Yee-haw!

Matt had never been to a rodeo, so I had to make sure that we went to at least one this summer. I thought about going to the Day's of 47 Rodeo, but it just didn't feel authentic enough. So, I heard the Ute Stampede Rodeo was coming up, and best of all, it was in Nephi, UT. Not to be disrespectful to the people of Nephi, but I was picturing a lot of mullets, cowboy hats, and Wranglers. Sounded perfect to me!!

Originally we were going to drive down and back the same evening. However we decided to get a room instead so that we wouldn't be driving 80 miles back to Salt Lake at 11 p.m. We ended up getting a room at the luxurious Super 8 motel. Oh yea, we're living the high life!! Our room was adequate, but it was lousy with grasshoppers. They were EVERYWHERE, but at least they weren't in our room and not one grasshopper sight at the rodeo!
The rodeo was fantastic! It started with a parachuter entering the arena with a huge American Flag attached to him. He had a perfect landing and the National Guard was quick to pick up the flag and display it. We had great seats right over the chutes, so we got a great view of the bareback and saddle bronc, and the bull riding. (Unfortunately we our camera batteries died by this point...so no pics!)
The "host" and clown were pretty entertaining but when of the highlights of the night was the "One Armed Bandit", and it wasn't just a clever name! He really only had one arm, and yet rode his horse while cracking his whip in the air. And remember, he only had one arm, so if it was cracking the whip...that meant he wasn't holding on to the horse at all! He was able to take his horse on top of his trailer, and round up 2 HUGE Bison onto the top of the trailer as well. It was pretty cool!
I had an awesome time but the important thing was that Matt had fun at his first rodeo. I'm sure we'll definitely be going to more rodeos in the future! Yee-haw...giddy up!