Ran 26.2 miles in Anchorage, kayaked to the extreme tip of Cape Cod, summited 2 Colorado 14ers & hosted a family reunion (which included Ash & Tom’s engagement on top of Pikes Peak) – lovin’ Summer 2013 thus far!
End of July is Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming – an hour half to the North. I’ve always been a huge fan of county fairs – and this one came with a rodeo. FAAAANNNNTASTIC!
Fell hard off my ‘vegetarian diet’ within 15 minutes inside the park. Elk, beef, bison & wild boar – lotta choices all grilled & served with a side of chuckwagon beans. 20 minutes ‘til rodeo time. Grabbed a pitcher of lemonade to wash down my bison burger topped with elk bratwurst and paraded into Wyoming’s largest outdoor stadium. Took a quick look around. Only a quarter of us weren’t wearing cowboy hats – and that included the women 🙂
Next life, I’m coming back as a Cowboy!
Fireworks, smoke & 3 World Champions with hats tipped low, walked into the large dirt arena. An announcer trilled their names and achievements. Folks on their feet, clapping, cheering. I’m thinking – who are these guys? Like superstars from a parallel planet. Who wouldn’t want to be a cowboy? WOW!
Each sport had its own unique rules: 8 seconds on a bull to qualify the ride, calf roping in under 30 seconds and the calf must stay tied/immobile for 6 seconds or the score doesn’t count. Some sports targeted a low score, others a high score, certain events combined scores over 3 days. Bull riding, steer wrestling, pistol juggling, buckin’ broncos, steer roping, saddle bronc riding, calf roping – all ending with a wild horse race where teams saddled a wild horse, attempting to ride once around the arena. (Only 2 succeeded.) FANTASTIC fun!
And if cowboys, bulls & horses weren’t enough, our Oklahoma-based announcer came with his own all-rodeo lingo:
- There’s a guy not afraid to shake loose and shake his boots
- He stuck to him like spots on an Appaloosa horse
- More moves than my city cousin peeing on an electric fence
- He stepped off that broncing horse like he was stepping out of a barber shop
- That lasted as long as a Hollywood husband
- He rodeos in the summer time (‘rodeo’ used as a verb)
Took a quick stroll through Indian Village & checked out the Chuckwagon Cookoff before heading home.
Thinkin’ this is gonna be an annual tradition. LOVED it!
Looks like a fun day!! Next year you’ll have to buy a cowboy hat to wear when you go! Awesome photos… you have some mad skillz… love the cowboys walking in the dust and the action shots of various events! 🙂
Thanks Sarah. Agreed, cowboy hat is on the list!