Stampede Day... the Beach Boys

As we are coming home from about 5 days in Calgary, we are still basking in the memories of the Beach Boys 50th anniversary tour.

Shirley is tired of hearing me singing, "Help, help me, Rhonda... help, help me, Rhonda."  You know what it's like to get a catchy tune stuck in your brain and can't get rid of it?

It has been a long time since I've enjoyed a concert so thoroughly.

It was almost as much fun to watch the people as the concert.  For sure Shirley and sister Marilyn totally enjoyed this event.

Shirley posted a more detailed story on the Beach Boys and their three hour concert. Click here to check it out.

It was fun to go back to a part of our old stomping grounds... I was born in the Calgary General.  A lot has changed thru the years... But Calgary hospitality is still the same.

Cowtown is full of cowboy art and sculptures... and they milk the cowboy angle every chance they can. Shirley posed for this photo just inside the entrance to the Stampede Grounds.

We headed first off to the livestock barns to check out the award winning animals. We love the heavy horses.

Occasionally we had good luck and an owner or manager would open the gate so we could touch and get a better photo.

What beautiful horses!

Some of the largest horses were over 2,000 pounds... and 18 plus hands high.

This is the son of Rambo... one of the most famous bucking bulls in the Calgary Stampede.

This may be as close as Shirley will ever get to sitting on a bucking  bull!  She really wanted to have her picture taken here.

The Veterinary School had an interesting display with a couple of model cows to show how to check if a cow is pregnant.  One of these has a baby calf... and these women are checking to find which one.  Looks like fun, eh?

Here is a really cool way to get an overview of the Calgary Stampede grounds.  Wish we would have had time to do this ride.

Shirley bought a lottery ticket on this Dream Home... so she is sure she holds the winning ticket!  So many people were touring the home... the line was so long and it looked so crowded we elected to pass on the walk thru.

She told me that as a teenager she always wanted to buy a ticket on the Stampede Dream home... but she never had the money to do it.  She wanted to win the home and give it to her folks.  Now she has the money to buy a ticket... but the it's too late to give it to her folks.

We intentionally planned to have our last meal of the day on the Stampede grounds... and the choices were endless.  We started out with french fries smothered in gravy and catchup.

It isn't every day that you can find a place to get deep fried Oreos... or cheesecake.  It was amazingly delicious!  We also had deep fried veggies.  We all shared... so we all got a taste of everything with minimal damage.

We ended our meal with something a little healthier.  Marilyn is buying a tasty corn on the cob... and for desert we had a fruit smoothie.

That day In Calgary was a day we will always remember.

"God gave us memories that we might have roses in December." -J.M. Barrie, Courage, 1922