JULY 14, 2012
Well we are finally in Calgary. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede. The Stampede is like a huge, huge State Fair along with the largest rodeo in the world. To be in the rodeo you have to qualify,,,,so only the best of the best are here. On weekends the city puts on a free pancake breakfast for anyone who wants to attend. It is a tradition of the Stampede. There are several chuck wagons set out all over the city that are manned by business people. They get up very early in the morning to mix pancake batter and start to cook pancakes and bacon for everyone who wants some. It is really something to see. You can go from chuck wagon to chuck wagon to get your free pancake. You can have as many as you want. They do not serve them with syrup,,,,,just make the pancake and put a slice of bacon in the middle of it and serve on a napkin,,,,like a walkabout pancake. They also have a band playing to entertain everyone as they stand in line. It was a very good band too.
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| CHUCK WAGON PREPARING PANCAKES, THE GIRL IN FRONT IS READY TO SERVE A PANCAKE TO THE NEXT PERSON IN LINE |
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| OUR GROUP STANDING IN LINE WAITING FOR A PANCAKE
After we had our fill of pancakes we all went to the Glenbow Museum. This was a wonderful museum depicting time from the First Nation Indians until today. We only had a few hours in this museum. We could have spent the day there.
Oil is the biggest part of their economy in Alberta. Calgary is the financial center of the oil industry. There are financial companies here from all over the world.
Before we left the city we got to enjoy a small First Nations Indian parade. Then we boarded the bus and headed to the Calgary Stampede.
We attended our first event at the Stampede. We had wonderful by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They do what they call a musical ride. The horses perform many different maneuvers to music. I have posted a few, some were too intricate to get a good picture of. Everything is so synchronized and beautiful. They performed for Queen Elizabeth on her 50th anniversary. |
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| Royal Canadian Mounted Police entering the Stampede Grounds |
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| Starting a formation |
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| "X" formation |
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| This formation is called the DOME
July 15, 2012
Today is our 2nd day at the Stampede. The bus picked us up at 10:30 and we didn't get back to the motorhome until 1 AM. Definitely a full day. Today was the finals in the rodeo competition. It rained most of the day and the track was very muddy. Jesse took some awesome pictures (600 of them). Don't worry, I won't bore you with all of them. If you want to see a few of them, you can click on the link at the bottom of the page. You especially need to look at the last 7 pictures (they are marked).
After the rodeo finals, we were entertained by chuck wagon races. Four chuckwagons at a time would race. It was different. There were 36 chuckwagons in all. There were 9 races ending with the top 4 for the finals.
This Stampede paid out 2 million dollars to the winners of each category. First place in each division won $100,000.00,,,2nd place was $25,000.00,,,,3rd place was $15,000.00 and 4th place was $10,000.00.
After the competitions, we went to the Stampede Club House for a wonderful buffet dinner with prime rib. After dinner and a short walk around, we were back in our seats in the Stampede Arena for a finale show and wonderful fireworks. It was a first class show. They sure know how to do things right out here. Would love to come back again.
For more pictures especially those of the rodeo click on the link below:
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