What a great day!

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Yesterday was the final day of the Calgary Stampede 2011. Ron and I went down to the grounds at mid-day and stayed till midnight. Timothy joined us for the afternoon then had to go to the airport to pick up Valentina, Russell & Mini joined us for the Chuckwagons. So much to see and do! Our first event was the motor bike riders doing amazing tricks while flipping through the air right before our eyes. You just had to shout and cheer - it was so "over the top" in all senses of the phrase. Then we saw an ice show - the skating was fine but it was the band (they were having such a great time) and one lady who had two ropes with wooden balls attached to one end of each rope - she used those to beat out an extremely fast rhythm all the while keeping time with her heels on the stage - just watching her made your heart beat to the rhythm - the lighting was amazing too - a real kick to the senses. Then there were these divers who leapt with total abandon into a fairly smallish pool of water from several diving boards of various heights at first demonstrating some fancy dives then doing a clown act which was fast a furious. The finale' was this fellow who was in the audience to begin with and play acted himself into the act, He went up so high we could see him, then did this amazing dive into the pool. I tried to take a photo of him but he was in the pool when I clicked. There was an arena where 9 teams of 2 draft horses pulled an ever-increasing load to compete for the heavy horse pull - prior to the competition, a stage coach pulled by six almost matching clydesdales encircled the arena - I have never seen so many draft horses in one place before - magnificent creatures! I thought of you Juliet and Rebecca when I was drinking in this amazing spectacle. We had to leave there to hurry to the grandstand to see the chuckwagons. We had pretty good seats. We had a table and waitress service as well so it made the experience more comfortable and special. We tried to pick the winners of each of the 9 races - I managed to get the most, I think, but it was certainly not a case of knowing what I was looking for. What a night! Horses, riders, wagons all jostling for position, thundering around the race track, coming in all so very close. Our pulses were surely racing - well I know mine was! Then there was the stage show, lots of dancing, amazing stage sets, lighting, acrobatic acts high above the crowd. There were two chaps who balanced each other often with one hand touching, one in a handstand above the other, their feats of strength were breathtaking - each move carefully timed and executed gracefully - amazing! Then we hurried down to the grounds so that we could see the fireworks (being in the clubhouse gave us comfort and space but we couldn't see the sky from there). Being the last night, we got a few extra starbursts we figure - a fabulous finish to a fabulous day. When we left at a quarter to midnight, the wild rides were still going strong - we, however, were slowing down a bit.
Thinking of you all back homw, hoping you are managing to keep warm and dry. I would love to be able to send you some of this fabulous sunshine.
Our love to you all,

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Photos

Ron, Russell & Mini at the table in the clubhouse
Yahoo!

Chuckwagon Race
Around the barrells, and they're off!