The Calgary Stampede

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The boys and I had a great time at the Calgary Stampede. Here is the edited version. Let me know if you want to hear about the juicy parts offline.

We took five cars on the 12 hour drive from Vancouver to Calgary on the Thursday, stopping for lunch, ice cream and to stretch our legs in the sunshine. I rode in a full car with Jamie, Kevin S and Steven. We arrived early enough at the Hotel Alma at U of C to go out to the pub and meet up with Wilson, Ryan and Kevin T. The waitress worried us with stories of accidents at the rodeo but we were drinking too much to take note. The rest of the gents arrived during the night.

The next morning, a group of us including Rich C. Jason F. Carl, J., Steven and me made it out to see the Opening Parade along the streets of Calgary. Lots of horses, politicians, First Nations, tanks, cheerleaders and pooper scoopers. As we walked the main strip in Calgary, we all picked up cowboy hats that not only helped us blend in (eh…) but saved us from the sunburns others received. We met up with the rest of the gang at the fair grounds and proceeded directly to the beer garden. Next up was the Saddledome and a great display of horsemanship followed by the mini chuck wagon races. Those little horses could really move! Then it was back to the beer garden in the sunshine.

This is where the guys came up with a couple tasks for me including taking photos with the locals, asking couples if they were related and knocking back the beverages. We tried to get to the Superdogs (a PNE favourite) but were turned away and ended up at another beer garden. We made some new friends who turned out to be Vancouver natives in cowgirl attire. I also met a couple that had eloped but couldn’t tell their family (one of whom was working as a server in the beer garden). We felt like cattle barons being given free in/out passes and the beers just kept flowing.

We finally left our favourite homestead when it was time for the Grand Stand show including the Chuck Wagon races. I managed to scalp our remaining tickets and would have loved to have given them to the friendly girls we met but ended up choosing the money instead. Jamie knew all the names of the competitors so he had an edge in his chats with the locals. Fortunately the rest of the gang followed my lead to meet and greet new friends. One young lady was acting mighty peculiar until I realised I was being strung along by the new wife of our good friend Shovak. The two of them had come out for the day to see us.

The gang was torn when the main show came on as Our Lady Peace was playing on one of the smaller stages. Those that stayed may not have known much about the country star, Paul Brandt, but we were amazed at the flexibility of the dancing troop and the pyrotechnics display.

It was time to head back with the rest of the crowds on the C-Train to U of C. We bumped into one of our friends from the race track and she gave us the lowdown on the pub crawl planned for the next day. It’s nice to make new friends that can give you the lay of the land, so to speak.

We were all a mite sluggish the next morning and finally moseyed on into town for a country breakfast and a couple beers. We even had Rich C. drinking before 10am!!! We managed to get to the Cowboys tent by the stampede and meet up with Keeran and Harris who had driven all night to get there in time. This brought our grand total up to 14 dudes. Everyone waited in line while I walked to the front and got my tags. I still had three tickets to get rid of but it all worked out. Cowboys was LEGEND….. wait for it…. DARY. We practically needed to wear sunglasses in the place so as not to go blind from all the ….. bling!

It was great to finally have everyone together in one big group until the call to the busses sounded and we all dived in different directions to get the best …. ahem … seat, on the bus. I met a new friend Tiffany and immediately volunteered her and I for the bus games, for which we had no idea what we were getting into, but had lots of fun anyway. Steven had twice as much fun as the rest of us. On the next set of buses we were the first to volunteer for the crowd surfing.

The next bar was called Desperadoes and featured duelling mechanical bulls, an outdoor patio and dance club. This was the only location where I met some friends that could not take a photo with me because they were working (and not as staff for the bar) … interesting. I took my turn on the mechanical bull early and did alright. KT and some of the other guys took a turn. When a young lady asked Steven how much is was, he quickly replied that it’s free if you ride with me. Well done, Little Bro!

We met up with the first of the stagettes and hilarity ensued as Harris and I traded shirts to help with one of her tasks and the boys got me inked by the girls. It was strange to be dancing in a dark club with the sun beating down outside. More mechanical bulls at the next location and Rich C and Carl J gave it a whirl. We made friends with the all-white Ts stagette who were happy to pose for photos and even rode the bus with us on the next trip. We learned some new feats of dexterity and flexibility.

We had been warned about the last club and some of the locals took off but we went in to have a look. It was all blacklight lit and Ryan found a glow-in-the-dark pen to light us up. Some crazy dancing including best forgotten breakdancing moves. We were pretty exhausted and hungry after our fourth stop. We caught cabs to Ceilis, an Irish bar and squeezed into a large crowd. Then we bumped into Nicole, a server from Pennylane who was really excited to see Carl and I.

As the evening was winding down, we bumped into Hans at a Macs and then ended up at a house party where we stayed until late. Managed to make it back to the campus but Ryan lost his new friend along the way. We all crashed.

The long journey home practically flew by as we passed through the Rockies and Banff, switched up at Kamloops, and made it safely back to Vancouver. Only a couple bruises, some unsanctioned photos and great memories remain from the last stand of the sunset riders.

The moral of the story is ‘those aren’t pillows’.

Cheers, Richard

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