Earned Fun Average
Earned Fun Average
Episode 181 - WisesToWichita Pt 1
The Proffitts had a fun time hosting the Wises at the beginning of August in Wichita. Donnie and Rhonda join Johnny and Eric to talk about their trip. A two part episode, we get into the drive to Wichita, and discuss the first two days of their stay in the ICT. Make sure to tune in next week to hear about their Memphis trip and their final day in Kansas.
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Donnie Wise -
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Rhonda Wise -
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the Earned Fun Average Podcast. I'm your host Eric Profit, coming to you from Wichita, Kansas, and with me as always. I have, Johnny Bowen, of course, coming tonight, under the light of a neon baseball. It from the, Bayou Broadcast Center, course designations of, uh, honoree member of the Abilene Flying Bison. Charles Gumbo Gator Super fan, and, and again, always part of the Chateau Dave baby King. Well, I think he's got that down pretty well at this point. That's a nice long introduction to where he is recording from. He just keeps adding onto it every time. But Johnny, we uh, have a couple special guests with us today, so. for anybody that might've seen online, uh, we had not one, but two wises that were here in Wichita, so we're gonna do Wises to Wichita. And so we're gonna have a little conversation, kind of how the trip went, but we have not only Mr. Mayor Donny Wise, but we also have Mrs. Mayor Rhonda Wise. Rhonda, how are you? I'm great. How are y'all? Good. I'm glad you could join us. Uh, very good. Mr. Mayor. How are you? I'm doing fine as well. Awesome. Well, coming at you from the, the Mayor's mansion in Lexington, South Carolina. I'm on the second floor. She's on the first floor. He's gonna do an introduction like you there, Johnny. I don't have all of the, uh, accoutrements that Mr. Boland has. I've been called Plenty Things in life. Lemme get this wrong. Well, like we said, we just wanted to have both you on here since you guys recently made a trip to the great state of Kansas, came to Wichita to hang out with the prophet, group, and went over to see some, uh, not only the city, but get to see some Wichita wind surge game. So we'll talk about that here in a minute. We have some questions just to kind of see how the trip went, but. Rhonda, one of the first things we like doing is talking about a hat that we are wearing. Would you mind sharing your hat with us please? I am wearing a Columbia fireflies 47, I guess this is the dad hat. it is Navy with, uh, the word fireflies across it in neon yellow. That's a very awesome hat. I do appreciate you sharing that. Donnie, what were you wearing today, sir? So I'm wearing one of the, the many Wichita hats that I already own. this is the two-tone red, uh, with blue Bill, franchise fitted from 47 brand. It has the ICT across the back and it's the home plate, uh, Wichita flag front to it. And, uh, it's one I think of nine that I counted. I didn't even buy a hat on the trip because I already had so many hats. Yeah, Johnny. So when he first got here the first night we went to the team store and he is like looking through everything. He is like, I have most of those. I don't really need a hat. So I guess that would save you a little extra money. Not having to buy any extra hats when you're there, when you already have most of them. Yeah. I um, I know people aren't at home aren't gonna see this, but I'm gonna just show you guys'cause uh, I know you'll wanna see which ones they are. I do have the Marvel Fit at 59 50. And the, uh, Wichita Wrangler 59 50. Those are the two fitted I have. Most of mine are dad hats, so the one I'm wearing, I've got the, uh, orange and purple, turbo tubs with a W on it. I have the all teal turbo Tubs dad hat. I have the, uh, tomb of Vodkas. In the, uh, lime and, and pink. I have the chili buns dad hat as well. I have the standard wind surge logo with the Wichita flag on the side. And finally I have the foam trucker turbo tubs hat. So I am well versed in the Wichita wind search hats. They, they have, they even have a ton more that I probably could have bought and would've bought. But, I tried to be good and not buy a bunch more. Oh, this is audio only so no one can see. But, uh, Rhonda's over here kind of just shaking her head at Donnie. So it's a good thing that you're in separate parts of the house.'cause otherwise we may be down to one wise. But he did state when we got home that he was disappointed that he did not buy a hat. At least one. You know, I, I should have at least bought a hat to buy a hat. So that's, that's his logic. Now I just need to buy a hat just to buy one. so, well, it's tough to go to a stadium and when we, and our, our whole thing is buying hats and talking about hats, and to go to a stadium and not buy a hat at the stadium. It's kind of crazy. But, uh, and you were even upset. You didn't buy me a hat. and, and I know Mr. Boland loves a good deal that that Sunday deal is where I should have done it because it was, uh, 47 brand, uh, buy two get one free. Mm. And I should have really taken advantage of that and gotten me and her, one, Joe, Joe said, uh, he would pitch in if, uh, if I buy one and Rhonda buys one, he gets one free, then that, that would work for him. So. That's classic Joe right there. But yeah. and obviously, we'll, like I said, we'll talk about it here in a little bit to see if, uh, Wichita was worth coming back. And if it is, then maybe you can buy a hat the next time you come to Wichita. So, yeah, they should have some new ones next year. So I'll, I'll, uh. I'll definitely make sure I at least purchase a hat. I did buy a couple of shirts though, so that's, it's not, and, and a pen for my map, which I've gotta get my map updated with all my pens still, so. Yep, you gotta do that. Uh, Mr. Boland, what hat do you have today, sir? I brought out tonight, Mr. Prophet is, you know, I mean I reached into the EFA archives. I went deep into the three year history tonight for a hat selection. I mean, if we got Rhonda and we got the mayor, I mean, you can't just wear any hat, right. I'm bring back at one time, a controversial purchase. Is this a wind surge hat? Ladies, gentleman, the teal nicknamed the Kansas Law Dog Hat Wichita Wranglers, in tribute to the greatest Western ever made tombstone. How about that? from the archives and the answer is no, that's not a Wichita wind surge hat. So if you go back to the very first, what, five or six episodes or so, we talk a lot about that hat and the controversy it brought. So, very cool hat that you have there. Uh, for myself. So I am wearing the Malmo oat milkers hat. Uh, I'm gonna let, uh, Donnie get into this, uh, here a little bit later, when he is talking about his trip. So it's a all black 59 50 fitted hat has om for oat milkers in pink. Uh, but there's a little more connection to that that we will get in here, uh, a little bit later. And Johnny, if they would've had that hat. If they'd have had that hat you're wearing for sale in the store, I definitely would've bought a hat.'cause I actually looked for that one on, on Friday night. Their sale was, uh, 40% off, uh, Wrangler's hat 47 brand Wrangler's hats. But they only had two hats that were kind of the, the hitch one was a hitch with a rope. Eh, it's not, not my taste on the designs that were on them, but if that one would've been up there and on sale, it'd have been coming home with me for sure. I love that hat. I the one like you have in the 47 MVP with the Velcro. Yep. And its nicknamed, uh, Johnny Ringo. That's the Johnny Ringo hat. I also at tribute to the great movie Tombstone, so I have Johnny, Ringo, and the Kansas law dog. Well, one of the, uh, first things that kind of a classic that we like doing is asking, uh, just kind of the itinerary. So, and either one of you feel free to jump in, but would you mind just kind of giving the listeners a little bit of the itinerary as far as, uh, on your trip, kind of where you, uh, went through, I know you made us pit stop on the way out here and just kind of the timeline of everything. Sure. So, uh, we weren't sure what time we were gonna leave on Thursday. Rhonda was thinking she might have to work. it started with me trying to, uh, to make it to a Redbirds game in Memphis.'cause that was gonna be kind of our stop over Midway. and then she came up the next or the day before we went to leave, and she's like, you know what, let's just leave really early and let's go to Graceland. In Memphis. She's like, I've always wanted to do it. You've always wanted to do it. So we decided we're leaving at four 30 in the morning so we can get to Memphis in time to spend several hours in Graceland. that was kind of the, the itinerary was to take off, get to Memphis, do do that during the day, and then get to the Memphis Redbirds game. Little hit hiccup in our, uh, plans was that, uh, our battery to the car was dead at four 30 in the morning. Had to jumpstart it. and then just before we left the great state of Alabama for the great state of Mississippi, we stopped at Love's Truck Stop. Cut the car off thinking it was gonna be fine, it would not start back. We had to get jumpstarted by the good people at love's, roadside assistance go down the street and buy a new battery. So we, we eventually made our way with a little bit of a delay, but, uh, anyway, we, we made it to Memphis, did the Red Birds game, and then our, trip the next day was gonna be just. do everything we can to get to Wichita. Plenty of time to, uh, catch the game. As we were going through Tulsa, I realized that, uh, when we were there two years ago, I had never gone to see the outside's house from the movie, the Outsiders. And I said, let's take a quick detour. so yeah, one hour delay in, uh, Tulsa to go to the outside's house. And uh, that was very cool too, to, to see that. And, um. Glad we did that. So, uh, made it, which resulted in a broken a rock flying up that hit the window and broke my windshield of my car. Let's add that into, yes, exactly. So the signs were all pointing towards, uh, we should turn around and go home. But we were, we were not going to, uh, be deterred. We were like, we're gonna make it to Wichita, for whatever we gotta do. We're gonna get there. So, uh, Yeah. That, that was our, our Thursday, Friday was, was getting there for that. And then we had several games and you had some things planned for the rest of the weekend for us and so forth. Uh, yep. Uh, Rhonda, one of the, uh, things, obviously leaving South Carolina and making your way. From Oklahoma up to Kansas and then into Wichita. Any, uh, general first impressions as you were driving into the great state of Kansas or Wichita? I think definitely it seemed much different when we got to oak. Oklahoma. Um, I think everything sort of started to look a little more flatter, at least on the drive. Seems like you could see further out. I'm very impressed with the wind turbines. but HOT is pretty much what I think I originally thought. we left South Carolina, which is normally very, very hot. We had had a very big cool down, I think Friday in Columbia, the high was 81. And when we got to, Oklahoma on Friday and stopped to get some fried pies, which Tony can talk about those in a little bit. The car said 1 0 5. So it was very war, but very beautiful. Very be. Yeah. So Johnny, unfortunately for them that Friday that they got into town was the first, day, in 2025 where it was over a hundred degrees and it happened to be like 1 0 5. I think at one point my car said 1 0 7. So, very, very warm, for their original, uh, day they got into town. Now on Sunday morning there was a, rain, uh, storm that came through with some rain. Uh, delayed our morning just by a little bit, but that cooled some things down, Sunday morning. But yeah, first day here in Wichita in 2025 where we had over a hundred degree weather. Now it's been pretty hot upper nineties, but hadn't gotten over a hundred until Donny and Rhonda came into town. Yeah, we just kept looking at the temperature gauge on the, uh, car and it got to 1 0 1 and it was 1 0 3. And it's like, I think I even texted, uh, Erica a picture. I'm like, oh gosh, it's at 1 0 3. And then like. 10 minutes later it was hit at 1 0 5. I was like, holy crap. How, how high is this thing gonna go? I mean, one thing is it was very windy, but even though it was very windy, it's still just blowing hot air. Actually, so didn't make much of a difference. So I had had to work on Friday during the day, so we didn't really get to meet up till right before the game started, go in there on that Friday night. but you just wanna talk a little bit kind of about the first, uh, night you were here with the ballpark, first impressions. Any other, uh, anything else going on for that first Friday? yeah, we got in. you know, I wanted to check out a little brewery. Uh, we, we, you and I weren't able to meet up yet for that because of the timing, but we got situated in the hotel, nice little hotel in, uh, in old town part of Wichita, which is kind of an interesting little, uh. Area of restaurants and stuff going on there, which, you could probably describe it better, but that, that hotel Rhonda got a great deal on. It's a really cool hotel. And Cattycorner from that was River City Brewing. So I was able to just walk across, go, go try a flight of, uh, some of the local beers there and, just sort of get a little, little taste of, uh, uh, Wichita to start with. And then we headed over to the ballpark. Turns out I dropped Randolph on the wrong part of the parking lot or the, the, the wrong part of the stadium to the, to the gate we were going in. so she actually ended up walking further than she would've if she did have stayed in the car with me when we got to the parking lot. But we didn't know where we were parking until meeting up with you and kind of getting an idea of where we were gonna be. And, uh, but as far as the stadium, it is a beautiful stadium. I mean, it really is a beautiful stadium when we walked in. It's a lot, lot of wide concourse area. Great team store out there. I know you've talked about it before that, you know, it's kind of crazy that it's way out in the outfield. but, you know, because of that, I guess it's got a lot of space to it, uh, out there. but yeah, the, the, the field, the, the park itself, the layout of everything is, uh, is, is really good. I really did, uh, enjoy that first night. We had a good time, uh, kinda seeing everybody and, uh, I was glad that, uh, Zach was able to, uh, to make it to the game that Friday night, get to meet him as well. we just had a good time. It was a, it was a nice, uh. ballpark. And, um, we got to meet, uh, up with Colton, who had come from Columbia and was now with the Naturals. And so, uh, I was able to say hey to him before the game and introduce you and, Zach to him because, uh, you didn't get to meet him when you were here because the game got rained out and that was one of the plans when you were here in Columbia, was to meet up with him. So, uh, kind of cool to, uh, to see him and, uh, we didn't get to see him play till Sunday, but, uh, but. Friday night was really good. We, we really enjoyed that. So the biggest nineties, nineties nine, sorry, it was nineties, was nineties night and they were giving away free t-shirts and they were playing nineties music. And that was very fun. Very fun. Yeah. One thing I was gonna take away from that, Johnny, is that he said he dropped her off at the wrong, entrance gate, but to me, all I got was that he at least had her in the car. He didn't forget her at the hotel. That's true. It may have been a hundred, but that take is cold. I think in fairness to, to one mayor Donnie Wise is, uh, recent episode that. The time of this recording dropped last week. I believe. You know, we need to get the mayor side of the story. I wanted to give him a chance, uh, to, give his point of view because I believe that Donnie Wise had no malice in his heart toward one Virgil Brooks. So we need to him plead his case tonight on EFA first version courtroom. So, Mr. Wise, the floor is yours. Please defend yourself, sir, in front of Judge Pro. there's really no defense except that, uh, old age and memory are, uh, not as good as they used to be.'cause that's all it was. I, uh, I had agreed to, uh, that we would pick Virgil up from the, his hotel when we were heading over to Kelly and Christina's house for the, the CBM, pre meet or the meetup before the game, on that, uh, Saturday. Yeah, we, you know, we, Jordan, our son, came with us and we decided to go down to the, uh, aquarium in, in Chicago that morning. And so we kind of got. Doing that. And then Jordan didn't want to go to the game necessarily, so we were like, okay, we gotta take him back to the hotel. So we dropped him off. We kind of got situated, figured out where Kelly and Christina's house was at, and I actually thought we were running way late. And unfortunately, the fact that I was supposed to go get Virgil just. Was just not in my brain. It just totally didn't appear in my brain. We got to Kelly's, we were actually one of the first ones, uh, to get there. and I thought we were running late. after a little bit, I said. Where Virgil is again, my memory was just, it was blank. It was, I, it was a total accident. I plead old age, uh, and memory loss in, in, uh, forgetting that I was supposed to pick Virgil up from the hotel, save him having to drive, separately. Well, you, you, you're wrong honor. Let, let me put it this way, speaking of the nineties, just because you forget, we still need to acquit. Well, and I, I owe Virgil a hat'cause he did purchase a hat for me on his trip. and that was supposed to be an exchange for me picking him up. We were actually supposed to pick him up the night before when we were going to go to Joliet as well. Unfortunately. Timing, it was not gonna be good for us to drive all the way to the hotel in Chicago and backtrack to Joliet. he just met us in Joliet as well. Uh, otherwise we'd have wasted two extra hours of driving just to come to the hotel, pick him up and come back. And so I guess in my brain, I just didn't think about the next day also was also a time I was supposed to pick him up. I apologize here publicly to Mr. Virgil Brooks. Your Honor, it is clear, uh, defense rests that, uh, there was no, malice of forethought toward one Virgil Brooks. Uh, so I, I'm asking for leniency from the court. Uh, for one, Mr. Mayor Donny was. We'll need to take a recess and, uh, conjoin later on that, uh, let's get back to, uh, Wichita. So Rhonda, I did want to ask a little bit, so then on Saturday, so kind of the first full day that you were here, breakfast and sight seeing, would you mind just sharing a little bit about how the day before the ball game went on Saturday? Absolutely. Well, a little bit about the night before. So I had the pleasure of going with, your wonderful wife, Shannon, and the boys and Samantha to have ice cream and thoroughly enjoyed my time with them that evening. And then the next morning we all met and at the Doah Diner, which was a wonderful experience. The food was. just amazing. I had banana bread, french toast, and I would highly recommend it to anybody, whoever gets the opportunity, to go there. And then after that, we went, I don't remember the name of the coffee shop, but it was the coffee shop. I think the Shannon likes to go to coffee days. Okay. she knows I love iced coffee. And so we headed down there and enjoyed that. And then we decided we'd let them in, go off and do their brewery thing and Sightsee, and she was just gonna take me back to the hotel. Well, she said, I should have taken you to see this side of town. And I said, well, I, I, I'll go. And that just turned into us enjoying the morning, riding around. We saw, different neighborhoods and different sites and, then I rode, I don't remember what the name of that town was that she took me to. Goddard. Goddard? Yep. Godard Goddard. Mm-hmm. Got it. But she showed me such. Unusual different houses. Um, the Frank Lloyd Wright house, this house that looks like a castle and just sort of enjoyed our time talking. And Easton was in the backseat and I enjoyed my conversations with him very much. And it sort of just turned into an impromptu little ride around Wichita and I had a lot of fun. Johnny, so Donnie and I were out and about and I get a text message and it's Rhonda in front of the ballpark that Zach plays at during the summer out at Goddard, and I'm like. We were just out in East Wichita, Goddard's, far West Wichita. So it was like, good 25, 30 minutes. I'm like, why'd you guys go way out there? So, uh, they did get to see quite a bit of, you know, Wichita and the surrounding areas. But yeah, they took off and that picture, and that picture was to make, Patrick jealous. if he hasn't seen it yet, we'll make sure that he gets to see that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, uh, Donnie, how about you? How was your experience then on that first full day prior to going the game on Saturday? like Rhonda, you, well, again, to say the night before we, we had a few beers at the, uh, at Norton's. and part of the reason we kind of split up is you and I wanted some beers and everybody else wanted some food, and Norton's wasn't gonna serve any food anymore. So the, the girls and, kids took off and got some ice cream and hung out. You and I kinda had a few, few beers there and crossed another brewery off of our lists, together. But, uh, the do Die diner, was everything I expected it to be. And, and then some, it was kind of a, a just a great little place with the great food. I ended up getting, I had just had to look it up. I got the shocker scramble. it was a, a pancake and then it had, uh, this. Jalapeno bacon, cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs with bacon, ham and sausage the sweet potatoes pork belly on top. I mean, it was just a, it was just one of those breakfasts that. you get at a place called the Do Do Diner. It just was like a little bit of everything, all in one big plate. so I, I thoroughly enjoyed that diner. We got to meet the new owner, as well. You and I did talking to him a little bit. really cool guy and uh, seems like he's stepped up to keep that going, uh, after some issues with the previous owners and health and everything. So, great experience with that. And then, uh, of course, you and I took off and went to get a, some beers and try out some of the, uh, local brew breweries. well, we went to, we, well, I don't know, I don't even remember the order we went in, but I know we went to hopping. No, which is one that I wanted to get to on my list that everybody had talked about. Lynn especially had had brought it up a few times. fantastic little spot. Uh, really enjoyed, uh, everything that they had there. That's in a newer space than I think they had been in before with some of the other people that had been there. Kind of expanded into a space in the back, behind the original. and then we went to, um, central Standard, which is another cool little brewery. had a good time with that one as well. We rode around, went to your high school. I took a million pictures of your high school. just because the architecture was, was fascinating to me. you talked about how they used to be the Redskins, so they can't really do that anymore. They changed the name up to the Red Hawks, but the, the architecture itself with the, uh, native American, The whole thing, the Native American, uh, figureheads and, uh, the buffalo head sculptures in the, in the, brick work and everything. it's so cool. You just don't see stuff like that around here. so that was very cool to see that. And then just see some other parts of, Wichita driving around. You took show, showed me the castle, which, uh, if I had the money and moved to Wichita, that would. Probably wanna buy a castle'cause that looked like a really cool house and who wouldn't wanna own a castle? So, but, uh, it was, it was a good time riding around and, and hitting some spots that, uh, that we wanted to hit too. Yeah. So the castle's, it's called Castle and Riverside, or that's kinda what the name used to be'cause it's right there in the Riverside area. And then both Shannon and Rhonda, and then Donnie and I went through College Hill, so kind of an older neighborhood on the east side. Shannon used to live in College Hill and we also, Donnie and I stopped by the, uh, university. Yeah, I forgot to mention, we, the first place we actually went to before the breweries was, uh, you took me over to Wichita State to see the ball field. so we got out, we saw, uh, the, the stadium walked over there and took a few pictures of that, saw one of the, I guess, current players that just walked out there and was sort of working on his stance in the batter's box. And, uh, then right across the street from the stadium's, the original Pizza Hut, which is just a tiny little brick building. Nothing like. Anybody would picture a pizza Hut looking like. But, uh, the original building that it was, uh, started in, I think in 58, if I remember the, the date right. We couldn't go in. It was closed, but we looked in the windows. A lot of cool stuff in there and definitely on the list, to go back to, as well. And, uh, we did go to have a little tap room over there. I can't remember the name of it, but you can. Social tap. Social tap. Yeah. We went over there too and had a, had a beer at social tap and, uh, checked out the, uh, the Shockers team store or campus store that, uh, is right there. Uh, we were gonna go over to the main one, but, uh, just timing wise, after we went through all of that, we decided to go ahead and just head over to couple of the breweries and, and I'd like to get back for actually a Wichita State game and, and then make a, a trip to the, uh, team store at that point. So after a fun-filled, you know, Saturday morning with breakfast and then kind of going around town, going to some breweries and just traveling around looking at the city, uh, we were able to get to another game then on Saturday night. So, Rhonda, I'll let you start. Talk about the experience and what we got to do, where we got to eat and everything during the game on that Saturday night. It was a wonderful experience as we got to go up to this. It's a sweet area. I guess I'm not, I don't remember exactly what it was called, but it was a wonderful, open buffet of different types of Mexican foods that we got to experience in that, in the. Air conditioned area. and then it had the nice little area that you could go outside then and be able to watch the game. So it did feel like we were being treated extra special. We were in a, sweet area, so that was very nice and the food was delicious. Yeah, so the area, it's new this year in terms of the name, so it's called The Vault. Okay. And yeah, exactly like Rhonda described. So it's kind of like this big area where I think you could actually rent the space out'cause it has like a big open area and you could have like a reception or do some other events there. So it's big open area. Now, obviously they had like a lot of tables, seating and everything. And buffet that runs through, I think like the third inning, so from when gate's open to the third inning and then they have a little side area that you can get like popcorn, hot dogs. and pretzels that last through most of the rest of the game. So fun little area. It's been there since the, ballpark open in 2020. Uh, obviously didn't play till 2021, but they had just got bought out by a corporate sponsor this past off season, so they renamed, it's called The Vault. But yeah, fun little, area to get up to. So hadn't been up there for a couple years, I think first time we've been up there for a while, but. season ticket holders have, uh, opportunity to get up there for one game. So we use that to go up there when they were here. and then Donnie, would you mind sharing with everybody? So I talked about my hat, uh, kind of what the teams played as, and then there was a special event that we got to participate in as well. so the, Wind surge were playing as the oat milkers on that Saturday game. It was Bobblehead giveaway. so we all got a, a bobblehead. who was the player? McCusker, who I think at the time of this recording is still up with the twins. He might have got sent back down, but he is been with St. Paul got called up one time, I think maybe. Late last year, maybe early this year, uh, I've been back with the Saints, but he was with Wichita, early last year I believe, and had a very early in the season, had a three home run game, so, big six foot eight left fielder out of Oklahoma State. went to OSU and then got drafted and been with the twins organization. But yeah, I was with Wichita for a while. And they got called up late last year to the Saints and then, yeah, he actually, what was cool is that he got recalled back up to the Minnesota twins the day that they had the Bobblehead in Wichita. So that was kind of a fun little experience. So yeah, Carson McCusker. So, uh, we enjoyed that getting, uh, you know, always good to get a giveaway, but get a bobblehead was kind of, extra special there. and yeah, so we, uh, we got there. They're playing as the oat milkers. I wish I had brought my, uh, my hat in Jersey, but I, I didn't. Even think about it, even though I think I had seen earlier in the year that they were going to be playing as the oat milkers. One of the games we, we were gonna be there and I just forgotten about it again, that memory thing, Johnny, so old age kicking in there. but then, uh, during the game, so the night before, one of the, uh, interns had asked, uh, us about. Participating in a, uh, on field game for Saturday with water balloons. And Shannon and I were going to do that. They came up to us as, we came in the gate on Saturday and said they can't do the water balloons, because they had, uh, the amazing Tyler balancing. All kinds of stuff on his, uh, his face. And they didn't wanna take a chance on getting water balloons burst all over the grass and having the grass wet over on the same side of the field he was gonna be on. So I said immediately, well, what else have you got? And they came back and said, we've got knock balls or the costume race. And before they could even finish saying costume race, I said, we'll do the knock balls. I'd always wanted to do that. And as soon as that was mentioned, I'm like, I'm in. I don't know if Shannon and Eric were ready for that. But they looked at each other like, well, what do we do? I guess we're gonna do it. So they obliged my desire that I've always wanted to do the knock balls, which is the big round ball you get in the middle of, and you go and you hit each other and bounce off of each other. the fireflies have done it for years. Mostly their interns get out there and do a contest. They don't let, uh, Fans do it. So I was like, I'm all in for this. So they're like, okay, we'll do it. And uh, so we go down there, uh, sixth inning. We gotta wait for most of an inning to get ready. And of course Eric's like, Hey, we gotta gang up on Shannon and let's, let's take her out. I'm like, okay, sure, no problem. as soon as we all get set up, we get introduced. I turned heel on Eric and I went straight for him. And you could see in the video that he starts for Shannon, takes about four or five steps, sees me out the corner of his eye and turns towards me. And I, I honestly did not realize. He would go down so fast, but I hit him and he went feet in the air and he was done. He was outta the game. So one hit, took him out, blindsided him, uh, all that good stuff. And then Shannon and I had a pretty good battle. she almost got me, but I was like, I just was determined to win. I I was not being the, uh. The gracious guest in letting one of them win. so I finally got Shannon, uh, flipped over as well. Got got a little leverage on her, but it was hard'cause she's a lot shorter than me, so I had to really get down low to, uh, to knock her over. But, uh, that's a highlight of. Several seasons for me, that was, that was the highlight of the trip. that was the highlight of probably this year in minor league baseball. For me to participate in that and have fun doing and blindsiding, Eric was just bonus, I literally didn't think he would lose his footing that quickly. I thought I'd hit him and he'd bounce back, and then we would both double team Shannon, but it didn't work out that way. I've seen this footage. I'd like to get Mrs. Mayor's opinion. Rhonda, please jump in. What, what was it like seeing this carnage, uh, in person, seeing the prophet, husband and wife just laid out like a piece of sod, by the mayor? Uh, what was that? What was I, I wanna get your firsthand experience. I've seen the footage. It's shocking. It's troubling. I imagine you'll be getting a call from Dabo maybe soon for Why not? I still have eligibility left, Johnny? okay. I will tell you for sure that this was something that Donnie has wanted to do for a long, long time. So it, it is not surprising that this is going to. be the, best memory he had from going to Wichita because this has been high on his list, wanting to do it. Now, he says he's going to buy knock balls so that he can do this with our friends. And I, say, okay, great, but you remember we are all in our fifties. so I'll just say that. but I told Shannon before she went down that I was pull pulling for her to take both of them out. That is what I wanted to see. But you gotta, you, you did have a gleam in your eye when you saw that I won, I think.'cause you were filming it from up there. So you had to be a little proud of your husband. I was, I was proud of you. But, I will admit that I did tell Shannon to take you out. So, I was sitting with Easton and we were, we were both videoing and we were having a good time. Listen for that little boy to be four years old. He knows how to work a camera better than all of us and could video better than I did. but just having him there and he and I talking, I, I thoroughly enjoy spending time with Easton and listening to him tell me different stories. So, just the comments you were making while that was going on was great. See, I wish you could have recorded him because he had some great sayings throughout the weekend. He did. Um, I already have a t-shirt idea that I think's gonna make. Uh, he and I millionaires, uh, at some point. But, uh, yeah, that kid's, Eric, you gotta start writing down what he says.'cause that guy, that's a gold mine right there. I'd have to be nonstop just writing it down.'cause it's always it. He just keeps going and going and he's just like his mom and does not stop talking. And so, yeah, Donny was talking about doing a t-shirt business and Easton said something at breakfast at Doon. He is like, hold on, hold on. And he ru jotted it down in there and he is like that a great t-shirt idea. He was a little impatient. He was, you know, little, little grumpy that morning and he was ready to get his food. And, uh, one of you, I don't remember which one of you said you just, I think it made have been Shannon. She's like, you need to wait. And he just bear bowed up. He's like, waiting is not my thing. And I said, that's a T-shirt right there. Waiting is not my thing. Wow. I jotted that down right away. I'm like, I gotta, I gotta remember that one. Hmm. So I am very thankful that Donnie did get to do that. Very thankful, but unfortunately it's not out of his system because he now has said when we all get together at the 4th of July with our friend group, that that's gonna be what they do to try to knock each other in the lake. So we'll see. Maybe more video to come from that. Yeah, I definitely have to find out where I can buy those. Let me recommend some liability insurance. just, just saying maybe old boat insurance salesman. Go into liability insurance now. Old insurance tells me Mr. Property and Casualty back years ago. So had a fun time at the the ball game on Saturday night, but kind of the fun thing that I was looking forward to showing you guys was Saturday night. Uh, we have what's called the keeper of the planes, and so we, uh, left the ball game right towards the end of it and headed over there because it's during the spring and summer. It's nine 9:00 PM and so we wanna make sure we cut that in time. So, either one of you, if you want to jump in and talk a little bit about that and the unfortunate, uh, happenings that took place with the keeper of the plains. Well, I will say that I will now always refer to it as the Statue of Liberty. Because that is what Easton kept telling me that we were going to. So it can be that, but it's also known as the Statue of Liberty. Yeah, it was, he's a hoot. it was one of those things I didn't know what to expect.'cause I mean, I've heard Eric talk about it. but I didn't really look at, at anything to find out what, what exactly we were going to see. Uh, we dropped the, uh, the ladies in Easton off, up, uh, closer so they didn't have to walk from where we were parking at. And, uh, Eric and I walked along the riverfront there, which is a. Beautiful riverfront. There's, I think it was a library across the river from where we parked. Uh, huge library, but just that whole riverfront right there looking at downtown was really cool. We stopped and saw the troll, that's underneath the grates there on our way to see the keeper. And then as we kind of came around the bend, I kind of saw what, what this was. This was a really beautiful Native American statue, right there at the, uh, the fork in the, uh, the Arkan River, the little and big Arkan river, I believe. And, the bridges, this I, I took, I was just. Mesmerized with the sun setting, the skyline, the everything. Just taking as many pictures as I could of the bridge and the statue and the, the rivers. And, going across the bridge over there to, uh, to the statue is really beautiful area. so we all congregated right down there at the base of the statue where they have the, uh, I guess the flame, the, the circle flame cauldron looking things around it, that are supposed to fire up at nine o'clock. And of course, you know, we're all sitting there, it's getting dark and it's, you know, we're counting down, you know, we're almost at nine o'clock. And then right as it gets to nine o'clock this. Loud voice comes over the speakers and says, unfortunately, due to high winds, we're not gonna light the flames tonight. And all of us just sunk. I mean, I know Eric sunk because this was what he wanted to show off, and this was something that he was excited for us to see. The wind to me, didn't seem like it was very much at all. not so much that they couldn't have done it, but again, I don't know what their parameters are, but it, we were all like. Why wouldn't you tell us this 20 minutes ago? So we didn't all spend this time getting over there congregating and finding our spot and getting ready, but they just, I guess they wait till right then and decide if they're gonna do it or not. Yeah, I don't say that I would go down there every single night. It's pretty close to where I work, but also maybe 10 minutes or so from my house. I'm pretty close. IG I've gone there many, many, many times and I've never once I guess I shouldn't say never once had that happen. We took the boys, got them all bundled up in the, Winter, I believe it was still winter time or when it was still pretty cold out and went down there and they said that it, was not gonna run because of the, flame or the, you know, where the flames come up was iced over, So they couldn't get the flames to, although if you get the flames going, it probably would melt the ice. But they had the bridges on the ends blocked off with the rope, so you couldn't even go through the bridge. But whereas Donnie mentioned, we were all down there at the base of the keeper. It was packed. There were people on kayaks that I'd never seen out there before that were sitting out there to watch it and everything, and they come on and said. They're normal. Hey, make sure you don't climb on the rocks or whatever, and did their normal spiel. And then all of a sudden it says, due to high wind. We're like, I've never seen that before. So I said, well, maybe that's one reason that'll, uh, convince you to come back is to try it next time to see the keeper with the actual, uh, flames lit up. So you did get to see the keeper and the keeper was lit up, but it's really cool when the flames start going as well. Yeah, and it was very windy Friday night. It was not very windy Saturday night. It was a beautiful, clear night. I mean, there was nothing, no, no, no clouds in the sky. It didn't seem like it was. Very windy. It was a little, I would call it a gentle breeze, basically, at most. it was very windy Friday night. It just had died down a lot on Saturday. So it really was kind of surprising to me. But, yeah, it was one of the many things that we kind of added. Okay, well we gotta come back to see this. We gotta come back to see that. A couple of things that we've added that we missed out on, like that, we gotta catch next time.
