Two days of rodeo!

What can be said about a rodeo that hasn’t been said before? Not much, but I will try. Since this was our first time attending the Calgary Stampede we knew that it was going to be big but I didn’t expect it to be located so close to the center of the city. Thank to Adventure Caravan we didn’t have to worry about parking or public transit. The charter bus dropped us off at the main entrance and picked us up less than a block away. The first day we walked around the rodeo grounds with the highlight being that we tried a slice of dill pickle pizza! although it was unusual I have to admit that I rather enjoyed it. I thought that I had a picture of it but I cannot find it, maybe it is on Judy’s camera.

Of course there were the normal rodeo events and I did take a lot of pictures but not too many came out well enough to share. However I did get a few that will show some of the action.

One of the daily draws for the rodeo is the Chuck wagon races that are held each evening. It was a little hard to follow since the winner is determined by their overall averages from all the nights. Each heat consisted of three teams, each consisting of a wagon with a four-horse team and two out riders. I am not really sure what the out riders do except at the start of the race the one standing behind the wagon had to pick up a blue barrel and load it into the wagon, then he mounted his horse and chased the wagon around the track.

After the chuck wagon races, they handed out the championship checks and introduced all of the dignitaries of the rodeo they pulled in a huge stage and set up for one of the finest finales of any event I have ever seen. There was a cast of hundreds and stars of all sorts, but I must admit I didn’t recognize any of them, but they must have been popular because all of the Canadians were singing along with them!

The show was a long one and there was a bus ride to get back the camper got us back at almost midnight, but we will be back on the bus at 7:30 to start another day of sightseeing. Hopefully I can get an update before leaving our current location which is Fairbanks, Alaska! Yes, I am almost a month behind but we have been busy, but internet and cell service are about as rare as day without mosquitos! The longest we have gone is three days without being connected! I guess it is a good thing that we are all retirees and we know how to live without it.