Sheridan, WY: Hometown of Miss Wyoming 2021-22

On May 22, 2022, during a visit to Sheridan, Wyoming, host Kate Jones and her husband had the grand opportunity to see the Eatons' Ranch Horse Drive, which takes place every spring. They — and a crowd of some 200 other spectators — enjoyed close-up views of the horses as they clip-clopped down a city street right in front of the historic hotel where the Joneses were staying. 

In this episode, you'll hear about both the horse drive and the Sheridan Inn, which opened in 1893 with the help of investor and occasional resident "Buffalo Bill" Cody of Wild West Show fame. Both topics are pertinent to today's interview with Mikkayla DeBolt, who was the reigning Miss Wyoming when Kate met her on the front lawn of the hotel the morning of the horse drive. 

Mikkayla talks about how she became Miss Wyoming, how she handled competition (turns out she loved it) and what she learned during her year-long reign, among other topics. She passed along the Miss Wyoming crown to her successor, Hazel Homer Wambeam, on June 25, 2022, at the Wyo Theater in downtown Sheridan. Now that she's no longer the current representative of her home state, Mikkayla reflects on her next adventures including, perhaps, a future run for office. 

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to The Gale Hill Radio Hour!

The show is available in Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast directories. Also on Substack and YouTube;  Facebook, Instagram  and LinkedIn.

Transcript

Kate: Hello, and welcome to The Gale Hill Radio Hour. I'm your host, Kate Jones recently back home after a road trip to Sheridan, Wyoming.

One of the delights of traveling is making new acquaintances. In a few minutes, I'll introduce you to someone I met in Sheridan, but first I'll tell you about the historic inn where my husband, Bernie, and I stayed.

Located on one of the main drags in downtown Sheridan, the hotel figures into the story of how I met today's guest. The inn has an expansive lawn that's perfectly situated for viewing the annual Eatons' horse run, which takes place in the spring. This is a big-deal event, and Bernie and I felt incredibly lucky to be in town on the day it occurred one sunny morning in May.

On that particular day in 2022, a crowd milled around outside the hotel, waiting for the horses to arrive. When they finally appeared, they were quite a sight: 170 or so steeds clip-clopping along on the road as they followed a lead horse. Mounted cowboys kept them all in line as they traveled on hoof from their winter pasture a hundred miles away to summer quarters at Eatons' — the oldest dude ranch in the U.S., we hear — located outside of Sheridan's city limits.

Just as a reminder, all this was happening right in the midst of the city.

Our trip out west had a great many high points, and the horse run definitely was one of them. So was staying at the Sheridan Inn, which dates back to 1893. As you know, old hotels have plenty of stories and the Sheridan is no exception. One of the owners was "Buffalo Bill" Cody famous for his wild west showmanship. Apparently he held auditions for his show from the picturesque veranda that stretches across the front of the inn.

It was on that veranda the morning of the horse run that I first noticed Mikkayla DeBolt, today's guest, talking to a group of people. Well, actually, I noticed her tiara first and then I saw her sash. Just a little while later, I had the pleasure of meeting the reigning Miss Wyoming herself, and what a delight that was. Another high point of the trip.

Mikkayla has attended the horse run since she was a little girl. So we'll begin the conversation there and then move on to how she became Miss Wyoming, what she learned during her year-long reign and what she's doing now.

Kate: Mikkayla, thank you so much for being on the show.

Mikkayla: Yes, thank you for having me.

Kate: It was such great fun meeting you at the horse run, which is a cool and memorable event. Why do you think it has such appeal?

Mikkayla: So growing up in Sheridan, it obviously always meant something to my family because it's a tradition that we always had. And I think that those visiting Sheridan, or new to the area, can be excited about that tradition and they feel like they're a part of it. I mean, not in many places do you see horses running through town.

Kate: You're right!

Mikkayla: In Sheridan, you'll actually catch people riding their horses to the grocery store, you know, or just down the street to this day. So that's something you don't see that often either. But when you see all the Eatons' horses going, I don't know, it's just that it kind of takes you back in time a little bit. And also, Eatons' has such an impact on this area. What it does and the people that visit it, it holds a special place in a lot of people's hearts. So I think that it still gives you a piece of being a part of it, even if you're not right in the middle of what goes on at Eatons' every year.

Kate: Yes, that's great. So when did you start attending the horse run with your family?

Mikkayla: You know, I wish that I could tell you exactly what year, but I can't. I could tell you that it's always been one of my mom's favorite things to do. She absolutely loves taking pictures and we actually live right off of that main street that they go up. So we actually used to just walk over as kids and, you know, just sit, take some pictures, but it's always been something that my mom has been the big push for.

And then my brother, my dad and I, when we were younger, used to just go along with it. But I think it's kind of been something that's become important to us too, and we want make sure that we're always there. We'll watch it and enjoy it. It's not just my mom making us go to it.

Kate: You want to go on your own now, too?

Mikkayla: Oh yeah, absolutely.

Kate: Do you have any particular favorite memories of that event?

Mikkayla: I think this year, honestly probably tops it off.

Kate: Ah, yes. Were you making an official appearance as Miss Wyoming when I met you at the horse run?

Mikkayla: I was, yeah. So the Sheridan Inn had recently invited me actually to enjoy it from the front lawn, which is not something I had ever experienced before. I've done a lot of other stuff at the Sheridan Inn, but I haven't actually watched the horse drive from the Sheridan Inn. So that alone was just, oh, so cool. It's like hard to explain if you haven't been there. I mean, you've been, so you know what it's like to see the horses and it's a whole new feeling and excitement to watch it happen right there.

Kate: Yeah. And it goes fast, doesn't it? I mean, you know, there's this buildup, it's a long anticipation waiting for the horses to come, and people are talking and, as I said, milling around and everything, but then when it happens, it goes by really feast. I mean, they're not moving that fast. It's just that they are big, big animals and they can move en masse very well. 

Mikkayla: I always crack the joke "don't blink or you're gonna miss it" because that's just how fast it seems to go.

Kate: Even though it's a good five minutes or something probably, but still it's a real buildup for that. As I said, it was like a high point of our trip. We told everybody about it, and it was so much fun. So I bet it was very different for you going as Miss Wyoming.

Mikkayla: Yes. Anything that I've done this entire year though has been different. It's been different going from just ordinary Mikkayla and her everyday life versus going as Miss Wyoming. So anything that I've done has been a little bit different. So I kind of have just been. waiting to see what the feeling is for each event, because they have been different than any previous ones that I've been to before.

Kate: Well, we're going to get into that in just a minute, some of your experiences as Miss Wyoming, but I have a quick question for you while we're on the topic of the city of Sheridan right now. You're a native. If you were in charge of the tourist and visitors bureau for Sheridan, Wyoming, what would you say about your city to entice people to come there?

Mikkayla: So I actually worked for a downtown association (the Downtown Sheridan Association) as soon as I graduated college. So not exactly tourism, but I do kind of have an insight about that personal experience, you could say. But I think that something that's really cool about Sheridan is the fact that we try to stay really true to our roots and our history. And even though we're progressing and things are changing and things are expanding, we still try to always remember where we came from and we want to keep that history as a part of who we are while also moving forward.  So you can come to Sheridan and you can be that history buff that wants to know how we came to be and who our founders were, and show this really old building or the Sheridan Inn. Like you said, Buffalo Bill had a room there. But then also we have all of the more modernized art. So there's such a wide aspect of things that draw people to Sheridan. And there really is something for everyone to experience and enjoy.

Kate: Spoken like a true tour visitor and tourism bureau person, even though that's not who you actually did work for. That's excellent. I like that. Well, you, you graduated from Black Hill State University in 2019 with a degree in business administration, and you mentioned to me when we first met that you had not done much in the way of competition. You didn't grow up in that, in that way of doing things. So why did you decide to compete for the Miss Wyoming title?

Mikkayla: So I actually have a really interesting story behind that. The first time I competed was in 2019, shortly after I had graduated from college, I had just moved back to Sheridan. I was working at DSA, but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to actually do per se. I mean, I just graduated college. You're going through this huge life change. That was my home for four years, and now I'm moving back to where I grew up, but my friends aren't necessarily all here anymore. I don't have that safety of the high school or the sports athletics.

And so to an extent, I was just trying to find a new way and a new home here in Sheridan. And one of my mentors had mentioned this Miss Wyoming scholarship organization. And I was like, oh yeah, like I know some of the Miss Wyomings, they're great. Like they do really cool things, but I never envisioned myself doing it. I was like, that's not for me at all, whatsoever. And then the more that I talked to then current Miss Wyoming, Beck Bridger, it was like, well, why can't it be? And so I decided about two weeks before competition that I was going to compete.

Kate: Wow.

Mikkayla: Which is very short notice for wanting to just jump in and do something like that and never having done anything like that before. So I fell in love with the competing side of it, just because it pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I was an athlete. I was not in drama. I was not in music. I didn't do anything on stage. So just having to get up there alone was a whole new experience for me. And they were like talking stage left, stage right, front stage backstage. And I was like, I don't know what any of this means. I was so, so lost.

So being on stage, I had no idea what I was doing. And then actually competing was a huge wake up call to me as well. But I felt like in those, that week competition, I grew a lot. And I just had a lot of fun. That was the biggest thing. I enjoyed being put on stage stepping outside of my comfort zone. The other contestants were amazing. I absolutely loved competing with them and I loved the mission and the vision behind the Miss Wyoming scholarship organization. So I was like, this is something that I would definitely consider doing again.

Mikkayla: Well, then we all know, COVID happened. And so we didn't have another competition, and then I had started a new job. I was just on a different path. And so Miss Wyoming hadn't really been something that I was thinking about anymore until someone reached out to me and was like, "Mikayla, we'd love for you to compete." And I was like, "Okay, well I have a month.

Kate: Oh, wow. That's eternity compared to what you had.

Mikkayla: Exactly. I was like, OK, maybe I can handle this, but I kinda was just like, even if I don't win, and I'm a very, very competitive person, I just loved the experience of it and going through it. So that's what I was looking forward to the most when I decided to compete yet again.

Kate: That it was really something that it was so out of your comfort zone, so out of your realm of experience, and yet you embraced it as something that was a, well, learning experience, a growing experience. And also, you know, instead of feeling very competitive toward the other people, you really liked them. You were part of the group. I think that's quite remarkable. Mikayla.

Mikkayla: It was, it honestly was. And I would recommend to anybody to compete in it. Because I think like coming from me, who hadn't competed or been a part of a pageant or the competition world, it proves to you that if you want something and you work for something, you can go and you can achieve it. You don't have to be that picture-perfect person that everybody thinks should do that particular job. You can do it if you want to. And so I'm hoping that I have given some hope to other girls around the state that they can do it too. If even a small portion of them is considering competing.

Kate: That's marvelous. So how did you prepare in that month that you had?

Mikkayla: I went through my friend's closet and my own closet to put my wardrobe together. and I, I kind of went through more of writing down and figuring out who am I: What are my values? What am I actually passionate about? Because going through it the first time, I was trying to absorb everything and take it all in. Which is very overwhelming, stepping into a role like that is very, very overwhelming. And so this time I kind of had a little first go-round under my belt. So I had a better idea of what to expect, and I just wanted to really be able to show the judges who I was and what I was passionate about.

And so I think I kind of just focused more on that and talking a lot with my friends and my family about, okay, well, when you see me, what do you see? You know, like what do you love about Wyoming and trying to pull other people's knowledge in ways to become the best representation of the state that I possibly could be.

Kate: Okay. Well, could you give an example of what you're passionate about, what your values are?

Mikkayla: So I absolutely love traveling. I am a huge guru for traveling. So meeting you, I loved hearing about your journey and what you were doing and how you guys were, you know, visiting different states and exploring new things. Like I love that. And I think that's so great because I love those stories and those memories and those moments. And so. Being this Wyoming, obviously you have the opportunity to do all of that, you know, and you see it, but you see it in a different light, you know, traveling across this state. It's like, I've been to Cheyenne, I've played soccer in Cheyenne. Well going miss Wyoming, you get the opportunity to meet with the governor and spend time at the capital. And that's a whole different experience to a place that I've already been. Yes, that's great. So one thing I noticed about you when I first met you and then in, um, subsequent, um, just interactions, um, you, you are, well, I knew this right off, you are charming, your outgoing, you also come across as being very comfortable in who you are. How did you develop your self confidence? I don't think I'm totally going. Hundred percent. Confident in myself. I think it's something that every day I'm constantly learning and working on mm-hmm and I think it helps that I have such a great support system and my family and my friends that I can really rely on to help work through some of what I feel like I'm dealing with. But I just, I don't know. I wish I could tell you that it all just came to be one day, but it's something that most people. Are always working on. And I think there's that stigma that you should just be confident in yourself, but it really is something that we're always growing and working on. And miss Wyoming has definitely helped me in that aspect because I was usually the one behind the scenes doing everything. And now I'm front and center, you know, like I'm I used to be the one that was like, okay, we need to be in this place at this time. Ready to say. and now I'm the one getting all of those directions. So it's something through mising that I've learned. It's just in your everyday life. Something that I've tried to embrace on. And if there's something that does bother me, or I don't feel quite confident in myself with, I try not to just like sit and be like, okay, well this happened, and this is the reason and blah, blah, you know, and. Have like a self pity party almost. It's like, okay, this happened, what can I learn from it? And then move on to the next time. Exactly. And we are all of us, we're all work in progress. and that's the best way to be, you know, cuz you can keep growing and learning at whatever age. You are nobody nobody's perfect. Nope. Nope. So anyway, with the miss Wyoming competition, was that a week long? About a week long competition. Yeah. So you usually show up a couple days beforehand and you go through rehearsals and you have mock interviews and you have appearances, um, for even. As like the competition part of it, just so you kind of get in that, get an idea of what it's like if you were that state title holder. So the girls kind of didn't experience about that. And then, uh, Wyoming is actually a much smaller state for those who decide to compete. So a lot of other states that actually have two nights of preliminaries and then they have their finals night, whereas in Wyoming, because our. Program is so small. We have the ability to do all of it in the exact same night. So you have a few days of rehearsal and preparation, and then you just have that one day of competition. Okay. So you mentioned that you're not, um, you, you were never on the stage before. And, um, so as your talent, you performed a monologue from the TV drama series, one tree hill. Would you talk about that? So when I first had the idea brought up to compete in the Wyoming, my thing was, well, I don't have a talent. and people were like, Mihi, you're very talented. And I was like, yeah, but not for anything I can do on stage. Like sure. I have talent, but nobody wants to see me, you know, get up there and kick a soccer ball around. Well, maybe it's been a, since I've done that. Well, it might not go over quite so. But so then it kind of came up of, well, I like to talk and I talk a lot. And so it kind of turned into that is a challenge. And that's something that not everyone has the ability to do so well. And so I decided to do a monologue and the first time that I competed, I. Wrote my own monologue and it was an original one, but this last time I decided to borrow one from win hill. Like you had mentioned, which winter hill was my like safety net all through college. So when I was like really homesick, that's kind of what I turned to. And I think that it's a very relatable show because they're going through high school and college and they have all these really good friends and, you know, life is constantly happening. And so it's this show that follows along their life from high school. Well, until they're out of high school and they're, and they high school there in our early mid. So that's me, that's where I'm at in my life. So it was nice to be able to just see what they're going to and have that ability to relate to them. And in their very, very last episode, they, all of the characters are talking and they're talking about wishes and dreams and how, if you want something, you just have to go after it. And all of these. Things that I relate to, especially with the miss Wyoming competition. And so I kind of decided that one tree hill itself spoke to me through college, through high school. And that particular portion of the show spoke to me with the miss Wyoming competition, which is kind of how I came to pull that one out of the entire show. Okay. All right. So how, so it must have gone very well. I mean, since you actually won, the title of miss Wyoming? I, I believe it did. so, so you went on, you, you, you were crowned, um, was it, um, June 25th of, uh, 2021 that you were crown. Is it always around the same date? It, it is always around the same time. I believe the exact date was the 27th. Okay. So just a few days off. Cause they always try to have that competition on that Saturday. Okay. That makes sense. So kind of whatever that Saturday is of the same week is usually what they pull for. Okay. So. So did your responsibilities as miss Wyoming begin right after you, were you won the title or did you have a little break? no, there was zero break. I was up that next morning and I was doing, I cleaned up the whole competition area. My family. And then the miss Wyoming outstanding team who had also won that evening. So we cleaned up the Y theater and all of our stage and the dressing rooms and all of that stuff. Oh, really? You actually physically cleaned it up the, the area. Yeah. Huh? Yes, we did. We tore down the set and I mean, left it better than we found. It was hopefully the plan. Um, we didn't share any complaints, so we must have done. Okay. Wow. Okay. That's just something that you did as a service, or is that, was that expected or what, what were the circumstances? So that was kinda the first time that that had ever had happened before. And it was kinda had us to that just because. Usually it's the two EDS for each of the programs. So the miss Wyoming ed, then the miss Wyoming student between ed ed, meaning event director or executive director. Executive director. Okay. Yeah. So usually it's just those two and it takes them, it could take them all day. Oh my goodness. Those poor people . Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So why would you not just. Be like, Hey, let's do this. You know? And my family was so generous and they were like, yeah, sure. We'll help. Like, we don't have a problem with it. So it was kinda, it was asked of us. And then we just happened to have people who were willing to help us. As well that's terrific. Well, I met your dad at the horse run. He seems like a really nice guy. yes, my, my dad is great. He is the one who was on the stage all the time. He has very into theater and music. So I think he's kind of loved seeing me step into that world a little bit. Oh, that's wonderful. Sort of taking after dad in a way. yeah, he probably didn't wear a tear though. um, I don't believe he did uh, so as miss Wyoming, what were your responsibilities? Yeah, so right afterwards, like my husband obviously jumped right. And for the first few days, it was kind of a lot of meetings and emails and talking to the press and trying to figure out, well, what do I want my year to look like? How much do I wanna travel? What type of events do I wanna do? What, what do I want my focus to be? And originally my main focus was my social impact initiative. Kids unplugged, encouraging our youth to explore the world around them without technology. Okay. Well, as I was jumping into that, um, talking to kids, talking to adults with like the first few events here in Sheridan, because I was very fortunate enough that I was crowned and then July is jam packed here in Sheridan. So we had like rodeo week and the 4th of July third, Thursday farmer's market. So I, I had a lot of these events that I was already able to go to without having to travel very. And by talking to these people at these events, I quickly learned that nobody knows hardly anything about the miss scholarship organization or miss America. They've heard of it before. They kind of have an idea about miss America, but they don't actually know what she does. Okay. And so then my focus kind of changed to educating people on the two organizations and the job of MIS Wyoming. Which is great. So I'm so glad you asked me kind of what I, what I have spent my year doing, but, so that's kinda how my, my year shifted though focuses. Okay. Um, and with that, oh, go ahead. Oh, I, I was just wondering, um, what, what does, what does the miss Wyoming organization stand for? What are the important values that you relate to? right. So the misfiling organization is under the misser organization and their mission is to create great women for the world and the world for great women. Ah, okay. So you're wanting to their focus is to really build up these women. And one of the main focuses in competition is a private interview, which is 10 minutes. And so they're focusing more on the knowledge and the drive and the passion with each title holder rather than what they look like, which is why it's no longer considered a pageant, it's considered a competition. Okay. And then they're also preaching that your biggest competition is not the girl standing next to you, but it's actually. Oh, that's wonderful. The best you are, you promoting the best you that you possibly can because each state is looking for something different for each, for each girl. So you can't, you can't sit there and compare well, miss Wyoming to miss Hawaii, because they're totally different. What the states what's important to the states, how the state's culture, like it's totally different. And so that's why the focus is. You're competing with yourself. You're wanting to be the best version of you. You're wanting to promote yourself, gain that self confidence and believe in yourself. That's wonderful. You can. Oh, it's I love it. And that's one of the reasons that I really wanted to kind of start educating people on that side of things, because they don't know that they're not aware of that. They really do think that it is just a pageant. When you, when you win your title, it's not just, you're competing on stage after stage. And you're putting on this pretty gown. I mean, you're being a judge for things you're volunteering. If somebody needs an extra set of hands, you're there for them, you're going to schools and you're talking to students about. Body image and your social impact initiative and being a, and being kind to people. And then you're being a guest speaker at places. And I was a keynote speaker at a propane conference to do with beauty or pageantry. Just about me being an ambassador for the state and me being a leader for the state. And so yes, you compete on stage to win the title, but it's actually a job and it's a very hard job. You're traveling across the state. You're traveling across the nation, you're representing your state on such a large level. And so I, I just love it. And that's what, that's why I've just really wanted to share. And educate people about miss Wyoming and what she actually does. Sure. Wow. Uh, that is, um, that's really good to, to do that. Um, so you really, you really learned a lot from the process. What, what would you say were some of the big lessons. Don't believe everything you hear. Okay. especially, especially about miss America, because there's that stereotype that they're not really your friends, everybody's out to get you, you know, they just wanna win. Well, I have 15 new friends who we still talk almost every day. We're still really good friends and it's not just about, well, this is what I went through. Personal stuff. Hey, someone in my family is really sick. Can I get some prayers for them or, Hey, I'm going through a really hard time with school right now. Like, I don't know what I wanna do afterwards. It's just a support system. And so the fact that I really did gain friends and I'm a part of that sisterhood is one of the biggest things that I learned that I wasn't expecting. That's nice because I wasn't, I wasn't, I was like, sure. Maybe I'll become friends with a couple of the girls, but no part of me was like, oh yeah, you'll definitely have a friend in every state now. Wow. You could travel anywhere you want. And you'll know somebody there honestly. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I mean, we've already had plans to travel and see each other after all of this is over. It's something that I know will last a last a lifetime. I mean, some of the girls are getting married next fall and we're invited to their weddings and we're planning on those. So it's not the miss America organization brought us together, but we are keeping ourselves as a sisterhood for the, for the rest of our lives. That's that's lovely. Mikayla. So how would you say you've grown by being miss Wyoming? I think. One of the areas that I've grown the most in is the fact that I've had to be okay. Being the center of attention. When usually, like I kind of mentioned, I'm the one behind the scenes, cuz I've done a lot of event planning. So usually I'm the one that's like planning the event, not the center of retention for the event. And so I've really had to be. Okay. With that side of things. And so that I think has really pushed me outside of my comfort zone and made me grow up and be like, it's okay to be the center of attention, you know? And I, I've always been told that I handle it well. And I think that this year has really proven that. Yeah. Okay. I can handle being on stage. I can handle being in charge of a group of people. Like I can control a room. Of kids and of adults. So that part for me, I think, has been, has been the, really one of the coolest parts of it. Um, and then I don't know if I've necessarily grown in this aspect, but I've definitely become even more appreciative of my support system, my family, my friends, but even those who. I've grown up within the Sheridan area and they're like, Mihi, you just want, if you need anything, you call me up and I have some of them I've called up and they're there for me. And so I think that, that it's, it's just showed me that even though the world is not perfect, there still are really amazing people out there who are willing to help in any way that they possibly can. You just have to be brave enough to ask. Yes. So true. So, uh, is there anything you wanna say about the miss America competition? You were, you competed in December, 2021 and that was its 100th year. So I just wanna know if you could say anything, you wanna say anything besides the sisterhood aspect, which is amazing. Um, you know, if there's anything else that really stood out, um, from being part of something like that. I mean, I'm proud of the fact that I did that because I never, ever, ever imagined myself being on stage at miss America, competing in front of millions and millions of people. Like I never, I never would've thought that that even would've been something within my reach. And so the fact that I did that. Is huge for me, but, um, I actually loved it. Miss America was a great experience. Yes. Because of the sisterhood. But I can tell you, I remember the very, very first time that I stepped out on that stage, that first night of prelims to just to introduce myself. And I had been so nervous entire time and, well, what if I forget my name? You know, what if I trip and. As soon as I stepped out on stage and I started talking, all of it went away, huh? I wasn't scared anymore. And I was like, how, how am I okay. Competing in front of all of these people. Like you're talking millions of people. And I know I couldn't see them all, but I knew that they were all there. And so that alone was such a rush and such a feeling that I will treasure good for you. So your reign as miss Wyoming ended on June 25th, 2022. What is next for you? You know, usually I'm a person that knows exactly what's happening next, but that's not the case because I wasn't really planning on competing for miss Wyoming. I wasn't planning on winning and now it's over and. I'm kind of just leaving the door open for what is next? I am currently the public relations director at cloud peak lane, which is the bowling alley here in town. So I did all of that during my rain actually. So I was able to travel and still be my job, which I'm very, very thankful for, but I'm gonna keep doing that for a little while. We're getting ready to go through a huge renovation. Otherwise, like I said, the door's open, I'm hoping one day to be mayor of Sheridan. That's really . Yeah. That's, that's excellent. My big, my big goals. My grandfather was mayor at one point. And so I'm hoping to just fall in his footsteps and, but yeah, I mean, I, I learned that you can't plan everything because nothing happens according to plan. So I have obviously, you know, I have my job and eventually wanting to be mayor, but otherwise I'm just enjoying, not being the center attention for a little while. Yes. Yes. Being McKayla . Yes, exactly. That's great. I spotted in the crowd of, oh, you're miss Wyoming. And I don't even have my crown or my fashion and people are wow. Still recognizing me. So hopefully they'll focus on, on the new miss Wyoming and I get a little bit of a break. Oh, that's that's sweet. So is there anything else you'd like to add? I mean a lot happened in a year. So I'm sure that I could just keep talking your ear off, but I think that we kind of talked about some of the most important parts and some things that I really wanted to share with your listeners and your followers. So unless there's something specific or any other questions that you have for me, I think. I think I feel good about it. Well, I think when you're ready to not, uh, and this just popped into my head talking to you when you're, um, you know, ready to not just solely be Mikayla to bolt, and you're ready to put yourself out there again. I think you could do a, a talk show on. On a local radio station or do a podcast or do something like that. Cuz you have this breadth of experience and you have contacts all over the country and I just really like to talk a lot. Yes. Well there's that, which is a good thing too. So anyway, Mikayla, thank you so much. It has been a pleasure getting to know. Yes. Thank you. I'm so that you horse drive and we were during it, it has been great. And, um, I'm glad to, this is Kate Jones with a Gale hill radio hour until next time. Thanks for joining us, please remember to subscribe like and share it's greatly appreciated. Thank you.