Saturday, Sept. 3 - We went back into town for the rodeo, even though the weather was threatening. We took our lawn chairs with us today, and got set up early, before the rodeo started. We were at the top of the hill, and kids love rolling down hills. This little guy entertained us for a while.
We could definitely tell that we are in Cowboy Country.
The rodeo got underway with the queen and princess, and the flag riders, and we had our first opportunity to stand for the playing of the Canadian National Anthem.
The first event was calf roping, and there were several contestants for this event. However, the barrier that stretches across the pen for the calf to break somehow quit functioning properly, and they had to go on to the next event, bareback riding, while they worked on that. This is the barrier that costs the rider a 10-second penalty if he takes off before the calf breaks the barrier.
The weather became an issue as the afternoon wore on, and it finally started to rain in earnest, so we went back to the car for a while. Fortunately, we had front-row parking again today, so we could watch the events from the car. It quit raining, so we ventured back out for the second half of the rodeo. The first event after the intermission was mutton bustin', and the competitors ranged in age from 3 to 6. This was the best event of the entire rodeo, and we could imagine our Indiana nieces loving something like this.
The mutton bustin' was sponsored by our new favorite donut franchise, Tim Hortons, so we were big fans of this event, but it really was fun to watch these little kids. The clowns stayed close and sometimes snatched them off the sheep before they hit the ground, but not always. One little girl got up spitting dirt out of her mouth.
Then it started to rain again. Here we are, cuddled up trying to keep warm. It's probably about 55 degrees, and it's windy as well.
Joe's umbrella had a slight malfunction, though.
But there we are, freezing, when something like this walks by!
Now I know our blood has thinned! These Canadians think because it's still summer, it's time to wear shorts.
Next came barrel racing, and they had 2 divisions - ladies and juniors. I think the junior age was 16 and under.
There were not many saddle bronc riders, and I think only one made it the distance (8 seconds).
The last event of the day was bull riding. This was about 4:00 and suddenly the sun came out, and there was warmth!
Remember, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them. It was fun going to a small-town rodeo, and we enjoyed the afternoon, even though it was a little cold. As we drove into the campground, we saw geese coming down in the field next to us, settling down for the night. We had heard geese taking off this morning, and there are plenty of fields around here for them. They obviously know it is time to head south.
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