On the Road
July 6, 2008
Welcome everyone!
First off, I am very pleased to announce that I have been chosen to be part of the Petrol Professional Posse, and will be endorsed by Petrol Jeans for the next few years. You can check out their website at www.petrol-jeans.com.
I had a wonderful time at Prineville, Oregon last weekend! I flew back to my hometown of Chilliwack, British Columbia on June 24 to visit my family, although I was sorry that Todd (my fiancé) was unable to come with me due to his work schedule. Friday morning of the 27th, I left with my mom to travel down to Oregon. Talk about poor planning on my part for the drive! What should have taken up 8 hours, ended up taking us 12 hours! With over an hour wait at the border and over two hours in traffic for the long weekend and rush hour in Seattle, we arrived finally at midnight in Bend, Oregon!
After a sound but brief sleep, I woke up and got ready for the Prineville Parade at 10 pm the next morning. I had the pleasure of finally working with Shirley Morris, who is putting together the documentary “Cowgirls Saddle Their Own Horse” www.thecowgirlmovie.com which I am a featured part of. If fact, Shirley (and Kathleen) were kind enough to allow my mom and myself to stay with them during the weekend (in Bend) and we had a wonderful time! Thank you Shirley and Kathleen for your hospitality, my mom and I had a great time!
Shirley documented much of the parade, rodeo, and autograph-signing, in addition to filming the Bonnie McCarroll reenactment for her upcoming documentary. In the parade I rode in a red Mustang with driver Dave (thanks Dave!), while Shirley (and crew) passed out poster cards for the documentary to have me sign. The Mustang was followed by the Cowgirls of the West group, www.cowgirlsofthewest.org., a few members of which also helped us during parts of the filming, in addition to rounding up spectators for autographs signing! Thanks to Kim and Amy! Before and after the rodeo on Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon, I signed autographs in promotion of the documentary and we had a great turnout!
At 9:00 am on Sunday, we started filming of the reenactment of Bonnie McCarroll’s last ride. A great time was to be had by all during the shoot!
Thanks to the Crooked River Roundup Committee, Flying Diamond Rodeo Company, and the rest of the people who helped out and were part of the filming. Thanks to Larry, the Grand Marshall of the Rodeo and Parade, who did a great job of acting as Frank McCarroll. There were many laughs to be had with him on the set!
I competed Sunday afternoon in the rodeo, happy to be back in the saddle after some time off. I drew a bronc called “Alibis” of Flying Diamond’s, who is primarily a Bareback bronc (bareback broncs generally have a different bucking style than saddle broncs). I did a good job of marking Alibis out of the chute and went with him. He swooped right and then back left and I stayed with him, but then he stuck his nose in the dirt and sucked back, jerking me down by the rein and underneath him. What can I say?! I hope for better luck next time and am just thankful that I am here to get on another bronc tomorrow. Alibis was a hard horse to ride and I tried him, although if I drew him another time I may take a longer rein so that he couldn’t pull me down as easily and I would be more prepared for his trip! All in all, that’s rodeo for you, and you can’t ride them all (although I wish I could!).
As usual, the Crooked River Roundup Committee put on a great rodeo and the turnout of spectators was high during the weekend. Thanks to everyone who showed up for the filming of the documentary, to watch me ride, for the parade and to everyone who came to have me sign autographs for them. I had a wonderful time and met a lot of great people. I hope to return and see everyone again next year! And lastly, thanks to my fiancé for supporting me 100 percent in all I do, I only wish he was able to be with me and be a part of this wonderful weekend!
Happy belated Canada Day (July 1st) and Fourth of July holiday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend and enjoyed time with family and friends! See you all down the road…
