Sunday – July 4, 2010 – We are leaving Greeley just in time, it is fixing to pour. We went to Crawford last night after the afternoon performance at Greeley. I made the short round back in third, and Jeanne just missed it. She made up for it at Crawford, and smoked a run. I ran Goose and did horrible. I’m going to have to get some practice runs in to get my timing back with him. We got back to Greeley about 3:00 this morning.

Today went better. We finally got by the Greeley gremlin three times in a row. The short round wasn’t very pretty, the ground at the first barrel was really getting the horses today. Since Lindsey (Sears) was at Ponoka, that put Jesse Eagleburger and I at the top going in. Amigo cut the pocket off at the first and I rocked it going in, but we recovered and finished with a 17.55. Jesse and John didn’t fare quite as well and ran a 17.7. Congrats to Savannah Reeves for winning the short round with a 17.39. I guess today was this dog’s day (as Toby Keith sings), we got to win the average! No time to celebrate, we are headed over to Rawlins to spend the night. We run at Oakley, Utah, tomorrow night.

Friday – July 2, 2010 – We ran at Livingston, Mont., in slack yesterday. Jeanne (Anderson) ran a 17.71, and mine wasn’t so good. Amigo must have thought the gate was closed, because right at the line he ducked to the left. Just about left me sitting right there! We left there before 8 pm, drove all night to get to Greeley. We arrived just after daybreak, built the horses pens, fed them and went to sleep for a couple of hours. (This rodeo life is so glamourous! I don’t know what we looked like at 6 am, but it’s probably a good thing no one else saw us!)

Amigo did so good today. The ground seemed a little slick underneath, but he kept his feet and clocked a 17.3 which might be third in the first round. Jeanne got past her first and was a 17.9. We were ready to go to bed when Jeanne checked the horses. They were covered with mosquitoes. We’re too close to the river, I guess. So, we rented stalls and moved the horses to the barn where they could hear the concert much better. Amigo wasn’t impressed, but Goose seemed to be dancing a little!– It’s lights out for us.

Friday – June 25 – We had a blowout yesterday on our way from Reno to Lehi This is the third blow out we’ve had in the last two weeks. We made it into Wells, Nevada where the wonderful guys at Les Schwab Tires went to work. Unfortunately, they couldn’t fix it in time for us to make the rodeo at Lehi. My husband, who owns Cowboy Rigs in Pryor, Okla., is shipping parts today. But, there is no Saturday delivery in Wells, so I will have to drive 100 miles to Twin Falls, Idaho, to pick up the parts and bring them back so the guys can fix it tomorrow. The good news is that we found Jeanne (Anderson, my hauling partner) a ride back to Reno with Terri Wood-Gates and Norma Wood so she can run in the short round.

Monday – June 28 – Yesterday, we headed out for Cody; and everything was going fine until BANG! Another tire blew out. This time it was on the passenger side. Jeanne pulled over on a side road and we changed it in record time. We are almost ready to try out for a NASCAR pit crew! It was almost dark and we were about 70 miles from the next town of decent size, so we turned around and drove 30 miles back to Rock Springs where there is a nice fairgrounds. This morning we were sitting at the tire shop when they opened at 7, got 2 new tires and headed out.
Tuesday – June 29 – Fireworks woke us up last night. Amigo was going crazy. I couldn’t hardly catch him in his stall. I do not understand why people think that fireworks and animals go together. He banged a leg on the stall, so more icing. We rode this morning and I worked Goose. He did great, I hope that we have all his issues fixed. Jeanne and I played tourist today, and went to the Buffalo Bill Museum. We’ve always wanted to, but usually we are in and out of town.

Wednesday – June 30 – Back to reality. Our day started at 5 am when we got up to feed. Trailers started rolling in about 7, when the girls got here from Greeley slack last night. Slack was at 8. The Cody committee actually packed the ground after each 12! Best of all, we both had good runs. Jeanne is winning second with a 17.32. Congrats to Sabrina Ketchum who ran a 17.2 (I think) to lead the race. I’m sitting 5th with a .43. Trailers rolled out as soon as slack was over, most headed back to Greeley. I am so glad that we drew up during the perfs at Greeley. Tomorrow we go to Livingston.