Rodeo

Tree and Emily flew to Texas on Friday for a long weekend visit. After 10 days of sunshine and temperatures in the 70s, the weather turned rather bleak as soon as their plane landed in Houston. We had planned to spend some time sunning at the beach that afternoon, but found thick fog and chilly temps in Galveston. Jim fired up our hot tub in the evening and we really enjoyed our soak in there - until the electricity went out. We had tickets to the Houston Rodeo for Saturday, so we weren't too disappointed that the forecast called for thunderstorms and a cold front that day since the festivities were held indoors. This was the first rodeo that any of us had been to and we didn't know quite what to expect. The price of the admission included all of the exhibitions, shows & events, an actual rodeo competition, and a concert. We had a blast and can't wait to return next year.

We walked through a huge convention center filled with vendors and livestock. And rope makers. The building was a bit stinky.

After the bull riders were bucked off their animals, the wild critters had to be lured back into their pens by some apparently non-intimidated rodeo clowns.

The cutest and most interesting rodeo event was the "Mutton Bustin'." Five and six year old children competed to see how long they could ride on the back of a running sheep.

This little cowboy made it a long way before falling off. Luckily, none of the children were ever trampled by the sheep.