Monday, January 13, 2014

Canadian Visitors today...

Another great Florida day in Frostproof, mid 70's in temperatures with some sun! Great day to have visitors.

Mary and Terry live up in Gravenhurst, where Judy and I used to live for 10 years. We retired from our jobs in Gravenhurst. Mary worked with Judy out at the local Federal Prison, called Beaver Creek. They both kind of act like they been locked up half their life! (just kidding...)

Terry recently retired as well, selling his share in a Company that bottled lots of water, and dealt in Coke Products. They both are really enjoying retirement, especially Terry who had some recent health challenges. It was sure great to see them, as we had not seen them for a while. They are down at a Condo in the Tampa Bay Area and are loving it! They are here for a month. We put the Weber to work doing some nice Burgers Judy made up, with a fresh salad. We did a walking tour of our Resort with them.

Last Saturday night, I mentioned we were at a rodeo. Had a great time.

Westgate Resorts River Ranch is about 25 miles east of Frostproof, in the middle of no where. But there are lots of things to do there! Check out this guy doing a demo on the ole mechanical bull. You can zip line here, bungy jump, skeet shoot, you name it! Every Saturday night they run the Rodeo.

The Rodeo is very intimate for the spectators... you are close to all the action, and the ring is set up great for easy viewing... the announcer is a cowboy who rides on a horse with a portable microphone. You feel like you are part of the action.

We sat at the top of the bleachers to have a back rest... we are getting old you know! There was about 300 spectators who showed up and paid their $17.00 each to watch the 1 1/2 hour show.

The Americans sure love to fly the flag... they had the Colour Party bring in the flags opening the show. The main feature at this Rodeo is the bull riding, that seems to be what people like to watch the most. It did not disappoint. I only had my iPhone with me, so pictures were hard to get, but I shot some videos for you if you want to take the time to watch... none of them are longer than 35 seconds I believe and most are shorter. The first one below is the second bull rider of the day, who happened to win the prize that night of over $1,000.00 Not bad! He stayed on this bull for the full 8 seconds required!

 

I enjoyed watching the Cowgirls doing the Barrel Racing... can they ever ride!

 

They also had a couple Trick Riding Cow Girls who put on quite the show... check them out below:

 

Check out this Cowgirl below, riding Roman Style!

 

They even have a feature for the kids... a calf run! You had to be there. Tie a red ribbon on the tale of a young calf, put it in the ring with a bunch of kids, and tell the kids they will get a prize if they bring in the ribbon! Check it out below, only in Florida!

It was a good night, until the second to last Bull Rider got sort of stepped on by the Bull once he was thrown to the ground. It is a very dangerous sport, and the Cowboys are all young men, who do know the risks! He was OK, but required an Ambulance to take him to Hospital. Quite the night!

We were sitting in the stands with a young Cowboy beside us, who told us he got a Bull's Horn in the face, breaking his cheekbone among other things. Dr. told him no riding for a year! He said he will be back!

Till tomorrow...

6 comments:

  1. Those trick riders looked pretty good. Must take a lot of practice.

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  2. What, no photos of your cowboy boots and hat. Although a dangerous, I am amazed at the level of participation in that sport.

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  3. That Cowboy, announcer is the minister there. He does a great job and the church is growing. Can't wait to get there in two weeks.

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  4. We love rodeos. Houston just put out their list of entertainment at the rodeo, date of the big parade and all the other events. We have attend twice and will go back this year. Great time.

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  5. Sounds like another fun day there in the middle of nowhere.

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  6. Never figured a city-slicker like you for a rodeo fan, John, hee-haw!!

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