DAY 4 - Santa Fe to Oklahoma City

We took the eight hour drive from Santa Fe to Oklahoma City today with a lunch stop at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, TX (review below). The weather was beautiful – 40’s & 50’s and not a cloud in the sky. Santa Fe at sunrise is beautiful!! The sun slowly peaking over the snow-capped mountains, it was a spectacular site. The scenery the rest of the way through Texas and Oklahoma was nice as well, tons of traditional farm land and rolling prairies.

Santa Fe sunrise video

Santa Fe sunrise

Santa Fe sunrise with the snowy ground in front

Sun beginning to light up the snow-capped Santa Fe mountains

More snow-capped Santa Fe mountains

A leaning water tower in the small Texas town of Groom

Some of Texas' gorgeous country side

More Texas countryside

We're so dedicated to the BBQ theme that even our sunflower seeds are BBQ flavored

Zena and Zuma snoozed most of the drive

One of the highlights of the drive was being able to hear the Cowboys v. Eagles football game on the official Cowboys radio network. It was so fun to hear the Cowboys announcers bummed out and in awe over the crushing. Fly Eagles Fly!!!

Fly Eagles Fly!!

We pulled into Oklahoma City around 7pm CT and immediately hit up Earl’s Rib Palace (review below). After dinner we searched for hotels and unfortunately, only crappy hotels accepted dogs. Needless to say, Mama D. was not thrilled with the accommodations. Oh well, it’s just one night and we’re up and out early tomorrow morning and I already scooped a Starbucks for her so she’ll be happy.

Oklahoma City skyline

After some brief sightseeing in Oklahoma City tomorrow morning, we’re off to Kansas City.

THE REVIEW - Earl's Rib Palace, Oklahoma City

We pulled into Oklahoma City around 7pm CT and only had time for one BBQ joint. We picked the highly recommended Earl’s Rib Palace - www.earlsribpalace.com. Earl’s has five locations around Oklahoma and we tested the one in Lower Bricktown, which is a cool little entertainment district southeast of downtown. Earl’s was lively and filled with people, but our focus was on the delicious ribs!

Pulled pork plate with green beans and cole slaw

Sauce – 3 – They had a mild and a hot sauce and both packed a punch. The mild had a spicy kick and the hot made my nose run, which I see as a good thing. Good overall, but a bit on the spicy side.

Sides – 3.5 – Great beans! They were sweet and rich and saturated in a thick tasty sauce. The potato salad was creamy, chunky and delicious. Green beans were simple, but tasty. Coleslaw was average and nothing special.

Combo plate at Earl's - ribs, sausage and bologna as well as bbq beans and potato salad

Slabs – 4 – Best so far. What made these stand out from the previous ribs was it had a delicious dry rub. The tasty rub combined with a crispy skin and nice pink tender meat and I was in rib heaven.

Enjoying Earl's Rib Palace's delicious ribs!!

Steaks – Didn’t order steak

Sandwiches – 2 – We got the pulled pork and it was bland and lacked flavor. Smothered in sauce it was decent, but alone it was something I wouldn’t order again.