The Stampede!

Guess what! We did something besides remodeling and homework! Thursday night we were off to Nampa to experience night 3 of 5 of the Snake River Stampede!

There's some $450,000 in the purse this year, and one of the young men competing holds the record for the most rodeo earnings -- over $2 million. Whoo-wee! My deft planning skills yielded us some pretty awesome seats, just to the right of the bull chutes. This picture shows the other end of the arena, where the team roping originated.

My favorite part of arena events is the pomp and circumstance of the opening and closing ceremonies...the rodeo queens, the Pledge of Allegiance, the salute to those who are serving or have served in the armed forces...I love it!

BUT, the highlight for me, and also for the nice 80-year-old lady beside me (who was there with her sweet husband, their 6 kids, their 22 grandchildren, and their 9 great-grandchildren -- all whom were relegated to general admin while they were in reserved seating like us! Hah!) was the performance by the Snake River Stampeders! You may remember the Stampeders from their performance at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics -- they are an 18-member horse drill team that rides in formation in the dark while each girl and horse is wearing a coat of red, white, or blue lights, ala Rhinestone Cowboy. I ain't horsepeople, but it was spec-tac-u-lar.