Today we started late because we were going to end late by viewing the night show at the Stampede. During the afternoon portion we took a day off from watching the rodeo itself and took in some of the other activities at the Stampede grounds. We watched some of the Working Horse Classic in the Big Top Tent that spans several hours each day and you can come and go as you please. It is an equine event that combines how well the horse and rider work together doing a fixed set of maneuvers and then how well they do working with a steer. Both men and women compete in the same classes. Once you are on a horse it is a level playing field. We then wandered over to the vendor area one more time and then to the kitchen display area. Here there are continuous cooking shows by different chefs. Somewhat like the Food Channel out west. Each cook prepares some type of food and then the audience gets to sample the result. We then watched the Super Dogs in the arena. This was an hour show with 16 dogs, each a different breed, competing in four groups. It is not a real competition. Each group of dogs is backed by a portion of the audience so it gets the audience into the action. By now it was time to head for the grandstand and the evening meal. We had a buffet meal in the Clubhouse and the prime rib was cooked just right. At 8 pm the evening show started with the chuckwagon races. Each night they have nine heats all leading to determining the top eight drivers. Those top eight were announced after tonight’s races and the driver in first place won $6,000, a belt buckle, a western scuplture and a new crew cab pickup truck. Tomorrow night those eight compete in the semi-finals leading to the finals the last day and first place is worth $100,000. There was then a 30-minute intermission while they set up the gigantic stage for the evening show. We were then treated to a two-hour spectacular with performers dancing, juggling, singing, doing high wire acts, etc. You truly have to see it to get the full effect. This all ended with a 10-minute fireworks display. Now everyone had to go home so we joined the other 25,000 people heading for the one exit. When our bus was loaded we headed home arriving at 1:15 am. It took me about 38 seconds to be asleep. Overall, a great day. Now we get a day off to recover.
