Our Texas Thanksgiving – Part 12 – Headed Home

We made it to OK for dinner. After a long day of driving, with another long day of driving ahead of us, dinner was about all we had left in us. We had to stop for the night (a play on words from the Eagles’ song Hotel California). We both wanted steak, since after all, the whole trip through KS, OK, TX, was through cattle and beef country. So we stopped in a place called Santa Fe in Ardmore, OK and enjoyed a delicious steak dinner, Oklahoma style.

It was real cute and filled with personality inside. Our server was also filled with a fun personality, oozing with southern charm and hospitality. We ordered our steaks and I went around with my camera as were waiting for our steaks to arrive.

Our salads and rolls came first. The rolls were served with cinnamon butter on the side.

Larry ordered ribs and steak.

I just wanted steak.

Of course we didn’t finish it all. It was A LOT of food, so we took the rest with us and had it for dinner when we went back to Ollie’s for one more night before coming home.

When we stepped out of the restaurant, there were so many Starlings all lined up on the wires singing us a lullaby. I’ve never seen so many birds all lined up like this before.

We got checked into our hotel and hunkered down for the night. The next day we started the last bit of our trek home. We tried to make a few stops along the way in OK, but most things were closed. I did still manage to get a few pictures of the old OK way of life though.

Sometimes there are just no words for things.

We did find a little OK homestead museum that was open. We stopped in to check it out.

Life was definitely not easy or glamourous for the early OK settlers. One room school houses

and two room shanties for homes were the norm.

Ranching and farming are still the way of life in OK, though things have changed a bit.

We were real close to the OK/KS border again, so we called our niece Lexi and asked if she was available to meet for lunch. She was and we got another short visit with her and the boys, before heading back to Hays to have one more night of visiting with Ollie before coming home.

Vacations and trips are always fun and exciting, but it is always nice to come home again too. The “kids” all missed us and were real happy to see us home again. We missed them a lot too. We had quite the welcoming committee when we got home. It’s so nice to be missed. 🙂

And so ends out latest adventures. I hope you enjoyed our travels through the Wild West. Larry will go back to Hays for a Billinger Christmas with some of his siblings, but I will stay home, with the “kids”. No more travels for this year, though there will always be more adventures waiting to be experienced. We are already making travel plans for 2026 though, which is just right around the corner.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is filled with adventures. Enjoy as many of them as you can while you can. Stay safe, stay well, and Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. ‘Til next time.