Yee Haw – A Rodeo Is Coming To Town

We are going to a neighboring town of Cody called Meeteetse, population 351, to see a parade and Rodeo. Oh this is a cute little town with wooden sidewalks and a homey feel. Fun parade with horses, antique tractors and cars, , unicycles,     the turtle patrol,    and candy being thrown to the kids. Some of the kids had bags to collect all of the candy. That was almost as good as Halloween for them. After the parade we headed down to the local park for a Western BBQ where the Cow Bells (a ladies auxiliary) really put on a spread. Let me tell you, I had the best baked beans ever! Excellent beef BBQ too! At 1:00  the Rodeo started. I was looking forward to a real rodeo, and here in Meeteetse at their 98th Annual Labor Day Rodeo, I knew we were in for a treat.

Before I go on about the Rodeo I have to tell you about a couple we met in the Buffalo Bill Historical Museum a few days ago and we kept running into them. Suzy and Lawrie are here for vacation from Australia. Sometimes  you meet people and immediately feel their warmth and positive energy. I call them “feel good people”. They make you feel good just to be around them. This is Suzy and Lawrie. Having spent time with them made our stay in Cody and Meeteetse  just that much sweeter and I already love this area. We sat with Suzy and Lawrie on the front row of the bleachers and had a great view of the arena and the kids. I had as much fun watching the kids play as I did watching the rodeo. This little guy looked so grown up with his hat, boots, spurs, belt, and watch. He even had his John Wayne walk down. I think he might have been four.           The children were allowed some freedom to roam around, the parents were not far away but not under foot. The boys twirled their lassos, they lassoed a cooler and each other, they danced, they climbed fences,        and helped each other out. We watched children play in the sweetest, purest way today. No crying, fussing, or fighting. Just good fun and wow did they have a good time. This made my heart melt. When it was time to say a prayer and sing the National Anthem before the rodeo began, those kids stopped, stood, the boys took their cowboy hats off and placed them over their hearts. They were not told to do this, they knew to do this. These kids were 4 to 8 years old! A beautiful thing to see.

Now for the Rodeo. There was roping,   bronco riding, bare back riding, barrel racing, wild horse racing, and bull riding. This bull did not want to be there and he was getting out. There were all ages from juniors to seniors. This youngster was really little, about 4 or 5 years old, on a big horse. Mom needed to come out and give a little helping hand,  but Hey, whatever it takes to get the job done and build the kids confidence and skills. The wild horse racing – Holy Smokes – I have never seen anything like this before. They let several wild horses go in the arena. The team needed to catch the horse, saddle it up, and ride the horse all in under four minutes. Well that sounded easy enough. OH NOOOOO! These were wild horses and they wanted no part of it. They bucked, kicked, and ran. Several cowboys got hurt on this event, more than on the bull riding event. Really something to see.

What a fantastic day here in Wyoming. Being outside in the cool dry air, warm sun, crystal clear skies, with good people watching one of the West’s most valued traditions. Yes, it was a great day.