Springfield MO

 I didn't bring my laptop with us on our trip.

So I'll try to re-cap now...

We drove over to Springfield on Tuesday afternoon.

It was a 7.5 hour drive... through some

really beautiful country!

We stopped for fuel and loaded up on

some snacks. (hahaha)

Got into town after dark (about 7:30).

We stayed at the Bass Pro Anglers Lodge.

And CHRISTMAS is in the air in Springfield!

This was our lodge.

Super cute.

Right across the street from a large Bass Pro.

It was so pretty!

The room was super cute.

A little fish on each headboard.

There was a little bag of gummy worms on each bed!

(And the beds and especially pillows were COMFY!)

Very fishing / angler themed.

We walked next door to Taco Bell for a quick dinner

and then turned on the TV to a cooking show and

fell asleep for the night.

Wed morning we were up and eating a yummy

breakfast of biscuits and gravy down in the cafe

and then we jumped in the truck and headed

6 minutes away to the venue.

Of course, we had to take a selfie with the Vital Farms sign!

Once inside the building, there were vendors set up

around the edge of one end of the large room,

and tables and snacks on the other end.

We wandered around and chatted with a few

of the different vendors, a banker, some

of the nest box folks and a builder or two.

We didn't really talk with everyone, figured we

would visit with them AFTER the presentation

when we knew more of what we needed to ask.

The presentation was excellent.

They had us start with signing a non-disclosure agreement.

Once we had signed, they handed out a very

comprehensive packet that gave us a sample copy 

of the contracts, pay schedules, breakdowns,

rules, schedules, etc and he spent an hour or so

going over all of it and kind of taking us through

not only the process, but also what it looks like

going forward. What to expect both in cost and

compensation, anticipated problems, etc.

It was a LOT of information, but VERY EXCITING!

Unfortunately, while he was speaking, 

the vendors all LEFT!

So we lost the opportunity to visit more with them.

We are only allowed to use "prequalified" vendors,

so once we are at that point, we will decide

who we want to use.

But first we had to sit with the guy in charge.

He brought our property up on his laptop

to do a preliminary approval of the land.

We were nearly the last group to sit with him.

He pulled it up and said "OH THANK GOODNESS! 

An EASY piece of property to work with.

You guys can pretty much decide to put it wherever

you want - you are the PERFECT situation."

So that was encouraging!

(You need 52 acres with the barn in the center

and 8 equal-ish paddocks surrounding the barn

but some people's property were L shaped, or long

and skinny, or whatever and were quite a 

challenge to get laid out.)

Our next step is to talk with the bankers

(they gave us the name and number of a 

Kansas banker who has already financed several

of these operations, so he is familiar with the

process and will hopefully be easy to work with...)

It's exciting!

Scary.

But exciting!