First day at the rodeo, but not the last. Left the park at 9:30 am and headed for the rodeo grounds. I did not mention yesterday that we could easily see the rodeo grounds from the Calgary Tower as they are virtually downtown. I am sure they were not so close to downtown at the beginning in 1912 but they just never moved them and the city grew around the grounds. Among the many parts to the Stampede grounds is the largest Midway I have seen in a long time. Dozens of those stalls were you can spend many dollars throwing a baseball, squirting a gun or throwing rings to win a stuffed animal worth less than what you have spent. Also, a full compliment of carnival rides and almost any kind of fair food; funnel cakes, snow cones, etc. We started at the vendor area looking for some items on Carol’s list and found some. There are those who will receive the items in the future. Carol bought a cowboy hat and even got is autographed by one of the rodeo cowboys. They will know who they are when they get them. Part of the vendor area was dedicated to western art (all for sale). In that area were several fountains and large sculptures. After I took a picture of one of the lifesize sculptures he got up and repositioned himself and I took another photo. I have included those two photos above. We saw two other “sculptures” in that area. We then went to the rodeo. The special thing about the Calgary Stampede is the prize money and the fact that only the top 20 in each of six classes are allowed to participate. For those who are unfamiliar with rodeos they are calf roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, bare backed bronco riding, saddle bronco riding and barrel racing. The barrel racing is limited to the ladies. After the rodeo we headed back to the bus for the ride back to the park. Tomorrow is a late day. More rodeo plus the evening show with the chuckwagon races and fireworks. Yehaa!!
