What could be more fun than an evening out with the girls in Preston, Idaho? I'm not sure, because this was sooo fun! We arrived in Preston about an hour and a half early for the rodeo, and just in time to see the tailend of their parade. Since we were so ahead of schedule, we went to eat in this charming little local pizza place before heading off to the rodeo. My friend Amber, a true rodeo groupy, purchased our seats ahead of time so we were front and center and had a great view of it all.
I was entertained by the fact that the girls around me kept asking me what the rules of certain events were. Being known to be from Montana sure does have a stigma attached to it. I paid attention to the announcer, though, and learned a lot about the does and don'ts of barrel racing, bull and bronc riding, etc. The mutton bust and barrel racing were by far may favorite events.
Bull riding still terrifies me as much as the first time I watched it 15 years ago. Do you remember the Boulder rodeo Lisa? We went and rode in the parade down main street with Chandra Obie and her parents (they were campaigning for some political position at the time, I do believe), and then they took us to the rodeo. The big bulls kept ramming their riders up against the fence near the audience, and it was rather frightening.
Afterwards the fairgrounds people paid Lisa, Chandra, and I $5.00 a piece to clean out the beer cans from underneath the stadium. We came back reaking of alcohol, and Mom questioned "what on earth have you been doing?" I'm pleased to remember that she wasn't a bit concerned that we had actually been drinking the stuff we smelled of. I now know that it was a job definitely worth more than $5.00.
This rodeo was a lot different from the one in Montana in that respect, though. There was absolutely no alcohol in sight. The biggest difference was that it was begun with prayer. I mentioned this to Mom, and she said she couldn't think of any other sport where prayer was more needed, than at this kind of event. I couldn't agree more. I loved the prayer, though. It was a true cowboy's prayer, comparing green pastures to heaven above, and other similar kinds of fun cowboy imagery.
I'd go to this rodeo again in a heart beat!
2 comments:
That sounds like so much fun! And I do remember that Rodeo in Boulder. What a great idea for a weekend activity!
I would love to go to a rodeo without any alcohol and a prayer to start! What a great time. I felt like an idiot not knowing any of the rules of rodeo this past week when we wen too! We had to ask the people behind us. I learned a lot from them.
Post a Comment