Dallas - Wheel of Fortune

      Earlier this past week I was listening to the radio as I drove "Popeye the Van" home from work. I want to tell you I had my seat belt on but honestly I can't remember. Although, I have been doing much better remembering to do that since the accident.
Anyway, I was listening to RAGE. Its a sports talk radio show on 105.3FM. As the show hosts Richie and Greggo were doing their daily "dead and gone" segment they talked about death of the Twinkie. 
      Evidently Hostess, the maker of the Twinkie has filed for bankruptcy and is closing its doors. I always shake my head in disbelief when they talk about non-sports topics. No sooner do they mention Twinkie and I ask myself; What does the Twinkie have to do with sports? Just like this new adventure I was about to endure, the Twinkie talk has absolutely nothing to do with it either. 
      Except, I remember that being the topic before a commercial came on the station advertising the TV game show Wheel Of Fortune. The commercial said the Wheel of Fortune crew was coming to North Texas this weekend looking for contestants. At the end of the commercial I was told to go to www.cbsdfw.com for more details.
       I thought, WOW! This could be my big break. I could go there, win about $50,000 and meet Vanna White. I got excited but didn't want to tell anybody. I thought, the more people who know Wheel of Fortune was coming here, the less chance I had of being "the one" to win. So, I decided it would be best to keep this secret to myself. I tried to embed in my brain the website address. I repeated CBSDFW, CBSDFW, CBSDFW... All the way home. 
      It worked. As soon as I got home I got on the internet website to find out more details about Wheel of Fortune. Sure enough, there was a Wheel Of Fortune Auditions link for information about the TV show coming here to North Texas this past weekend. I got even more excited. I clicked the link and speed read through the details. hahaha... Fooled you. I can't speed read. Nor should I even try to do it. I'm the type who always has to read something two or three times times to thouroughly understand whats going on. Not only did I miss-read as I speed read through that article but I also only read it once before going on a journey to Dallas. What I did read made dollar signs flash in my brain and got me daydreaming about vacations on other continents with Vanna White.
I recalled reading there was going to be three shows on Saturday at Southfork Ranch.

The Ewing Mansion on Southfork Ranch

      The same place the TV show Dallas is filmed. Maybe while I was there I could do some investigating and find out who really shot J.R. Also I thought I read there would be three shows on Sunday too. The Sunday shows were going to be at Fair Park in Dallas. The site of Texas State Fair and two iconic deaths this year. Big Tex and the Fried Twinkie will no longer be with us. I thought if I go on Sunday, maybe I could bring some flowers to lay on the spot where Big Tex once stood.  hahaha... not really.
      Anyway, I quickly got back to thinking about Wheel of Furtune and Vanna White standing there making googoo eyes at me. I thought if I go Saturday and win, I wouldn't be allowed to play on Sunday too. Plus I thought South Fork Ranch would be an interesting adventure. So, I Went That Way.
      But I really didn't feel like driving Popeye the Van that far. So, if I wanted someone else to drive I would have to tell my secret. I told several people but none would go. It was okay though because going by myself would mean I could leave when I wanted to and go on a spontaneous adventure through the city of Dallas afterwards.
      As it turned out, I enjoyed the adventure in downtown Dallas just as much if not more than than the Wheel of Furtune event at Southfork Ranch. I took photos of both.
      Although none of the photos will show what a hassle it was getting to Southfork Ranch. I checked google maps for directions to Southfork from Arlington. It showed the best way to go was the George Bush Turnpike. It would take just sixty-three minutes to go 48 miles to go that way. I didn't go that way. Instead I took the I-635 route. Even though the turnpike is new and would likely have less traffic, I'm not into paying to drive on a road when you can get there just as quick for free. Little did I know, until after I was stuck in traffic, the I-635 eastbound freeway was closed to remove a bridge at Preston Road. 
      My lack of patience was showing when I decided to exit onto the service road at the last minute. Darting across two lanes to get there before I passed the exit. I drove on the service road in bumper to bumper stop and go traffic for a few miles before it became too stressful and I drove north away from I-635 altogether. That would've been a nice relief except I got lost and was driving in circles for a while trying to figure out where I needed to go and ended up back at I-635, but past the closed section of the freeway. 
      I stopped at a Red Roof Hotel and asked a clerk there for directions. As I turned to leave I saw a pot of coffee and some styrofoam cups on a table. I asked the clerk how much for a cup of coffee. She told me it was free. So I filled a cup half way, knowing if I filled it up all the way, it would spill as soon as I started to drive. On the way out of the hotel, I saw a rack that had information on tourist attractions. I found one that said Southfork Ranch. I looked and it had directions on it. But the directions weren't the same as what the clerk just told me or what I recalled seeing on Google. At this point, I'm thinking a smartphone with a GPS App sure would be handy. But then I wouldn't have fun getting lost. So thanks but no thanks, you can have your fancy GPS App or device. I'll use my sense of direction. I've never not been able to find my way yet. Since I now had written directions I chose to follow them even though I passed Highway 75 a few miles back.
I got in the vehicle, buckled up my seat belt and looked forward but there was no way out. When I put the vehicle in reverse to back out I bumped the cup of coffee, spilling it all over the console.
      I finally got to where I needed to be with only a few miles to go. Popeye was thirsty so I pulled into a 7-11 store to get him some fuel and stretch a little before the final few miles. I still had plenty of time to get there. The first show was at 1:30 and it was just 12:15. I left the apartment at 9:45 
      Finally, nearly three hours hours later I made it to Southfork Ranch and snapped my first photos of the day.

Driveway entering Southfork Ranch

Soutfork Ranch Events Building. 

Southfork Ranch Visitors Center.

The Wheel-Mobile parked in front.

Entrance to the Events Building

      As I entered the Events Building Lobby a man handed me a small yellow piece of paper and said that was an application to be a contestant. I told him I left my wallet out in my vehicle and asked him if I would need my ID. He told me he didn't think so. I thought that was odd because, what if I win? Surely they'll want my ID for tax purposes. But it was a long walk back to Popeye so I was glad I didn't need to get it. On the application they wanted my name, address and email. At the bottom of the application was space to write down hobbies or something special about myself. I wrote down I liked sports, traveling, woodworking and I wrote what makes me special is, I can wiggle my ears. 
      After finishing the application I was walking toward the doors where the entry box was. Evidently on the other side of the doors is where Wheel of Fortune was to be played. Before I got to the doors, I saw a Channel 11 cameraman interview a couple women. I thought to myself "Hey what about me? I'm going to be the winner." 

CBS crew interviewing potential players  

      I recalled winning a drawing only one other time in my life. That was when the new Winn-Dixie store had a grand opening drawing for several prizes. I won 52 dozen eggs. A dozen eggs every week for a year. So just like I had done for the drawing when I won eggs, before putting my application in the drawing box I crumbled it up into a ball and then opened it back up. After that, I tucked it into the little slot. Then laughed and said, "yeah"  to the man in charge of guarding the box when he asked me if I thought my entry was a winning application. He then opened a door for me to enter the Wheel of Fortune room.
      Once inside the room I saw a few empty chairs near the back but passed them up and continued towards the front looking for a seat. I got all the way to the front row and saw two seats with a man sitting between them. He told me nobody was sitting there so I sat down. Looking around at the wild crowd for a minute, and then at the stage. I couldn't figure out where the wheel was or where the contestants were going to stand. On stage all I saw was a letter board. I looked at the time on my phone. It was 12:45. I thought I had time to go out and smoke a cigarette so I told the man sitting next to me I would be right back. I told him I wanted to go take some pictures before the show started.

I walked outside lit up a cigarette and started walking towards the mansion. On the way there I saw a few horses. I'm a city slicker so I don't know much about horse breeds. So, I'm not sure what kind of horses they were. All I knew is they were beautiful looking horses.

     

I remember the first horse I rode. I was fourteen years old. I had seen horses before and pet them and learned if you smack them on the ass with a stick, they'll move or to get them to stop you pull back on the reins. I wanted my friends to think I knew what I was doing. So I mounted the horse with ease and walked it over to a tree nearby where I broke off a small branch to smack my horses rear end. Well no sooner did I smack him he bucked and threw me right off his back and into the tree. That was the last time I tried that trick. I still love them though and envy them for being able to stand up while sleeping.

I tried to get the horse's attention saying "Come here horsie, here boy" but they were to busy eating the grass. I thought Hmm... Eating grass eh? So, I went and grabbed a clump of some fresh green johnson grass. That's when I noticed they weren't male horses so I said "Here girl, come here and eat the good grass" while making kissing noises with my lips. Low and behold, and much to my surprise, I got the attention of one horse. 

         

She grabbed the clump of grass from my hand and ate it. I was talking to her as I went for some more of the good grass to feed her. When I got back she was eating off the ground again. I showed her I had some more of the good stuff.

 She looked up at me as if to say "That grass tasted like cow patty. Get that stuff away from me before I bite your hand!" Then she refused to eat anymore. She walked away from me to continue eating off the ground in the coral.

            

It was getting close to showtime. I walked over to get a shot of the back of the mansion with the swimming pool then around to the side of the mansion to get a photo of the front.

         

That's when I saw a big bull in another coral. I tried to get its attention yelling, "Toro, Toro" but he wanted nothing to do with me. To be honest, I didn't want anything to do with him either. Although it was a beautiful bull. Again, I'm a city boy just so you know.

I continued to walk to the front of the mansion where I snapped a shot and another shot on my way back to win the Wheel of Fortune game.

     

       Shortly after I returned to my seat the crowd was introduced to the Host of the show Marty Lub­lik and the letter girl Heidi Jack­son. Now I was confused. Where was Pat Sajack and Vanna White. Since I don't watch the show regularly, I thought maybe things have changed. Maybe Pat and Vanna retired. Marty was full of energy and instantly got the crowd of nearly 500 people to there feet asking loudly "Who wants a chance at winning one million dollars?" I jumped up yelling I do, I do... pick me! 

     Then Marty explained how the auditions go. Saying there are three sets. Five people from the audience will be drawn randomly from the  barrel of applications. They will play a quick game of Wheel guessing letters with three seconds to guess the puzzle. After those five were interviewed, had their photo taken and played the game, five more were drawn from the barrel. Adrienne Bankert, The Channel 11 morning news anchor who is HOTT!, was the one drawing the applications from the barrel. In all about 50 people were drawn and invited to audition on stage in an hour. While Marty was going over the rules I realized I wasn't there to play and win. I was there only to audition for a chance to be called back for another addition and then a final audition. I felt like a dummy because I thought I was going to be playing for real. To win some big bucks and meet Vanna White. Instead I was there to maybe play for a t-shirt or a hat and a blinky pen. Watching the people get up on stage and be interviewed, I realized this isn't for me. I'm not the bubbly personality full of energy and excitement with an interesting life. Like the guy with the purple flowered suit.

      But, it was all worth it. I got out of the house for a change. What made this adventure a bit of a disappointment was from where my seat was. I couldn't see the puzzle. The people auditioning were blocking it from my view. If I wanted to guess the puzzle I had to get up from what I thought was a prime seat and go to the back of the room to stand and watch.

       I originally planned on staying for all 3 of the sets but after finding out what it was all about I left after the first set and went on a journey to downtown Dallas. Which I'll write about in another post later.