Unfortunately we were in the shade for only about 15 minutes. The rest of the time we were baking in the sun! Guess we picked the wrong side of the street. But we were across the street from an old movie theater that advertised free admission as long as you bought popcorn! What a deal!
The parade was quite a big deal! There were about 400 horses total in it. The mayor, the governor and 2 state Senators were all in the parade. It lasted for an hour and a half! Here are some shots of what we watched go by in front of us...
(I took a million pictures, but I'll try to pick out the best ones!)
One of the first floats had this giant pair of jeans...I guess the theme for Frontier Days was "Walking Tall." And that is Miss Wyoming riding in the back of the car.
Here are some more pictures...
The horses in the picture above were called the "Texas Thunder." They were massive! The average height was 6'4"! We got to see them again later at the rodeo doing some impressive steering and galloping.
Check out this float! There was a teacher giving lessons to the students on the float. One little boy's chalkboard slate said, "I got straight F's."
The pull carts in the picture were what the Mormons used to WALK from the midwest out to Utah. Many of them walked over 1,000 miles! That makes my feet hurt thinking about all that walking!
After the final tractor rolled by, we gathered up our chairs and headed to lunch before the rodeo. We ate at a great place called Sanford's Grub and Pub. The menu was gigantic, basically it reminded me of one of my big books that I read in my classroom! Mom says that the onion rings she had were the best ones that she has ever had in her life. So if you are ever in Cheyenne, and you like onion rings, head there for lunch.
Finally it was time to go to the rodeo! Finding a parking spot was a little difficult. The lots were full so we had to park in a neighborhood and walk many, many blocks! We walked by the original gate sign that has been welcoming rodeo visitors for 100 years. Our seats were pretty high, but we could see everything, and I sat next to an old cowboy from Wyoming who explained all of the events to me. Some of the events we watched were steer roping, bucking broncos, bull-riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, and old fashioned horse racing. I already explained in another entry about the steer roping. The steer wrestling was crazy! A cowboy rides out on a horse going 35 miles an hour, jumps off his horse and grabs a running steer by the horns, stops hims, picks it up in the air (200 pounds) and dropped them down on the ground! Talk about a workout! The bucking broncos and the bull-riding was also quite scary to watch. Here are some pictures of the action!
There were 2 special events that happened at the rodeo. One was called the Dinner Bell Derby. They bring out colts and their mothers. They put the babies at one end and the mothers at the other end. Then the colts race to get to their moms! Here they are lining up.
Another event was called the Wild Horse race. This was the craziest thing I've seen! They bring out these wild horses who are jumping and running and going nuts. 3 cowboys are on a team. The official fires a starting gun, and one guy has to hold the horse still, one guy has to put the saddle on, and one guy has to actually get on the horse and ride it around the track. Well horses are jumping all over the place. Guys are getting dragged through the dirt. Some horses are jumping over others. It's complete chaos! Only a few guys actually made it on the horse and around the track.
At one point the overall winner of last year's rodeo came out with his girlfriend. They were riding in a wagon pulled by the "Texas Thunder" horses. They introduced him to the crowd, and then he proposed to his girlfriend. Luckily, she said yes!
In between events, they had people riding by doing tricks on their horses. This lady was riding on the side of her horse while it was racing by!
The rodeo lasted 4 hours! But it was so exciting that I did not even notice the time. The day was not over yet! We went back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the concert. Every night during Frontier Days different country music bands perform. We were going to go see Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts. It was a beautiful night with a great breeze. The performances were awesome! It was a perfect end to a perfect day!
Here's a picture of the carnival that was going on outside of the concert. I forgot to buy my favorite...cotton candy!
At about 11:00 we finally left Frontier Park. Here I am at the entranceway. I am so glad we decided to extend our stay in Cheyenne. Everyone should experience "The Daddy of 'Em All" at least once in their lifetime. This is definitely a place that I will come back to for another visit. I could get used to wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots!
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