Hi. I’m Pan, The Gravel-Roadin’ Guru. This is my new site. It’s a work in progress so please bear with me while I’m making daily changes and trying to figure out how to use WordPress.  For the last year, I’ve been using the free blogger sites and decided to take the leap to a “real” […]

One year ago today (well, not really today but it was a day around this time and that’s good enough for me), I was suffering from the insomnia of a shift worker. A typical night really. On these nights I daydream, catch up on the latest gossip on Facebook, and sharpen my skills at Bejeweled. […]

18 months. Olivia came into my life 18 months ago. Most days feel like time has flown by like Marty McFly in the Delorian. And while I give thanks daily that she’s in my life, I also struggle. See, there’s a lot of things I want to do, in addition to the long list of […]

The same day we toured the craziness of Bishop’s Castle, we also drove up to Royal Gorge. They’re about an hour drive away from each other so it’s really doable to push these two into the same day. Winter is apparently not the “in-season” for Royal Gorge but it was still a great site to […]

Friday afternoon we were headed down to Old Colorado City. My goal, my one purpose in life that day was to find the childrens store where we bought Olivia this ridiculously cute hat last summer. I had to have another one for next winter since she draws so much attention with this one. You see […]

Manitou (pronounced man-eh-too) Springs sits just on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, no more than a hop, skip, and jump away. Our first full day of Colorado was halfway spent getting from Stratton to Colorado Springs, since the highways had shut down for some unknown, unGodly reason the night prior. By the time we took […]

A couple weeks ago, we had a rocky start to our Rocky Mountain vacation. The day of our departure, Missouri had the first of many snowstorms, bringing our trip to a screeching halt. When we finally left and traveled all the way through the pit of Hell, I mean Kansas, and made it to Colorado, we […]

Me and the fam just returned from a much needed, and much too short, vacay to Colorado. I have lots to tell you, just have to find the time. For now, here’s a little preview… Made a totally unexpected stop at the Rodeway Inn in Stratton, CO Wandered the streets of Manitou Springs with my […]

I hate winter. I always have. Probably always will. However, the older I get, the more tolerant of Old Man Winter I have become. I don’t mind the snow and ice as long as I can just snuggle down in my house and enjoy the view from inside. Even though it’s rare that this happens. But, […]

Yesterday I briefly griped about Missouri weather. Today, I’M REALLY GONNA GRIPE ABOUT IT! Two days ago, TWO DAYS, it was 72ish degrees outside. A light little breeze. It was splendid. Now today, TWO DAYS later, I look out my window to find it SNOWING!!!! Let me recap…….. On Monday it was 70 something degrees. […]

I realize I’ve already enlightened you to White Mule Winery. But…. I got to soak up a different side to the out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere family owned and operated winery. Located close to the heart of Missouri wine country in Owensville, this place is worth your travel. Especially on Friday nights. White and Red: both delicious. About a […]

As any of my readers know, I am a new Mommy. My husband and I were blessed with our first born, a daughter, whom we named Olivia. The first 3 months were awful, she had colic and did nothing but scream. And I mean scream. It wasn’t a cry, it was a scream! Like I […]

Afternoon, folks of Missouri! It’s time for another edition of Festival Friday, where I give you a whole slew of things to do, leaving you no excuses for weekend boredom. Jefferson City: Tonight, Jeff City is hosting their 6th Annual Gallery Crawl featuring 9 or 10 different galleries. The Crawl is totally free, just call […]

My love affair with travel was seeded in me at a young age. I got to spend my 10th birthday in HAWAII!!!! simply because my sister’s husband was stationed there at the military base. Of course, we had the traditional “summer family vacations”  every year from the time I can remember. I’ve been to Graceland, […]

What do you want to be when you grow up? If children had a nickel for every time they were asked this question, there would be no reason to have an answer. As a child, I wanted to be a teacher. The next year a lawyer. In my teenage years, my answer would have been […]

Oh boy, oh boy. It’s Friday. TGIF. Who’s ready for the weekend? I actually have quite the assortment of Missouri activities on the list this weekend. So, no excuses! I want you out there exploring. And next week, I want you telling me all about it too! Branson Area: Well it’s one for the money, […]

Waking up to another sunshine-filled, beautiful Missouri afternoon sure does put my day to starting off on the right foot. Unfortunately, I will have to be back at work in a few short hours but I plan to soak up some vitamin D in the meantime. Well, I’ve got some exciting news (for me, anyway. […]

Imagine this. Farmland, cattle, green grass, open fields, no Walmart or Target. That’s where we ventured out to on Saturday. It was purely blissful. White Mule Winery sits about 20 minutes south of Hermann just off Highway 50 in Owensville (well, the address is Owensville but I don’t know that this place could really be […]

One more week down the hatch, Missouri! I hope you have something exciting on the books for the weekend, even though it looks like the spring weather made a turn for the very, very unspring-y, unpleasant, dreary, miserable, cold, nasty weather. It’s my fault actually. Here I was talking about how awesome our weather was […]