FLIP + CHING

Black Bear Diner

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

None of us had to play in the morning on Saturday so Chris Wilson introduced us to a diner he discovered on a previous trip to OKC. I went with the group (Cindy Egan, Karen Fox, and Chris) without Brian because he had committed to helping his dad replace their water heater so he left early in the morning to do that.

The diner has a cute, bear-themed interior decor.

Here are pics of our food.

The food is decent and the place is cute so I can see why Chris likes it. I wish Brian could have joined us. Perhaps on the next trip down there, he can.

The other unique thing about this place is the fun sayings on the backs of their chairs. Here are some examples…

They also have a fun little gift shop.

This restaurant is a chain but it’s definitely worth checking out next time you are in the Oklahoma City area. Till next time, GNG.

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The Sandbox

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink, Pickleball.

I finally had the chance to check out the Sandbox in Derby, KS. Food and pickleball are two of my favorite things so much like, Chicken N Pickle, this place is a winning combination. The hourly court reservation fees are similar to CNP during prime time ($40 per hour per court) but slightly less before 5 PM (just $15 per hour, instead of $20). The advantages of Sandbox (besides being $5 less during certain times) are…

There’s more court availability right now because fewer people know about it or know how to book online.
It provides us with another indoor option because there are very few indoor court facilities with outdoor court surface.
It serves an under-served area and makes pickleball more accessible for those who live South of Wichita.
The food is actually not bad.

Here are some pictures of the food we tried when we were there last week during Martin Luther King Day. Gotta love the holidays!

Of course the chicken tenders and fries were Brian’s plate! LOL.

I put together a video playlist on YouTube of games that were played at the Sandbox last weekend (MLK weekend). I played some mixed doubles rec there on Sunday with Jonathan Maugans, Jared Smart, and Lori Below; and also held a DUPR King and Queen of Courts event on Monday morning.

Molly Sager and Mitch Spencer reigned supreme and were our top female and male players for that session. We played 7 rounds of mixed doubles and 3 rounds of gender doubles and Molly only lost 1 game the entire time. I don’t remember how many Mitch lost but he had the winning record on the male side.

I know this post is about the Sandbox but that day was a little crazy. Since I was off work, I decided to schedule multiple plays. In addition to the King and Queen of Courts at Sandbox, I had a 3:00 PM King of Courts and 5:30 PM Queen of Courts at the Pickle Club. Needless to say, I learned my lesson and I’m never doing that again. It just got to be too much to keep track of payments (and refunds, with people dropping last minute). And, I had a stressful time trying to find fill ins.

But I digress… the Sandbox is a great option for all you pickleball lovers. CNP has more courts and I like the set up there better and it’s closer to my house but with the lack of court availability at CNP, the Sandbox is looking more and more appealing despite the longer drive. Go check it out for yourself.

Until next time, GNG.

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Lesson with Kas at NPC

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Ching under Life.

Finally got to check out Newton Pickleball Club when my friends Janelle, Karen, and I took a “play with a pro” type lesson with Kasandra Gehrke while she was in Wichita conducting her Empowher pickleball camps at Chicken N Pickle.

Each of us took turns playing with Kas and all the while receiving nuggets of wisdom to help us take our pickleball game to the next level. Kas was informative and helpful and I thoroughly enjoyed the time we got to spend with her. But what I loved most of all was we got to have this experience in a private setting.

Laurie’s house is amazing and her backyard pickleball setup is probably the best I’d ever seen. It was the perfect setting for our lesson with Kas. It’s also a great party house and it’s no surprise that it is super popular with the picklers. It was cold and windy that day but I bet it’s a fantastic hangout spot all summer long.

Thank you to Laurie for opening her house up for Kas’ private group lessons and also to Kas for sharing her knowledge.

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New Year’s Day

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Ching under Life, Pickleball.

Last year, I was out of town playing in a pickleball tournament on New Year’s Day. This year I decided to have a purposefully relaxing NYD by not leaving town. I did play in a fun team tournament on NYE but nothing too serious.

Brian and I prepared a hearty breakfast, consisting of bacon, sausage, potatoes, eggs, and biscuits, the next morning for our house guests. We thought we were going to have three (Katie Merrill, Ramon Lozano, and Josh McAllister) but Josh decided to just make an up-and-back trip so we ended up with leftovers.

Ramon, Katie, and several other friends played in the Hangover pickleball tournament at Chicken N Pickle that day. Speaking of Chicken N Pickle, huge shout out to them for hooking Katie up with the blue dri-fit shirt from the last sponsored athletes box so that she could match me, Ramon, and Jared (Smart) for the team event. Lindsey Vermillion actually had to expedite the package so it would arrive in time for her to wear it to the team event.

I didn’t get any pictures at the tournament but I did livestream the championship match between Vi Dang and Mitch Spencer vs Molly Sager and Austin Corley. Interestingly, Molly and Cory Sager were supposed to play together but then Jenny and Austin Corley signed up for the tournament when we were all hanging out during NYE at the Egan’s. They made a game-time decision to swap partners because Austin and Molly and Cory and Jenny are playing together in the iPickle Nation January Jam this weekend. The four of them figured they would use the Hangover tournament for practice.

Despite this being Austin and Molly’s first time playing together, they played really well and had great on-court chemistry. I think the four of them will do really well at the iPN tournament in Kansas City this weekend.

I think the highlight of my day had to be taking Rosie (Katie’s dog) to Chicken N Pickle to watch her mama play pickleball but also to show her off because she is so stinkin’ cute. Anyway, I’ve always dreamed of taking my dog there but our dogs are not fit to be in public. Molly was always too amped and Saki is super jittery and afraid of people. Everyone was asking me about my dog. I wish she was mine because she is so good and well-behaved. And, she is super cuddly.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and the way NYD went was the perfect start to the year. I remember thinking, “If the rest of the year goes like this, it will be an amazing one!” It was just a super relaxing, fun day. Until next time, GNG.

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New Year’s Eve

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Ching under Events, Pickleball.

New Year’s Eve was super fun. We started the day with the One Last Dink team tournament at the Pickle Club. This is my second team event with Ramon Lozano and Katie Merrill (the first one was the DUPR Teams event at Northland Racquet Club last month) and my first one with Jared Smart. Last month our fourth team member was Kyle Rinck.

When we first talked about playing in team events, Tanner Rice was going to our fourth team member but he missed the DUPR Teams event last month due to a hamstring injury and then couldn’t play One Last Dink because he was spending the holidays in Las Vegas with his family. Kyle and Jared were both amazing teammates and definitely complemented our team well.

Here are some highlights from One Last Dink:

Brian was such a trooper. He spent the entire day with us to help me run the event so I could also play in it. He even went to grab lunch for a few of us so we didn’t have to leave the venue. Brian proves time and time again why he deserves the title of “Best Husband Ever.”

We rang in the New Year at Egan’s. Since Molly and Cory Sager were staying with them, Cindy decided to host a small gather for NYE. We had a ton of fun playing games with everyone. Coincidentally, Levi Hobart (one of Brian’s former employees at T-Mobile) and his wife stopped by to return a suitcase to Cindy. They happen to be neighbors. What a small world!