wedding shower of my soon-to-be Granddaughter-in-law, Chyna. I know, what a beautiful name for a super beautiful young lady. She’s pretty inside and out!
We fly non-stop to Tulsa, about a 55 minute trip, the plane’s not full, so we spread out, Mel in front of me and Leigh across the aisle from me. We chat and read (great reading on the plane, almost as good as a ferry ride). At this cutest airport, Tulsa, there’s Mary, Leigh’s sister-in-law, who caught the red eye from Seattle the night before. Bless her heart!
We got our rental, a huge Jeep Wagoneer, dumped our carry-ons into the back and jumped aboard in anticipation of going to see Rea Drummond. You know, The Pioneer Woman. No, I don’t know who she is, heard of her of course, but you know …. We ventured there strictly for Mel, who actually wants to be The Pioneer Woman. Mel knows everything about Rea, her children, her husband, every recipe she’s ever made, you name it. You made me have to google Rea Drummond so I could tell you where she lives and where we went because I never can remember it and I butcher the name every time I try to remember it. It’s Pawhuska, Oklahoma. I always want to call it Pahalahuska!
Anyway, Rea and her husband, The Marlboro Man, live on 100K acres out there in Pahalahuska and we went to visit her Lodge. But, before that, we visited the town where her mercantile is, right next to the restaurant. I should probably make the restaurant a separate story thanks to Sheriff Terry. Was his name Terry?
Lordy, lordy, that man took a liking to the four of us I guess. He must have talked to us for hours. He took us on a tour of the restaurant, the main kitchen, the restaurant kitchen, the bakery and the office. I think he was hoping/waiting for Rea herself to appear. I thought he was smitten with me, but my partners in crime also thought he was smitten with each of them.
Time to head back to our AirBnB in Tulsa, but due to 65 mph winds and fires cropping up all across the Oklahoma plains, we were detoured twice. I can’t tell you how many times we backtracked. The hour trip took twice as long as it should have.
Once home, this cutest little 3-bedroom house was built in ’62. Two bathrooms, the hall bathroom was pink tile, low counter, with a little pink ceramic heater built in the wall. Cutest little thing, all the amenities you could ask for, quiet neighborhood. We ordered dinner in from Chuy’s. Yep, there was a Chuy’s there, had all our favorites!
Up early Saturday morning and dressed for a wedding shower, we had to pick up the cupcakes Leigh had ordered, then off to the Civic Center for the shower. Welcomed by all the Tulsa relatives of the bride-to-be, we all jumped in to help set up tables, chairs, tablecloths, candles and flowers. Leigh got to prepare the cheese and sausage tray, Mel arranged the cupcakes, Mary & I moved tables and chairs around.
What a lovely event! Pictures below – the bride-to-be is in the beautiful white dress with flowers, her sisters, aunts, grandmas, all us gals, her Mom, some bridesmaids and I’m not sure who else was there to wish her well.
After the shower, the four of us went back to the house for a cat-nap before our little trip to one of the local gambling spots. Happened to be a Margaritaville called the River Spirit Casino on the Arkansas River. Leigh planted me at a $10 blackjack table and the other three went off to “blow up gold fish” or whatever other slot machine they picked. Mary hit her favorite firework slot. I became mesmerized by my games, bought my first $100 worth of chips to get started. It doesn’t take long for the table to realize you’re pretty much a novice at the game. The little guy on the corner of the table began to help me with the double down signal (a peace sign – two fingers on the table), or the fact that if you had a “hard” nine, eleven or some other number, it was a free bonus of some sort, but you had to put a chip or two on this little circle to qualify. Way too complicated, but I played that little bonus about every other play and it definitely doubled my points and $$. I was down to about $15 when I decided to buy another $100 worth of chips. After all, I brought $500 to “donate.” The second $100 gave me hope, so I kept plugging along. I played “the little bonus” circle and I doubled down on a pair of 5’s and drew another 5 and played all three and won over $85 on that hand. My two piles were stacked pretty even when my daughter came to give me my 30-minute warning. It was almost time to go meet the rest of the wedding party for dinner at a hamburger joint. Played another game or two then cashed in. Lo and behold, after almost 3 hours or having fun and meeting a slew of people, I evened out. Played $200, bought 2 drinks and cashed out at $190. What I always tell my family, “just leave me at the black jack table and come get me when it’s time to go.”
Dinner with all the bride’s family, our son/grandson, our entourage and a bridesmaid was lovely.
Sunday morning, kinda slept in, stripped the sheets at the AirBnB, straightened up the place and headed for the Tulsa airport. One hour and 10 minutes later, we’re home at Hobby, heading to our respective homes so Leigh can get a much-needed nap.
Wonderful time, looking forward to seeing all these great people again for the wedding in May.
Heidi Mayer
March 18, 2025 at 8:17 amWe had such a fabulous time getting to meet y’all and are so glad you enjoyed your trip! Chyna will finally have someone else in her family with a beautiful location name. Now you can rest up by the beach and catch your breath before we come to whoop it up In May! Thank y’all for making the trip and making sure our kiddos know how much we all love them!❤️