Bob and I went to our first rodeo today! After several stupid questions on my part (bulls and horses get along well enough to be in the same holding pen? When you mate a bull and horse do you get a mule? Do the horses get kicked in the butt to make them buck?), I finally shut my trap and started paying attention. Yes, bulls and horses get along. You get a mule when you mate a horse and donkey. There is a rope tied around the back end of the horses and bulls to make them buck. First, the cowboys rode the horses, and there were 2 official men that were there to lasso the horses after the cowboy fell off. They were on horses the entire time. 

After a few rounds of that, it was time for the children to partake in the mutton riding contest. Yes, folks, I said mutton. The kids, about 4 years old, were equipped with a safety vest and helmet, thrown on sheep, and told to hold on for dear life. Those kids were determined to get a trophy and were probably ripping clumps of fur (or wool) out of the sheep. They also got to chase chickens around and whoever caught one got a trophy. 

After the kids had their shot at fun, it was time to bring out the big bulls instead of the horses. I was hoping they would go after the rodeo clown because he kept making terrible jokes (why won’t the bulls eat clowns? Because they taste funny!). Alas, the rodeo clown survived. The bulls weren’t as mean as I thought they would be. Their horns were cut down a lot and there were 2 people with a combined IQ of 62 that volunteered themselves to be the distractions when the cowboys fell of the bulls. Why anyone would put themselves in the line of a bull is beyond me. They weren’t even on a horse- they would just jump in front of the bull. At the end of the day, nobody was hurt (except the egos of some of the sheep), and a cowboy went home with a grand prize of $3,000. I was wondering how cowboys made enough money to do that for a living, so I googled Tony Mendes, who was at the rodeo. He is only 31 years old and made over $750,000 bull riding so far. Not too shabby!

We have a guest room so come visit!

Red Rocks is a national park, and an amazing amphitheater built in a natural wonder of an environment. It was so cool looking, and now Jen and I can’t WAIT to go to a concert there. Dave Matthews performs there almost every year, and now I have to see him there.

After experiencing an entertainment environment like that, you have to think that artists aren’t entirely thrilled when they have to play in boring locations like Darien Lake. Not that I haven’t liked the shows that I attended there… but a show at Red Rocks has to be a treat all of its own.

I definitely enjoyed the trip to the mountains… and can’t wait to go again. Perhaps next time we won’t start on a hike that’s quite that steep. While Jen did her fair share of huffing and puffing, I certainly was no Lance Armstrong… secretly glad when she asked to take a break every 20 feet. We definitely want to get in shape doing outdoorsy things around here, but we’re going to have to work up to some of these things, especially when we’re not used to the thin air (I’m sure that’s the problem.)

View Larger Map

We went to O’Fallon park somewhere in the mountains, only 30 minutes from where we live, and took Coda with us.

Bob didn’t warn me that hiking would be involved, but it seemed like it could be fun, so we started hiking up a dirt trail. There were 3 problems here: 1. We are way out of shape. 2. The altitude makes it even harder to catch your breath. 3. My thermos was filled with lemonade (not water) because I didn’t think we would be hiking, thus, I had to spit a lot. Attractive, I know. We reached the top of the “hill” a short time later- Bob had the help of Coda pulling him up. There was purple heather all around (heather is a type of flower for you non-green thumb people) and since the sun was getting ready to set, there was a nice golden colour on the mountains.

We started the descent back down, and I was feeling very accomplished and thought we had hiked uphill for at least half a mile. Bob laughed at me and thinks it was more like 1/4 mile, but according to “Jen’s Encyclopedia for Non-Hikers”, I deem any distance uphill to be double the actual distance. Thus, we hiked 1/2 mile. Go ahead and laugh all you people in flat, upstate NY… but the altitude here really does a number on people that aren’t used to it so any sort of exertion is a big deal. Bob enjoyed it so much he wants to join a hikers group for beginners here. I’ll give it a few more tries and see how it goes. I don’t mind “being one with nature” and all, but can’t I do it sitting on a dock with a fishing pole in one hand and a wine cooler in the other?

Most of our drive yesterday was through Kansas. I have no idea why Dorothy wanted to go home so badly. The largest town we drove through had a population of about 500. We saw wheat fields, silos, cows, and the occasional farmhouse. The most eventful things that happened to us were when Bob hit a bird, and when a piece of tumbleweed rolled into my car while driving. We had walkie-talkies the entire time and would flip through radio stations and tell each other if a good song was on another channel. I told Bob to turn to 101.1 which had “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin. He wasn’t thrilled with that. 

Jen catching some Z’s, but no flies.

It must have been a long 3 days of driving, because at one point I told Bob I was going to “pack un-boxes”. 

We got into Colorado around 7 pm, and Bob had to drive to the airport right away to get his friend Doug. Doug flew in from Seattle to help us unload the truck and unpack. Thank goodness for Doug because I am a wimp and would have been little help unloading big pieces of furniture.

Today was spent unloading things from the truck and finding their proper place in our condo. I volunteered myself to go to Target to get more cleaning supplies.  It is still a mess and there is a lot to do!

View Larger Map