Sunday, January 14, 2007
10:42:31 PM

Today was an awesome day. Following the mantra “Carpe Diem”, I made the day all it could be; by sleeping till noon. Our delicious 12 o’clock breakfast was comprised of bacon, toast and spanish omelets with hot peppers. Peppe arrived back from his weekend mountain retreat just as we were finishing up. Within an hour we were all on our way to the National Western Stock Show held annually at the Denver Colosseum. This is no Tremont Worlds fair we’re talking about here. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people coming in and out of this venue weekly. The event runs for 3 weeks and we went in the middle week. There were many venues showcasing everything from farming equipment to clothing, to painted lamps. Kevin was very interested in the cute little (and sometimes not so little) bunny rabbits. He was trying to decern of what breed his rabbits were. They still have no definitive answer, but they at least have some more hints now. We also ran across one of the other Up With People participants from Belgium and her host family. For supper we had the traditional “beef on a bun” with mashed potatoes and baked beans; all washed down, of course, with Dr. Pepper. I kept the cup as a souvenir to send back to my mom who grew up doing many of the things I was witnessing; the 4H cattle project and its judging for example. After we did some more wandering around we headed to the mail arena for the main event; the Rodeo. Peppe had never been to a real rodeo before and his face showed it as the first bucking horse rider made his attempt to stay on for the full 8 seconds. He didn’t make the attempt and was thrown a good 10 feet of the back of the horse. There was a whole slew of events including; bull riding, barrel racing, sheep riding (for little kids) calf roping, and calf wrestling. There were a few injuries in the evening, but everyone was able to walk off the field (with the exception of one calf who was suspected of having a broken leg who was taken off the field by stretcher). There was a laser and pyrotechnics display to start the show as followed by riders in glowing suits. We also saw the real one arm bandit riding his mule, how to dock a stage coach, and a synchronized riding team. The end of the show was marked by a multimedia presentation accompanied with a fowl, its mare, and a young girl riding a stallion. It was very moving. One the way out I picked up another souvenir ;) and we made our way back to the car. The temperature was a bit warmer today at -16°C with light snow. On the way back we listened to the 17th street singers; a local a capella group. The day; It was all Good™

Check out the Stock Show Website @:
www.nationalwestern.com/nwss/home/index.asp

Photo Captions: Peppe & Kevin @ supper; Jack Daniels, Major Supporter; Cattle Judging; Choosing Supper; Supper itself (Brisket on a Bun); Denver Colosseum; BBQ; UPW Meets Stock Show; Me & Skillens; One very cute bunny though despite appearances is really planning to take over the world by fooling everyone with his cuteness.