Sunday night thunder and lightning, plus intermittent bouts of heavy rain woke us up.
 |
| Rodeo-goers staying at Travelers World RV Resort |
Today, I plan to go to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Bob is working all day, so he can't make it.
Forecasts predict rain ending about 10:00 a.m. Just to be safe, I don't head out the door before 1:00 pm. It's still cloudy as I drive to the AT&T Center/Freeman Coliseum.
Once parked, I made my way into the grounds of the stock show and rodeo. The first show barn I entered was swine. It looked like there was about to be a show or competition as the owners were brushing and oiling their pigs.
Walking around the grounds, you never know what you'll see. I came upon this cowboy out exercising his horse.
And these youngsters were practicing their lassoing skills on the fake steer.
 |
| Practicing steer roping |
Then I headed over to the horse show arena and watched barrel racing. There are tractors that work like Zambonis only they rake the arena after a few barrel racers go through. None of my barrel racing photos turned out well...they were going too fast. I'll have to work on my shutter speed before we go to the rodeo Friday night!
The weather was very good in the afternoon. No high winds and the temperature was about 70-72 degrees with cloud cover.
Last year, we didn't go into the Rodeo Hall of Fame, so I made my way there. On one wall there are photos of all the grand champion bulls that have sold during the stock show over the years and the price paid for them. Back in the late 1930s, a bull brought in about $18,000. Today, a grand champion bull bought at the auction is over $100,000. Wow! That's a lot of bull.
 |
| Stock Show & Rodeo Hall of Fame |
 |
| History of the Stock Show & Rodeo |
 |
| Beautiful performance costumes and ornamentation for the horse |
The Western saddle below was donated to the Hall of Fame by Rodeo Announcer Randy Corley to whom the saddle was awarded in 2015 by the PRCA. This is Corley's 12th time winning Rodeo Announcer of the Year. Corley was a bareback and bull rider at amateur rodeos more than 30 years ago. As a result of his first-hand knowledge of rodeos and his big personality, he has received announcing honors across the country. This is his 17th year announcing at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.
 |
| Beautiful saddle! |
The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo is no stranger to winning awards either. It has won PRCA's Largest Indoor Rodeo for 11 years straight!
 |
| Award banners for Largest Indoor Rodeo |
After spending time in the Hall of Fame, I wandered over to Brad's World Reptiles and examined snakes, iguanas, a legless lizard, scorpions, frogs, trantulas, and turtles. More on those later.
The one show I didn't want to miss was the BMX bike stunt show at 3:30 pm. After settling into my spot on the bleachers, it wasn't long until the show started. The show had two parts: the BMX stunts on the ground, and the BMX stunts on the ramps and in the air.
 |
| Warming up |
 |
| Instructions from the announcer |
 |
| Catching some air |
 |
| "Look, Ma, no hands." |
 |
| Flying high |
 |
New way to ride a bike...
Looks like too much work! |
 |
| He let go with his hands and feet! |
 |
| Feet to the side |
 |
| He's doing a 360 turn in the air. |
 |
| Dual tricks |
 |
| One in the air over the other |
 |
| Leaps tall buildings in a single bound. |
 |
| Doing head-over-heels flip |
 |
| The end of the show |
My next stop was the Texas Wildlife Expo. A reptile show was scheduled for 4:30 p.m., so after I looked at the animals from Victoria Zoo, I went to the shopping arenas.
 |
| Screech owl |
 |
| Awww-celot (ocelot) |
Shopping at the rodeo...
 |
| Awesome artsy dress |
 |
| A real fox purse and fox vest |
 |
| Belts in all colors, sizes and sparkles |
 |
| Love all the Happy Campers! |
 |
| A hide with this colorful scene embroidered on it. Wow! |
After shopping where you could buy anything from saddles, to outdoor BBQ kitchens, to cowboy boots, to art, to old movies, I headed back to the wildlife expo for their 4:30 show.
 |
| One of the only frogs with teeth |
 |
| Snapping turtle |
 |
| Australian spiny lizard |
 |
| Apparently these make good pets. |
 |
| Ball python |
 |
| Ball python |
 |
| Whispering sweet nothings |
 |
| Caiman |
 |
| Ball python |
After all the shows and shopping, I was ready for dinner. I checked out the food court options and decided on a Reuben sandwich with an ice cream cone for dessert. I passed up the Hot Beef Sundae (mashed potatoes topped by beef with gravy over all, and some cheese sprinkles), the turkey leg (my favorite, but too big to eat alone), Yakisoba noodles (my second favorite, but again too much to eat alone), and myriad other food court favorites. Desserts offered were deep-fried Kool-aid, deep-fried Oreos, deep-fried Twinkies, deep-fried butter, deep-fried cinnamon rolls, funnel cakes, chocolate-dipped cheesecake on a stick, chocolate brownies, strawberry shortcake ($10.00!!!), and so much more. If the Strawberry Shortcake wasn't so expensive, I would have opted for that. My ice cream cone (not a Waffle cone) was $4.00.
What a day. I headed home after dinner.
Yee haw!
One of the things that I loved about the 7 years living in Texas is that there was always so much to do and see. I never went to the San Antonio Stock Show but I did go to Fort Worth's version because living in Dallas it was close at hand. It looked very similar.
ReplyDeleteI admire that you are so independent that you still go to things without a companion. I don't mind at all going to movies, shopping even museums solo but I tend not to go to all day type of events without someone else. I have no idea why, really. It's not that I am inhibited, more that I just mot motivated.
Looks like you had a nice day and it's always fun to people watch at those types of events.
My Dallas walking partner walked in the rain this morning and said that it is supposed to continue tomorrow.