The Daddy of 'em All

I only have a day to update everyone on my trip to Cheyenne before I am gone to the Helena Last Chance Stampede. I had a wonderful time in Cheyenne the past week. Before I went, Lorissa and I met up in Billings to attend the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame scholarship awards BBQ. We got to see top high school cowboys and cowgirls get awarded with scholarships from the Hall of Fame. They award opportunities for the seniors every year through these scholarships and the amount just get better every year.

I stayed with my brother in Billings that night and began the trip to Cheyenne the next day. You wouldn’t think it would be such a long drive but I felt much like I was driving across eastern Montana again as the only landmarks for miles were the mile marker signs and sagebrush! I arrived at my host family in time to unpack and pick up Miss Rodeo Tennessee to head over to a BBQ at Esther’s, the gal who would be taking care of us all week. I got to meet some girls I hadn’t met before, Miss Rodeo Florida and the NEW Miss Rodeo Texas, Alyssa. We bonded instantly! I told of the southern queens that they rubbed off on me every time I went out of state because when I return to Montana I find myself saying “y’all” and “fixin’ to”!

Friday morning was the rodeo queen luncheon. The Cheyenne Frontier Day’s queens were the hostesses. I have never seen so many queens in my life! There were only eight of us state queens and the rest were up and coming queens and princesses from Wyoming and Colorado mostly. Someone said that there would be 60 some girls there! What a great sight it was to see so many girls that are the future of rodeo. The rest of the day was open to us girls to do some serious shopping. I tried my best to stay away from the Rickrageous booth! It was a great beginning to soak in the fact that I was at the legendary Daddy of ‘em All.
Saturday morning was kicked off by the parade. Harry Vold brought in his black horses for us to ride for the parades and rodeos. These horses are FAST but you would have never guessed it if you saw us in the parades. There were thousands of people that made it out for the occasion and people from all over the country were there. The population of Cheyenne is about 50,000 and they say that doubles every day during the Cheyenne Frontier Days. I could definitely see that happening as I walked through the parade and saw so many people lined up against the streets. After having lunch with some of the committee members we were ready to rodeo!

All of us state queens were going to be introduced in the “running grand entry”. They call it that for good reason. The rodeo arena is set up on the infield of the track with the track running all the way around it. It’s the biggest arena I have ever seen! Well, they run the grand entry not in the arena but on the track. The state queens perform the infamous “fly by.” The name is fitting because that is exactly what we did. We were on the fast Harry Vold horses that have been on the track doing this for many years and they get faster as the years and the days go by. I was last and of course Spanky, my horse, did not want to be the last one to the barn! He ran at break neck speed and I waved, although we were going so fast you might not have noticed that I actually was waving! I have ran barrels and poles all of my life but never have I gone quite as fast as the fly by’s in Cheyenne and never have I experienced such an adrenaline rush as when they announced my name as Miss Rodeo Montana at the Cheyenne Frontier Days as I am zooming past the crowd of 15,000 people. The guy helping us with our horses, Kip, came buy after the second day of fly by’s and commented to me, “Most people try to hold this one back but you just kind of rode the speed. I have never seen him or any of these horses go quite that fast. WOW!” What can I say; I have a need for speed!

Saturday and Sunday nights were the Reba McEntire concerts. Trisha Yearwood was opening for her and it was my first time to see both of them so I was pretty excited. The ladies were amazing in concert; all of us girls had such a blast! Reba even let us take a picture at the front of the stage. While she was singing she bent down to take a picture with all of us girls. It was such an incredible experience for me as you all know I get kind of star struck!

My last day in Cheyenne was Monday and we were up at dawn for the pancake breakfast. It was no ordinary breakfast though! There were thousands of people waiting already as early as 7am for pancakes! All of us girls got to introduce ourselves and cook pancakes. I was well practiced after my trip to Calgary! Later that morning we got to visit the Cheyenne Frontier Days Museum. It was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. As expected there were tributes to two of my very favorite cowboys, Lane Frost and Chris LeDoux. It was time for me to return home after that. Thank you to Cheyenne and everyone involved in the great production for having me and allowing me to be part of a legendary event!