Calgary Stampede – Giddy-up Cowboy

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Had breaky in hotel, very basic but they had do it yourself waffle makers! And they were delicious!

Tim went to use bathroom in foyer and walked straight back out because they were disgusting, went into another one, came straight back out and asked for the room key to go back upstairs to use ours. Must be pretty bad when even a guy won’t use it!!

Caught the train to Stampede, not far to walk from the hotel to train station. Lots of cowboy hats on that train!

Arriving at the Stampede ground, there was a queue of people waiting to get in as it still had 15 minutes or so before it opened. But listening to people talk, I could hear accents from all over, English, French, New Zealand, even some other Australians. The atmosphere is great and everyone is really excited, it’s the last day so it’s all the finals and also the drawing of all the raffles. Things like cool cars and trucks and also a lifetime supply of free groceries!

Once we finally got in we walked around in search of a pink cowgirl hat for me that actually fitted my head, easier said than done - stupid little pin head! Eventually found a cowgirl stand that had kids hats, the girl working there was nice enough to put a strip of foam around the rim so it would fit me. Tim laughed about it all day - so glad I could amuse him!

We saw the big working horses, they are enormous. I have never seen a horse so big. A girl was getting one ready and had to stand on a table to put it’s bridle on!

It’s a huge park and there are thousands of people, but surprisingly we still manage to bump into people from the Rocky Mountaineer, amazing!

Stampede Park is set up like the Royal Show with rides and more food stands than you could ever taste in a day. They can (and do) deep fry anything including Twinkies, Cheesecake, Oreo’s, amazing! We get a bag of mini donuts, I can see why donuts are such a big thing here, delicious.

Went to the rodeo. We had seats upstairs undercover, I wanted it to rain just a little just so I could appreciate staying dry! Even though we were a fair distance away it was still easy enough to see. We could actually see the whole track that the Chuckwagons would be racing on. The cowboys are very talented (and brave) at what they do. The commentators spend a lot of time explaining the safety of the animals.

In the steer catching, the cows know exactly where to head once they have been untied. Even the bulls head straight to the exit when it’s all over.

One of the guys from Montana had to do his bare back bucking horse ride 4 times because the horse wouldn’t buck! After the first time, I woulda been out the door!

The bulls were huge, even from so far away! Definitely a lot more scary than the one I rode seemingly a hundred years ago, although the scar on the lip reminds me of it often!

The chicks in the barrel ride were awesome. So fast and agile, they made it look so easy.

At half time we ducked out to go get some food, hot dog for Tim (with a mountain of raw onions on top, not quite what he was expecting) and chicken kebab for me.

In between the rodeo and the Chuck wagon races we went and watched Michael Harrison, the comedian and ventriloquist who was a finalist in Americas Got Talent. Hilarious show.

Our Chuckwagon race seats would have been great for the rodeo, quite close to the front but you can’t see the whole track.

It’s all very quick and chaotic at the start, there are horses and wagons everywhere. For each wagon there are 4 horses. At the start, the horse riders (the out riders) have to load things into the back of the wagon, then the wagon does a figure eight around two barrels then it’s off and racing. At the end of the race the outriders have to be as close as possible to the wagon or they are penalized points depending on how far back they are. So they have to try and stay nice and close, easier said than done when there is 4 wagons with 4 horses each plus the 4 outriders. A lot of horses and a lot of wagons. They only have to do one lap, but one lap is enough I think!

We are in good company, the commentators tell us that John Voight is in the crowd and we are able to spot him in the grandstand.

At the end of the wagon races there is a live floor show. The people sitting next to us had one of their sons in the show. The show is primarily made up of young kids from Calgary who can perform in the show from the age of 7 to 20. Each August they have to audition to keep their place.

They have other people who headline the show, there was a woman who was currently in the Lion King in New York, a girl from American Idol who has her own album (sorry, no good with names), a young boy who was meant to tour with Michael Jackson, a motorbike group that did jump tricks and raced around inside a metal ball, and a comedian.

The show was spectacular; it must have been because Tim enjoyed it!

At the end there were fireworks every night, but since this is the final night there were two lots of fireworks. So everyone performing in the show was able to watch the 2nd set.

We caught the train home, but had to wait a short while for it to come and it was freezing cold. They have little shelters on the train platform but for a pathetic woose like me it just wasn’t enough, I know what you’re thinking, boo hoo, toughen up Princess!

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Comments

[Ros]

YeeeHa
Looks like it was a great day. Make sure the pink hat comes home! Where's Tim's?