Blairsville Georgia was my next stop! I enjoyed getting to see the town as I was informed by some of the locals that we were in the mountains! They really were not kidding as I drove through the town and around the area I noticed that I seemed to take a lot of windy roads and there were plenty of “hills” as I would call them! I pulled in that Thursday night for the saddle club meeting and was able to meet all of the people who had spent countless hours preparing for this event! Everyone was so nice and welcoming! The arena was covered and alongside one of those “hills.” It was a beautiful setting and the arena ground was so nice!
Night number one of the Blairsville Pro Rodeo rolled around and I was thrilled to see the Hedrick family there when I pulled in! It is always so nice to see stock contractors that you know and love so much! I was fortunate enough to use Bullseye, who is Stacey the pick up man’s horse! Bullseye had been there and done that! He was perfectly behaved and we enjoyed the opening ceremonies as we carried the colors of our country and carried sponsor flags throughout the night! The rodeo went smoothly and I had a blast with the crew! At the end of the rodeo we signed autographs for the young fans! I love getting to see all of the smiles and the kids of course! Night number two of the Blairsville Pro Rodeo started off about the same, except Mark Northall had informed me that I did the introduction WRONG the first night! Woops!! I made a lap and a half around the arena and I was supposed to make two laps. I informed them that I was going to need hand signals, for some reason counting and riding a horse can be a little difficult apparently. So as I prepared to go in with the American flag Danny Hedrick was sure to be there for the hand signals. As I made my first lap Danny leaned over the bucking chutes with one finger in the air and yelled “that’s one lap.” Laughing out loud I made my way around for lap number two. As I turned the corner I was sure to see Danny lean over the bucking chutes one more time holding up two fingers saying, “that’s two laps!” I laughed the entire time I was in the arena! As the night went on everything went just as planned and perfectly until, I went to carry the flag for the Bareback riding event. I took off with my horse and cowboy Tanner Phipps following for his victory lap thought it would be funny to lap the rodeo queen. I guess he was wanting to race. We all got a good laugh about it and I was sure to inform him that he did the victory lap incorrectly! Maybe next time he will get it right! South Bend, Indiana was a long drive! I left Alabama VERY early that morning for the ten hour drive! As I drove through Indiana I was so thrilled to see shoulders on the side of the road, no trees on the side of the road, corn and bean fields as far as I could see, and two story farm houses! I laughed to myself as I thought of how different things were in the south compared to the Midwest. I had really missed the rich agriculture of the Midwest! While looking at the map of where I was headed I realized that Indiana is a very vertically LONG state. I literally went from the bottom of the state all the way to the top, almost to Michigan! Once I reached my destination I was jumping up and down to see that I was about to attend my first fair rodeo! The local county fair was going on during the same time as the rodeo at the same place! That meant that I got to see all of the livestock that I wanted and I would not be judged for getting googly eyes over some very attractive angus cattle! Ha Ha! The rodeo started off that night with a tribute to the military and we had an awesome crowd! I rode Kevin McElroy, the stock contractors horse, Rony Pony. They said the real name was Shadow but no one would call him that! We carried the American flag and helped chase back cattle and work the arena through out the night! Night number one of the fair rodeo was a success! We then made our way to the fair where I of course ate the not so good for me but super tasty fair food. That may have included fried pickles and Oreos. I just could not help myself! After the fair I went and got some much needed sleep as I had been u very early to make it to the rodeo in time! The second night of the rodeo was just as amazing as the first night but I got to do things a little differently! I carried our colors again and then handed the horse off the Jim’s granddaughter who would be helping chase back. Braden Tate the rodeo clown had talked me into helping with both of his clown acts for the night. At number one consisted of an obstacle course where I competed against Jaylie and Taycie Matthews! I just knew for sure they were going to beat me. We raced through the course and it was very competitive, we all had a blast as laughed a lot! After the obstacle course I was going to get to drive Braden’s car. This car is a two seated metro with a steering wheel in the trunk. I sat in the trunk of the car with a steering wheel, brake, and what looked like a lawn mower throttle. Driving through the arena in the trunk of the car I prayed that I would not run anyone over as I could not see a thing! I made it through the act and everyone got a good laugh at the dog “who drove the car.” Well as much as I would love to go on and on about how much fun I have been having I am on to the next one! Stay tuned to see where I go next and what adventure awaits me there! I hope you all have a blessed day!
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Miss Rodeo USA 2019
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